Would you go to the ER for this?

[TripMom]

4 year old "panting" from late afternoon - increasing in severity through the night.

Wakes up with no fever at midnight - and is shivering and chattering teeth - with no fever

wakes at midnight - still shivering and teeth chattering - now with huge fever burning up (104 in the ear)

Give tylenol - and immediately throws it up projectile everywhere.

I did take him in as I was worried about pneumonia? But was wondering (while I wiled away the hours in the ER) if I am too quick to take my kids in? I have been to the ER a LOT with my 4?

[Ruthla]

If he's having trouble breathing, he needs medical attention. I wouldn't rush to the ER though- I'd call his regular doctor and take him in to be seen in the office, and only move to the hospital if the dr thinks it's necessary after examining him.

[nextcommercial]

No. I wouldn't have. But, I tend to unerreact. I have a perpetually sick kid, and I would be at the ER all the time.

Plus, we have urgent care. I would choose urgent care over the ER anyway.

I worry so much about catching something else at the ER, so I avoid it if possible. WHen my dh broke his hand, I made him stand out in the snow while we waited for our turn. LOL. I was afraid of the germs in the waiting room.

I took my dd in to the ER for a bad case of tonsilitis. But, by the time I took her in, she was too sick for that particular hospital, and they took her by ambulance to another hospital with an ICU for children.

So. Like I said, I tend to underreact.

[Alyantavid]

No. But I'm like the pp and tend to underreact.

I've been to the ER once with my kids and my oldest is almost 7. My 2 year old fell in the tub and cut his head open. Otherwise, we have a great family doc that can get us in very quickly.

[jeliphish]

104 in the ear is not a true temp. A rectal is the only way to get a true temp and it is usually up to 1 degree higher than other measurements. I would definitely take your little one in.
"panting" is something that I would be concerned about.

[alicia622]

I don't think I'd go to the ER but who knows until I'm in the situation. I'd probably call the doctor's office- and see what they said. I wouldn't go to the ER unless I thought it was a true emergency. There have been times I've been in a panic, called the doctor's office and the oncall doctor told me what to do and under what conditions I should be more concerned. Twice we've taken DS to walk-in care because the regular doc couldn't get him in soon enough. Once as an overreaction and the other was because he was limping and we had no clue what could have happened. I feel fine about the latter.

[lucyem]

Depends. My oldest kind of pants with every fever. So I would have to gage how bad he was. Then I would call dr first and urgent care second. Middle of the night when both those are non options it would take an awful lot for me to deal with the ER. We have no insurance and my last trip through the ER cost over $1000. I know my child is worth more then money but I figure at around 2-3 am something like that would keep us in line for a while at the ER and I might as well get first in line at urgent care for less money.

Thats what I would do. That being said if I were to give advice I would say err on the side of caution.

[angelpie545]

"Panting" is something I would be concerned about too. My youngest daughter just got over pneumonia last month and it was very scary. She had been coughing for a few days, but suddenly spiked a fever and the coughing was *incessant*. I took her in ASAP to her pediatrician, but would have taken her to urgent care or the ER if she hadn't have been able to get in. As it was, her oxygen levels were dipping and they had to give her a breathing treatment in the ped's office. She literally went from happily playing around one day to lethargic and very sick in less than 24 hours, even though it had been brewing inside her for awhile. Given that experience, if I feel like anything is "off", I'm taking her in. So, yes, in your situation, I would have taken my kid in right away. I do try to avoid ERs as much as possible though, simply because doctors there tend to be really extreme with children, especially if they aren't vaxed (mine aren't). I've had a pretty frightening experience with my older daughter when I took her into the ER to see if she had an ear infection (didn't know about urgent care then, I was still a teenager plus a new mom). The doctors basically wanted to do every test in the book because she wasn't vaxed and it was very traumatizing for her and me. Because of that, I try to avoid ERs for my kids unless they are absolutely needed. If I had a kid that did what the OPs did, I would probably see if I could get an appointment with my pediatrician right away in the morning or see if there was an all-night urgent care before taking my kid to the ER.

[mamadebug]

I would have most likely taken my child is. Issues with breathing should not be taken lightly. I guess I probably would have called the doctor on call at my son's ped off, and followed what they said. I would imagine that they would recommend bringing him in.

[TripMom]

Thanks for the replies. I have had many ER visits unfortunately as my triplets had chronic bronchitis/pneumonia for the first couple of years of life - and we had a lot of retracting and dips in oxygen levels. But we haven't been in over a year, maybe 2 - and this was the first time I thought I was overreacting? It was the panting - then the shaking/teeth chattering - then the huge fever - I guess the whole weird sequence just threw me?

