toddler fever could be teething or chicken pox...do I give tylenol?

[caedmyn]

My 20 month old has had a fever most of the day. He's been pretty lethargic and is having trouble sleeping/staying asleep. I don't have a problem giving a little Tylenol for a teething-related fever if he's pretty uncomfortable, but I've never given Tylenol for a suspected illness related fever. He is cutting a tooth. He's also at the tail end of the period where he could come down with chicken pox (exposed 19 days ago and incubation period is 10-20 days). He doesn't have any spots that could be chicken pox. I'm not sure whether I should go ahead and give him some Tylenol since he is miserable and I really don't know whether it's teething or the beginning of chicken pox, or whether I should hold off until tomorrow morning at least.

[Panserbjorne]

have you done anything else for pain relief? Do you have anything in the house that you could assuming it's teething? Do you use any alternative methods? I'm not comfortable leaving a child in pain....I'd want to do something. I don't think I'd let it go all night.

For teething things that are generally extremely effective for us are: *homeopathy: whatever the correct remedy happens to be..belladonna, pulsatilla and chamomilla are the biggies.
*cell salts (mag phos/ferrum phos is GREAT for teething)
*castor oil-wonderful externally on the jaw and up around the ears, especially if you have clove essential oil or hypericum oil.
*hypericum tincture-a wee bit in the mouth is excellent for the nerve pain that accompanies teething.
*in a pinch natural chest rub under the jaw and up around ears can work wonders as well.
*Australian Bush Flower Essences Emergency Essence formula is wonderful for teething pain. It can be given often.

There are other things you can do...but those are places to start. I hope you can find something that works for your wee one.