When Your Child Has a Cold or Flu
When Your Child Has a Cold or Flu
Colds and influenza (flu) infect the upper respiratory tract. This includes the mouth, nose, nasal passages, and throat. Both illnesses are caused by germs called viruses, and both share some of the same symptoms. But colds and flu differ in a few key ways. Knowing more about these infections may make it easier to prevent them. And if your child does get sick, you can help keep symptoms from becoming worse.
What is a cold?
Symptoms include runny nose, cough, sneezing, and sore throat. Cold symptoms tend to be milder than flu symptoms.
Cold symptoms come on slowly.
Children with a cold can still do most of their usual activities.
What is the flu?
Influenza is a respiratory infection. (It’s not the same as the stomach flu.)
Symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, cough, sore throat, runny nose, and muscle aches. Children may also have an upset stomach and vomiting.
Flu symptoms tend to come on quickly.
Children with the flu may feel too worn out to do their normal activities.
How do colds and flu spread?
The viruses that cause colds and flu spread in droplets when someone who is sick coughs or sneezes. Children can breathe in the germs directly. But they can also pick up the virus by touching a surface where droplets have landed. Germs then enter a child’s body when she touches her eyes, nose, or mouth.
Why do children get colds and flu?
Children get more colds and flu than adults do. Here are some reasons why:
Less resistance. A child’s immune system is not as strong as an adult’s when it comes to fighting cold and flu germs.
Winter season. Most respiratory illnesses occur in fall and winter when children are indoors and exposed to more germs.
School or daycare. Colds and flu spread easily when children are in close contact.
Hand-to-mouth contact. Children are likely to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth without washing their hands. This is the most common way germs spread.
How are colds and flu diagnosed?
Most often, healthcare providers diagnose a cold or the flu based on the child’s symptoms and a physical exam. Children may also have throat or nasal swabs to check for bacteria and viruses. Your child’s provider may do other tests, depending on your child’s symptoms and overall health. These tests may include:
Complete blood count (CBC). This blood test looks for signs of infection.
Chest X-ray. This is done to make sure your child does not have pneumonia.
How are colds and flu treated?
Most children recover from colds and flu on their own. Antibiotics aren’t effective against viral infections, so they are not prescribed. Instead, treatment is focused on helping ease your child’s symptoms until the illness passes. To help your child feel better:
Give your child lots of fluids, such as water, electrolyte solutions, apple juice, and warm soup, to prevent fluid loss (dehydration).
Make sure your child gets plenty of rest.
Have older children gargle with warm saltwater.
To ease nasal congestion, try saline nasal sprays. You can buy them without a prescription, and they’re safe for children. These are not the same as nasal decongestant sprays. Those sprays may make symptoms worse.
Use children’s strength medicine for symptoms. Discuss all over-the-counter (OTC) products with your child’s provider before using them. Note: Don’t give OTC cough and cold medicines to a child younger than 6 years old unless the provider tells you to do so.
Never give aspirin to a child under age 18 who has a cold or flu. (It could cause a rare but serious condition called Reye syndrome.)
Never give ibuprofen to an infant age 6 months or younger.
Keep your child home until he or she has been fever-free for 24 hours.
If your child is diagnosed with the flu, he or she may be given antiviral treatments that can reduce symptoms and shorten the length of illness. These treatments work best if they are started soon after your child shows symptoms.
Preventing colds and flu
To help children stay healthy:
Teach children to wash their hands often—before eating and after using the bathroom, playing with animals, or coughing or sneezing. Carry an alcohol-based hand gel (containing at least 60% alcohol) for times when soap and water aren’t available.
Remind children not to touch their eyes, nose, and mouth.
Ask your child’s healthcare provider about a flu vaccine for your child. A flu vaccine is recommended for all children age 6 months and older. The vaccine is usually given in the form of a shot. A nasal spray made of live but weakened flu virus may also be given for the 2018-2019 flu season. This is for healthy children 2 years and older who don't get the flu shot.
Tips for proper handwashing
Use warm water and plenty of soap. Work up a good lather.
Clean the whole hand, under the nails, between the fingers, and up the wrists.
Wash for at least 15 to 20 seconds (as long as it takes to say the alphabet or sing the Happy Birthday song). Don’t just wipe—scrub well.
Rinse well. Let the water run down the fingers, not up the wrists.
In a public restroom, use a paper towel to turn off the faucet and open the door.
When to call your child’s healthcare provider
Call your child’s provider if your child doesn’t get better or has:
Shortness of breath or fast breathing
Thick yellow or green mucus that comes up with coughing
Worsening symptoms, especially after a period of improvement
Fever (see Fever and children, below)
Severe or continued vomiting
Signs of dehydration (such as a dry mouth, dark or strong-smelling urine or no urine output in 6 to 8 hours, and refusal to drink fluids)
Trouble waking up
Ear pain (in toddlers or teens)
Sinus pain or pressure
Fever and children
Always use a digital thermometer to check your child’s temperature. Never use a mercury thermometer.
For infants and toddlers, be sure to use a rectal thermometer correctly. A rectal thermometer may accidentally poke a hole in (perforate) the rectum. It may also pass on germs from the stool. Always follow the product maker’s directions for proper use. If you don’t feel comfortable taking a rectal temperature, use another method. When you talk to your child’s healthcare provider, tell him or her which method you used to take your child’s temperature.
Here are guidelines for fever temperature. Ear temperatures aren’t accurate before 6 months of age. Don’t take an oral temperature until your child is at least 4 years old.
Infant under 3 months old:
Ask your child’s healthcare provider how you should take the temperature.
Rectal or forehead (temporal artery) temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider
Armpit temperature of 99°F (37.2°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider
Child age 3 to 36 months:
Rectal, forehead (temporal artery), or ear temperature of 102°F (38.9°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider
Armpit temperature of 101°F (38.3°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider
Child of any age:
Repeated temperature of 104°F (40°C) or higher, or as directed by the provider
Fever that lasts more than 24 hours in a child under 2 years old. Or a fever that lasts for 3 days in a child 2 years or older.
Updated:  
September 15, 2018
Reviewed By:  
Bass, Pat F. III, MD, MPH,Cunningham, Louise, RN,Image reviewed by StayWell art team.,Lentnek, Arnold, MD