Of course he was fine today. But its only 8 pm . . . . . so per usual, this stuff usually kicks in at night . .

[Jessy1019]

I'd have gone. My kids are very very rarely sick, and so I just don't know what is "normal" when they are. We've never had to do the ER, but I would end up there if either of them seemed to be having trouble breathing, definitely.

Well, assuming our doctor was closed for the day. I would call/get seen there first, if it was during normal hours.

[kblackstone444]

If your child is having trouble breathing, then they need help NOW.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by TripMom

It was the panting - then the shaking/teeth chattering - then the huge fever - I guess the whole weird sequence just threw me?

yup this went thru my head as i read your OP. panting and then teeth chattering would have totally thrown me off. they dont sound familiar at all. since my dd naturally gets high fever i dont freak.

the timing is critical too - for ER. i would have probably chosen urgent care first had the symptoms started in the morning. you didnt get the chance. it was late afternoon when he started.

i would have done exactly what you did. waited and watched (though i would have called the advice nurse after maybe a couple of hours esp. if the breathing was affecting my child) and taken her in when the series of events happened.

plus no matter how many hours i wile away - if you had been home you would have done the same worrying. i usually choose ER when I get closer and closer to the panic button.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Rapid breathing is very common with fevers. Count his breaths... 40 per minute wouldn't be unusual with a fever. His symptoms sure sound like he had a fever, even though your thermometer didn't register the fever. I think you should get a back-up thermometer (rectal if you can).

DD has had rapid breathing during fevers, particularly when the fever is just starting or rising. Also, I've noticed at times that her head feels cool but her body feels very hot. Her underarm temp will show a fever but her forehead (temporal) temp is normal.

I think your DS just had a temp and the rapid breathing was nothing to be concerned about.

[meemee]

wow all the new things i learn. i have never heard of rapid breathign with fevers. now i know not to be freaked out.

[veganone]

I would have gone - panting with high fever would scare me. Our ER has a separate peds entrance so you don't wait in the main waiting area and you get triaged faster. I probably would have called the advice nurse for our ped first, but I would have gone.

I'm not quick to ER. We've gone once, when DD fell off the counch onto her head and had a noticable dent in her skull. (She was fine.)

What did the ER say?

[mamarootoo]

i would have taken my DD in under the same circumstances, but in the past, i've always just called the on-call Dr. for DD's pediatricians office.
hing
there is such a huge range for what is "normal" in kids, and sometimes i'm just not ok treating things at home, even though it is inside that normal range!

case in point, when my DD was 16 months old, we were playing chase and she tripped and flew head-first into the corner of a doorframe. she threw up immediately, and then again three minutes later when i was on the phone with the pediatrician's office.
the nurse said that throwing up twice is considered ok, as long as it's inside of a specific time frame.
i was terrified, and didn't feel comfortable treating her at home, even though all signs pointed to "she's ok!" i took her into the ped's office, they gave her a clean bill of health, and after that i took her to our chiropractor who gave her a baby adjustment.

[BellinghamCrunchie]

Originally Posted by meemee

wow all the new things i learn. i have never heard of rapid breathign with fevers. now i know not to be freaked out.

Yeah, don't be freaked out

I was totally freaked when it happened at 3am, so I got up and checked Dr. Sear's site: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t081000.asp

"Your child's breathing is rapid and labored. Count the number of breaths he takes in 30 seconds, multiply it by two, and this gives you his breaths per minute. Go to the ER right away if the breaths are greater than 60 per minute for children under a year, greater than 50 for children 1 through 4, and greater than 40 for children 5 and older. Be aware that fever alone can cause rapid breathing (and a rapid heartbeat). Reduce the fever first and then evaluate your child's breathing."

[meemee]

you know you guys remind me of many things.

one of the things i remember is that i used to freak out till about the age of 2. not since then. and i recall i think my dd had the stomach flu when she was around 18 months old or so. i kept in close contact with the on call ped AND the ER ped. in 16 hours my dd had peed only once and they felt she wasnt dehydrated. and didnt want her to be brought in. and sure enough after what 20 hours my dd peed and things were back to 'normal'.

if i hadnt had that experience i would not be freaking out after a few hours even now at 6.

[zeldamomma]

Honestly, I trust my gut, and my feel for how sick my kid looks. I think I would probably have called the ped with the panting in the afternoon, but if I didn't I could definitely see going to the ER in the middle of the night. I'm not quick to go to the doctor, and I haven't ever brought my kid to the ER yet, so I don't think I'm an overreacter.

ZM