Remind me that a fever is a good thing...

[AFWife]

My poor DS has his first REAL fever today. (He's 13mo) I woke up about 5am and felt like *I* was overheating and I realized I was reacting to how hot he was. I took off his nightshirt and gave him some Motrin (about 5:30am). We sat him up to give him the meds and he was alert and talking...He did the same thing a little while later after we woke him up from a nightmare (gotta hate those fever dreams)

It's 8:30am here. He's napped a bit. He's been nursing fine. Whining...but I think we're teething on top of everything. He's alert. He has a rectal temp of 99.2F

Remind me that as long as he's nursing and not lethargic that it's okay to let the fever do its job.

[mom61508]

Originally Posted by AFWife

My poor DS has his first REAL fever today. (He's 13mo) I woke up about 5am and felt like *I* was overheating and I realized I was reacting to how hot he was. I took off his nightshirt and gave him some Motrin (about 5:30am). We sat him up to give him the meds and he was alert and talking...He did the same thing a little while later after we woke him up from a nightmare (gotta hate those fever dreams)

It's 8:30am here. He's napped a bit. He's been nursing fine. Whining...but I think we're teething on top of everything. He's alert. He has a rectal temp of 99.2F

Remind me that as long as he's nursing and not lethargic that it's okay to let the fever do its job.

Don't fret..really fevers are good!!! Like you said unless they're are lethargic I would let the fever go and not medicate. It surely doesn't sound serious he's nursing fine and sleeping. Helpful post below

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1121341

[Marnica]

Fever is an adaptive immune response and should not be interfered with if you can help it. This can actually prolong illness and cause more harm than good!
A rectal temp of 99.2 is not even a temp. This is considered normal. Maybe it was highre b4 you gave him the motrin??

here is a good rule about temps: "normal" for oral is 98.6. Rectal temps run 1 degree higher normally so a normal rectal temp is 99.6. Under the arm temps run 1 degree cooler than oral so a normal under the arm temp is 97.6.

MY DS always got a fever when he was teething.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Marnica

Fever is an adaptive immune response and should not be interfered with if you can help it. This can actually prolong illness and cause more harm than good!
A rectal temp of 99.2 is not even a temp. This is considered normal. Maybe it was highre b4 you gave him the motrin??

here is a good rule about temps: "normal" for oral is 98.6. Rectal temps run 1 degree higher normally so a normal rectal temp is 99.6. Under the arm temps run 1 degree cooler than oral so a normal under the arm temp is 97.6.

MY DS always got a fever when he was teething.

He FEELS hot. Like, really hot. Maybe the motrin was still in his system when I did the temp. He's also acting like he doesn't feel well....super clingy and just wants to sit with me and cuddle.

DH had something similar the other night...something the cold front blew in. He's fine. I'm sure it's just some dumb virus. My dad asked if I was taking him to the doctor and I was like, "Why? So they can tell me it's a virus and to give him motrin and wait it out?...which will probably make him sick longer because he won't have the fever working with him? No thanks."

[Drummer's Wife]

Hope he feel better soon. I don't medicate for a fever unless they really feel crummy - and that's only been a couple of times, with four kids. I think that is part of the reason they often get better quickly (like a day or two the virus runs its course, and the fever does what it's supposed to do - and then they are back to new). I agree with you that there is no reason to call a doc. Just keep loving and nursing him and he'll be okay.

that first illness is hard on parents.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by Drummer's Wife

Hope he feel better soon. I don't medicate for a fever unless they really feel crummy - and that's only been a couple of times, with four kids. I think that is part of the reason they often get better quickly (like a day or two the virus runs its course, and the fever does what it's supposed to do - and then they are back to new). I agree with you that there is no reason to call a doc. Just keep loving and nursing him and he'll be okay.

that first illness is hard on parents.

Thanks. He's had a couple of minor ones...mostly just colds. (2 total actually) so yeah, this is the first real one...but it's actually quite minor.

[blueridgewoman]

Motrin can last as long as 8 hours, fyi, so it was def still in his system.

[Grace and Granola]

I am one to get nervous with fevers also, so I totally get where you're coming from. I tend to start worrying when they get over about 102.

But for some perspective, I am friends with a ped and a couple of children's hospital nurses, who do not share my feelings on natural health in any way! They all say they sort of snicker at parents who bring their kids in for a 102/103 fever. And they weren't saying this in a mean/condescending way, just that 103 doesn't cause them alarm. They said 104-105 is when they would intervene.

I like getting their perspective. Now my rule of them is don't medicate up to 102-103, and only then if the child is really uncomfortable or can't sleep.

I know alot of people don't medicate fevers at all. And I'm getting more and more comfortable with this.

Remember that when your baby just wants to cuddle, it's his body wanting to rest. When you relieve a child's fever, it helps them to feel great and go off and play. Then they are not getting the rest that the body needs to heal and fight off the virus. Both the rest and the heat are needed to kill the virus.

[AFWife]

I just took his temp again and it said 101.7...that's rectally so I subtract a degree? So his temp is only 100.7? That's not bad. Poor kid needs to sleep but is having trouble. I know how that goes...

I hate this! It's the worst part of being a mom! I want to just FIX IT

[Marnica]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I just took his temp again and it said 101.7...that's rectally so I subtract a degree? So his temp is only 100.7? That's not bad. Poor kid needs to sleep but is having trouble. I know how that goes...

I hate this! It's the worst part of being a mom! I want to just FIX IT

Hugs mama. I just went throught his last week and it is not the first time. DS who is 2 had a fever of 103.5 (rectal). I popped him in a luke warm bath. That brought it down some. I also use homeopathics. The right remedy can work wonders. His temp was normal by the next day although I kept him out of daycre just to be on the safe side. It never came back. I know it's hard to see our kids sick or not feel anything but 100%, but as my mom told me when I called her about how hard it was watching him feel icky. "that's life". He'll be ok, and his immune system will be stronger for it!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by AFWife

I just took his temp again and it said 101.7...that's rectally so I subtract a degree? So his temp is only 100.7? That's not bad. Poor kid needs to sleep but is having trouble. I know how that goes...

I hate this! It's the worst part of being a mom! I want to just FIX IT

For us, nutritional support has been a biggie in fixing things. VitC in the short term, my kids need pretty high doses and that's been really helpful in making the course of illnesses easier, and longer-term stuff like good vitamin D levels. That thread on cell salts (or tissue salts, same thing) has discussion on using them for illnesses. I haven't tried that yet, but I've seen other health improvements.

Now that _finally_ my toolbox of other ideas is filling out, it's more comfortable to deal with illness when it comes around. I didn't have many (any) ideas a few years ago; this forum has helped a lot.

[isabchi]

http://blog.kansasdc.com/?p=366