Toddler with high fever - no other symptoms Please reassure me!

[Debobu]

My unvaxed 20 month got a fever yesterday-went from 102 to 103 range today 104.
He doesn't have any other clear symptoms-he does sound a little congested and sounds at times like he has phlegm but no runny nose or cough. He does sound snorty when he sleeps though.
He was very umcomfortable/upset and we broke down and gave him some motrin.

He is responsive and playing and laughing- at times and ate some fruit and drinking and nursing.

Does this make sense? No other clear symptoms???!!
He never had this high a fever before!!!!!

To make matters worse, he has been sick very often lately-a cold, croup, upper respiratory bug and now this in a matter of 6 weeks?

He did get 3 days of steroids with his severe episode of croup.
Could this have weekend his immune system?

Are other kids sick this much? Are we having a bad run?

He is not in daycare and takes vit c and probiotics daily.

We do live in a dense city and go to the playground almost daily or other child activity.

Can you comment? Reassure me?

A very sleep deprived and tired Mama....

[mommariffic]

I think 104 is really, really high?

I would go to the hospital/doctor if it shoots up that high

[nannymom]

My dr who is super relaxed nonalarmist says 104 or higher is worth bringing them in.

I think you're just having a bad run of sickness. It happens in clusters with my kids and I'll thing what is the deal and then we'll have a huge batch of welness.

I don't know if this is true or not but when my dd was a baby her doc at the time told us that some kids get sick once in a season and then never really shake it, it weakens their immune systems, and they just stay a little sick or keep getting sick all season. That has been pretty true with my dd.

I hope your little one feels better. post an update when you get a chance.

[pianojazzgirl]

I don't usually medicate a fever but 103-104 is when i start to get nervous and would probably give some Tylenol. When you gave the Motrin did it work to bring down the fever? If so that is very reassuring. Other than that I would take his general state into consideration, and that too is very reassuring (playing, eating, seeming "like himself" iykwim). My best guess in this case is that it's Roseola and he will have a few days of fever and then break out in a rash.

It sounds like you're doing a great job mama, and I'd say just keep up the good work. Keep him hydrated and comfortable and listen to your gut. If he seems tired and sick, but still acting like himself then that's ok. If he starts to really seem not himself... unresponsive, extremely cranky etc that's when I would give a call to an HCP. Likewise if I medicated a high fever and it didn't come down at all.

And don't forget that this fever is a sign that his immune system is working in the way that it's meant to.

[Debobu]

Toddler with high fever udate

The fever came down and he ate a little bit and played, laughed, jumped with bits of crankinness here and there. I hope this means whatever he has is not too serious. We will take him to dr tomorrow. I am scared what will happen when motrin wears off.
He just fell asleep. I am feeling very anxious though.
Thanks for the suport

[Crazybean]

If you feel uncomfortable with a fever of 104, alternate him between motrin and tylenol. Give him plenty of liquids...

The good sign is he sounds like he is still acting "normal" and that the fever is responsive to fever reducers. Also, you want to make sure his fever isn't going to spike suddenly so watch for that...

Is he pulling at his ear or trying to chomp on things more than usual? Last time DS has a high fever, he has an ear infection and had no other symptoms. The time before that he was teething. From my experience with my sons, non vaccinated kids spike really high to "kill" off the germs/bacteria/virus for a few days then are back to normal.

[pianojazzgirl]

Originally Posted by Debobu

The fever came down and he ate a little bit and played, laughed, jumped with bits of crankinness here and there. I hope this means whatever he has is not too serious. We will take him to dr tomorrow. I am scared what will happen when motrin wears off.
He just fell asleep. I am feeling very anxious though.
Thanks for the suport

I know how scary it can be when they're sick mama. Really and truly I think it is very very good that he is acting normally (besides the crankiness you'd expect of someone sick), and also that the motrin is working to bring down the fever. From everything I've read these are the 2 big indicators of whether a fever is something to worry about or not. You might want to check the section about fevers on the Dr Sears website. It's very reassuring.

[PAgreenmama]

my dd (2yrs) broke out in a really high fever (101-103) a few weeks ago. she was not acting the least bit sick so we never medicated her but after 3 days of this we ended up taking her to the ped (mostly because we planned to leave for the beach that weekend and wanted to know if it was ok to take her with such a fever). it turned out she had hand, foot and mouth. he spotted a few ulcers in her throat (they didn't seem to be bothering her at all) and he said that after 4 days the fever should break and she'd be fine. we left for the beach that afternoon and the fever never returned... so maybe hand, foot and mouth? it's not serious and extremely common and contagious. i have no idea where my daughter picked it up... she hadn't been around any other kids leading up to it.

i had one reading of 104 at the start of her fever but it never reached quite that high again. if he's eating, drinking, crying, playing... acting normal... i would just watch very closely.

good luck with everything... sick kiddos are no fun!!

[Anastasiya]

Our three year old just got over two days and nights of a fever of 104.8 with no other symptoms. The doc couldn't find anything wrong with him, so it was perhaps just a virus. He played well and ate great when we gave him meds, though the fever came back full force within five hours once they'd worn off.

