4 month old has a fever of 101.5

[KaliShanti]

My 4 month old has a fever of 101.5 (under armpit). She is congested and her eyes are watery and she is clearly uncomfortable. How to help?

[Aka mommy]

Lots of nursing and love. The fever should help kill whatever is attacking her immune system. Poor baby, its no fun when they are sick and miserable.

[Italiamom]

Are you breastfeeding her? If you are, then the best thing you can do is to breastfeed breastfeed breastfeed! Sleep with her (if you don't already) and breastfeed through the night. Make sure that while she's sick you are really watching your nutrition; minimal dairy, and lots of high vitamin fruits and veggies. When my DS is sick I take extra vitamin C, and echinacea, which I figure ends up in my milk.

Other suggestions:

- Using a humidifier at night seems to help with stuffiness.

- Get the bathroom as steamed up as you can and then try breastfeeding her or just sitting with her in the steamy bathroom for a while. The steam will help break up some of the congestion, and then you can use a bulb syringe to gently suck out the mucus from her nose (easier said then done, I realize). If you have any saline you can put a few drops of saline in each nostril before you use the bulb syringe and that can help further.

I hope others will weigh in for you on maybe some herbs/homeopathics that could help. And good luck. Having a sick little one is so heart breaking

[jess152]

Pat her face with a cool, damp cloth. Keep her lightly dressed, but still dressed, as she could go from feverish to chilled.

We are just winding down from an awful cold. The 3yr old had the flu which thankfully the baby didn't get. He was feverish though, and had lots of mucus which often came up in breastmilk when he burped. It was scary to hear him choking on it, trying to get it out. I did what the PPs said, nursed, nursed, nursed, and it seems the worst is behind us.

I hope your LO is feeling better soon! It's awful to go through, for everyone involved!

[Marylizah]

Hey mama,

With an underarm temp, you have to add a degree, right? Possibly a bit more? So her real temp is (just checked Dr. Sears) somewhere between 102-103. He says armpit temps can be 1-2 degrees lower than the true rectal temp.

How is she acting? Is she lethargic? Pale/ashen? Crying inconsolably? Getting worse by the hour? If you get her temp down does she act like she feels a bit better? If she isn't lethargic/ashen/pale/crying inconsolably, and if she acts better when you get her temp down a bit, it's not ER worthy, but you should still take her to the Dr. tomorrow when the office is open.

I posted not long ago about fever in infants over in the Health and Healing forum. Babies under three months with a fever of 101 and higher need to be seen immediately-- between 3-6 months it can wait until office hours. Fever in small babies can be serious, since babies can get really sick really fast. For a baby who is over 12 months watching, waiting and nursing for a day or two is totally fine and appropriate, but for smaller babies they do need to be seen quickly.

I hope your little one feels better soon.

[KaliShanti]

Thanks, mamas.

I am going to see if she can go to the dr today. She has medicaid and this would be her first visit so she needed to be seen anyway.

She still has the fever- had it over 24 hours now- and is not her happy self at all. She just wants to be held and nursed. She isn't pale, more flushed though we are keeping her dressed down. She is so pathetic; it's sad.

Never had to deal with this with my son- he's only had two fevers and they were when he was a toddler.

[Lauren31]

Originally Posted by KaliShanti

Thanks, mamas.

I am going to see if she can go to the dr today. She has medicaid and this would be her first visit so she needed to be seen anyway.

She still has the fever- had it over 24 hours now- and is not her happy self at all. She just wants to be held and nursed. She isn't pale, more flushed though we are keeping her dressed down. She is so pathetic; it's sad.

Never had to deal with this with my son- he's only had two fevers and they were when he was a toddler.

I heard a lukewarm bath can help.... or even motrin if she seems to be in pain . If nothing else I would try to take her temp rectally... and take her to the ER if it's over 102.

[Kelly1101]

For fever that high I'd do as much nursing as possible, tylenol, lukewarm washcloth and/or bath, and light loose clothing. If fever didn't respond to that I'd be going to the doctor or hospital asap.

[CookAMH]

Originally Posted by Lauren31

I heard a lukewarm bath can help.... or even motrin if she seems to be in pain . If nothing else I would try to take her temp rectally... and take her to the ER if it's over 102.

A lukewarm bath is too cool for a feverish child. It should be normal bath water (~97ish) because their body is so warm - it will still seem cool to them. Lukewarm will lower the temp and it can spike after the bath causing a seizure.

Just keep watching, comforting and nursing. Let the fever do its work and keep an eye on it, but let it run its course. Generally, after three days of a fever, you should see a doctor. It's scary, but unless there are other signs pointing to danger (unresponsiveness, for one), just leaving it alone is best, with comfort.

Take a bunch of vitamin C yourself and she'll benefit through nursing.

[KaliShanti]

Well she has an ear infection in both ears. Anything besides antibiotics that will help? Dr. thinks it's due to allergies (they are really bad here this time of year compounded with inflammation from the teething.

[firewoman]

Ear infections are often viral, but can also be bacterial. Antibiotics, as I'm sure you already know, will only help with the latter. My pediatrician usually writes a script for antibiotics and tells me to wait 3 days to see if it improves. If the baby is better I don't administer the medication but if the baby is still sick I give the antibiotics. In the meantime, you can keep her comfortable with Tylenol. She is too young for Motrin. Good luck and I hope she feels better soon.