Educational guidance to help you notice patterns in a child and understand when it may be worth seeking professional assessment.
This is educational guidance, not a symptom checker
Why patterns matter
One sign on its own can have many causes. Doctors often consider the child's overall pattern, medical history, development, examination, and test results.
Some signs need urgent care regardless of any genetic condition. If a child shows any of the following, seek help straight away.
Severe difficulty breathing
Fast, laboured, or struggling breathing; grunting; the skin between the ribs pulling in; or blue-tinged lips.
Unresponsiveness or very hard to wake
A child who is unusually drowsy, floppy, or cannot be woken or kept awake.
A seizure or fit
Sudden shaking, stiffening, or loss of awareness, especially if it is the first time or lasts more than a few minutes.
Signs of severe dehydration
No wet nappies for many hours, a very dry mouth, no tears when crying, or a sunken appearance.
Sudden major deterioration
A child who becomes rapidly and seriously more unwell, or any sudden change that alarms you.
Seek urgent medical care at the nearest available emergency service or healthcare facility.
Start by choosing a condition. This system is disease-first: you choose a topic to learn about, and it never tries to identify a disease from observations.
Choose a condition above to see its educational early-sign guidance.