He's fine now. No clue what it was!

[EdnaMarie]

Originally Posted by Crazybean

If you feel uncomfortable with a fever of 104, alternate him between motrin and tylenol. Give him plenty of liquids...

.

I would strongly encourage you to do liquids and baths and if the fever is spiking, to take him in. If you keep him on meds the whole time, you will be unable to gauge the true pattern of the fever, and the way the fever spikes and wanes can tell a good doctor about the infection and the nature of the fever.

My daughter (fully vaccinated, or nearly at that time) got an URI at 16 months and it was similar. She literally had no other symptoms, although she'd had a bad cough weeks earlier.

A lot of times, pneumonia will present with only fatigue and a fever, and in a small child, only a fever.

I used to think, "Oh, fever's the body's way of healing," but at 104 and up (even though I know she gets high fevers, some children do) I'm taking my kids in.

My 2 c... I hope he gets better!

[ssh]

As long as you can keep the temperature under control with the motrin it's ok. If a child has a temperature of 104 and you can't get it down you need to bring them in. I think if a toddler has a fever more than three days you're supposed to take them to the doctor.

My DD did have a high temperature with roseola. When she was still breastfeeding she often just had a fever instead of any other symptoms. The whole family would get the flu and she'd have a fever for 3 days. Anytime her temperature reached over 102 I'd medicate.

[tangledblue]

My DD had a high fever with no other symptoms and they never did figure it out, but doc did have us run some bloodwork to screen out Kawasaki. Rare, but may be worth ruling out.

[globe-trotter]

My son has only been "sick" one time. He has a fever (ran mainly at 103 but spiked at 104.8). He had NO other issues. He was a tired but otherwise happy and playful. I would put him in a luke warm bath and let him play in it while it cooled every time it went over 104, Gave him extra Vit D and extra probiotics and encouraged some extra nursing- and it was all gone in 12hrs. I still have no idea WHAT gave him the temp though. I never did motrin/tylenol because he was acting fine and didn't seem to need any pain relief. I did call the dr when it hit 104.8 and he said as long as there was no other issues then to let him just have the fever and bring him in if it hit 106 or some symptoms show up. (he was 9 months at the time and we are non-vax here also).
Since your little one sounds a little icky in the lungs I would go in for that or if it lasted more than 3days.
hope he gets better soon!

[EdnaMarie]

Please update, I keep thinking about your child. I hope it passed on its own.

[junipervt]

DD had a fever like that last Nov. turned out she had a UTI.

[Thing1Thing2]

[QUOTE=Crazybean;15713077]If you feel uncomfortable with a fever of 104, alternate him between motrin and tylenol. Give him plenty of liquids...QUOTE]

A study from the British Medical Journal found the following results: Giving ibuprofen AND acetaminophen in rotating doses over a 24 hour period only brought the body temperature down for 1.5 hours more than giving just ibuprofen around the clock for 24 hours. Alternating between Tylenol and Motrin can cause some an overdose.

I would say don't give him any more drugs and just wait it out. If his fever goes up again you can use a lukewarm washcloth on the armpits, forehead and genital areas to keep it down. If it goes very high again, then you may want to take him in to the doctor.

Hope he's ok.

[baglady]

My LO had something similar sounding at 11 months. His fever got up to 105 (at 12 am). We ended up in the emergency room. Luckily the nurse on duty had worked for years at a children's hospital and told us with really high fevers tylenol and motrin can be given together to knock the fever down then alternated. That's what they did with DS and it worked. One or the other alone did NOT bring the fever down. This is a tactic to be used when they aren't working singularly and the fever is extremely high. I would probably not do it at home. They stripped him and gave him the meds first thing.

After a few days of high fever, he got a rash so we're fairly certain he had roseola. However, they did check him for viral pneumonia via x-ray. I was told (as another poster mentioned) that pneumonia can present no other symptoms in little ones.

I know how scary it is, but I think a visit to the doctor is needed here.

[Mosaic]

My DD runs really hot when she's sick... we've seen 104 underarm many times, and our doc says not to bring her in until it passes 105. I do medicate (with tylenol or motrin) when it's 103 or higher even if she's acting normal because I do get nervous. 9 times out of 10, she sleeps it off in a day or two. Once she had been fighting a minor cold for a couple of days, playing and happy as could be, but even with meds we couldn't get the temp below 102. As others have said, it was pneumonia with no real symptoms other than the fever.

[Debobu]

Update Fever without symptoms

Thanks everyone for the support!!!
Sorry I am just updating....

My son ended up having the Cocsakie-foot-mouth disease.
WE actually ended up taking him into the ER on sunday eve when the fever got to 104.5 and he was inconsolable- I told my husband I had enough worry and that I wanted to take him in.
It was stressful but we are glad we did. WE were able to relax once we knew what he had.

Thanks everyone! Hope all your LO are happy and healthy!!!!