Are some kids more "fever-y" than others?

[jenveg618]

I've been wondering about my younger son, who's about to turn 2, and his tendency to get a fever with almost every virus that he catches. This past year has been especially tough since my older son, who's 4.5 yrs, started preschool for the first time and started bringing a lot of different bugs home with him. My older son may get the sniffles or a cough, but it rarely slows him down and he gets over stuff really quick (I guess all the probiotics, vitamin D and healthy diet are paying off!) Meanwhile, my younger son will get a fever for 2, sometimes 3 days with the same virus. He gets over stuff in about the same amount of time, but I just think it's interesting that he's the only one in the family who had a fever while the rest of us did not. Sometimes his fevers can get pretty high, and it's very hard to see him feeling so out of sorts and definitely not himself.

I do remember my older son getting fevers with viruses when he was an older infant/young toddler, BUT he didn't catch as many viruses, due to the fact that he didn't have an older sibling around and wasn't in daycare or preschool.

Anyway, I may be worrying too much, but just wondering if this is normal at this age to get a fever with each virus (even the seemingly mild ones). His ped sort of brushed it off by saying that he just has a strong immune system that kicks into gear easily.

Any thoughts?

Jennifer

[pianojazzgirl]

Sounds like my ds. Every kid responds differently to viruses. If my dd gets a fever I watch her carefully because it's so unusual for her to get one, but for my ds it is normal for him to get one with every little cold (especially when he was a bit younger). I think your ped may be right!

[MountainMamaGC]

My DD gets fevers but it burns off her illness by morning most of the time. She will never be sick for more than 3 days and its because her fever burns it off IMO. The one or two illnesses that she did not get a fever seemed to last forever.

[LaLaLaLa]

I'd guess it's possible, based on my childhood experience as the opposite. I believe in my entire life to this point (32 years), I've had six fevers. My body just doesn't react that way. DH ran a fever one day on our honeymoon and was describing the feeling of relief when you can feel a fever break.... I had NO idea what he was talking about. He ran, and still runs, lots of fevers.

[tanyalynn]

My son's one of those kids who got sick an awful lot and didn't run a fever for a long time. Finally, this past fall, he started running fevers when he got sick, and for him I think that was an improvement. I think his immune system was pretty depressed--it's probably still a bit marginal, but I think it's improving.

I don't know if the opposite can be assumed--are lots of high fevers a sign that maybe the immune system is tending to overrespond a bit? Or is it just a variant of normal? My son's lack of fevers really weren't a variant of normal, but it was obvious he was getting sick more than other kids, and other stuff was subtly off too.

[elmh23]

I have a friend who's kid gets a fever everytime he gets sick, and another friend who's kid and husband throw up anytime they're sick, even if it's not a tummy bug.