Anyone here? High fever

[neonalee]

Sorry for bad tapatalk formatting. Ds woke with a fever today. He's been acting mostly normal, more cranky & clingy. diapers are wet, plenty of water & nursing. Following are my notes from today. temps taken using a rectal thermometer. just looking for opinions, wwyd?

Fever
7:10am 102
Ibuprofen, less than recommended
Half hour nap
1025am 98.5
2.5 hour nap
415pm 101.6
Half hour nap
630-7pm Nursing, crawling around room
8pm 103.3
Ibuprofen
Nursing, sleep



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[pbjmama]

As long as his fever is responding to meds and his symptoms don't get worse I wouldn't do anything. I don't medicate for fevers unless my child is in pain or can't settle to rest. Fever rising in the afternoon/evening is very typical. Keep nursing, make sure he stays hydrated, etc.

[neonalee]

Oh thank you! I completely forgot about rising in the afternoon. I always say i won't mediate for fever but get over 101 & I get scared. he is sleeping & nursing nursing nursing now (boob is getting numb lol).

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[carmel23]

Young children can actually tolerate very high temps. Talk to your ped. about the 101-- I think this age it is 103... where you need to worry. But ask you ped. cause every child is different

And yes--as long as the fever reducer reduces, you are find. .Otherwise it could be a urinary tract infection, etc. where you do need immediate doctor attention. 

[neonalee]

Well, slept fora bit & he feels hot again. It's been about 6 hours. he did feel cooler before sleep after the last dose. Maybe I should hisdoc but I know he will just say bring him to the er.

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[McGucks]

Just popped in to mention that my doc doesn't even mention E.R. unless DS2 (16 mo.) has a sustained fever or 104+ that isn't responding to fever-reducing meds.  Little people can get scary high fevers without being in need of hospital services.

Our LO had 104.2 this week and Tylenol brought it WAY down and changed him from being completely out of it to being his normal wild self.

Hope your baby gets to feeling better.

[sosurreal09]

If he has no other symptoms I would venture to say it's an ear infection. You could use garlic muellin oil 2x a day 3 drops in each ear and let the fever run and do it's job. This usually works for us.

Otherwise you can take him in and get an antibiotic.

Either way you could take him in to confirm it.

[Super~Single~Mama]

My 2.5yo has had high fevers before - but his high fevers are like 105 (temp taken in the ER after febrile seizures at 19mo), and the latest was 103.7 (taken in his ear - likely that was a low reading).

I alternate between tylenol and motrin every 3 hours - I do not give less than the recommended dose, I give the full dose.

We do go into urgent care when this happens, b/c I want to make sure he doesn't have an ear infection or something like that.  But, he's never had an ear infection at all.

[neonalee]

Thanks for the replies mamas. He is at 104.3 this morning. gave more ibuprofen. Thats all we have & our dropper isn't fine enough for the specific dose. need to get another. I suspect ear infection. Taking him to his doc when they open for confirmation. Unfortunately his pro bf, OK with non-Vax (we delay) doc isn't in on Saturday so we get to meet someone else.

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[neonalee]

What is garlic muellin oil? Can I get it at whole foods or trader Joe?

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[Toposlonoshlep]

They have it at whole foods.

Originally Posted by neonalee 

What is garlic muellin oil? Can I get it at whole foods or trader Joe?

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[sosurreal09]

They sell it at Whole foods but I get a really good one at The Vitamin Shoppe. It has a goose on it. It has cleared up quite a few ear infections for us and it helps the pain (IDK why it helps the pain but it does). Garlic is an antibacterial/antifungal so it will clear a bacterial ear infection (the ones that produce a fever). The mullein oil is a flower extract that just enhances it as far as I know.

I would give a fever reducer past 103. They also sell Kids Relief pain and fever at The Vitamin Shoppe which is homeopathic too. I have noticed it doesn't seem to reduce my DD's fevers all that much but I see that as a good thing, like it lowers it enough that I'm not scared but it's high enough to fight it off. It also relieves the pain.

Good luck!

[Toposlonoshlep]

Mullein is a pain reliever. 

The one we get from Whole Foods that works has a yellow label and is made by Herb Pharm.

Originally Posted by sosurreal09 

They sell it at Whole foods but I get a really good one at The Vitamin Shoppe. It has a goose on it. It has cleared up quite a few ear infections for us and it helps the pain (IDK why it helps the pain but it does). Garlic is an antibacterial/antifungal so it will clear a bacterial ear infection (the ones that produce a fever). The mullein oil is a flower extract that just enhances it as far as I know.

I would give a fever reducer past 103. They also sell Kids Relief pain and fever at The Vitamin Shoppe which is homeopathic too. I have noticed it doesn't seem to reduce my DD's fevers all that much but I see that as a good thing, like it lowers it enough that I'm not scared but it's high enough to fight it off. It also relieves the pain.

Good luck!

[neonalee]

No ear infection, no strep. he said most likely a respiratory infection. Go ahead with ibuprofen as needed if goes over 101, fevers usually take a few days, & keep an eye on how he was acting. At home he was crawling around for about a half hour then got cranky again. They did the forehead temp & it was 99. Something. just checked now & back at 102.3. gave more ibuprofen & nursing down now. I will have dp look for that homeopathic fever reducer. any other things that would help? I don't want to keep giving ibuprofen if I can avoid it.

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[neonalee]

OK, he nurse/slept for an hour and is still sleeping now.  Did some reading and probably shouldn't have given him the extra dose of ibuprofen so soon.  Too late now.  I'll just keep an eye on him.  He's still warm, but not hot, though he did leave a huge sweat spot on the bed.  Poor baby   Thankfully DP should be home from work in the next hour or 2.

[pbjmama]

Is there something specific you are scared of if his fever gets high? Even when my dd was over 104 and ped said cool her down but she doesn't need meds (she was vomiting so meds were out anyway). Because I did not medicate I was able to follow the course of her illness and determine that she did need to be seen and it turned out she had pneumonia and a serious strep infection. I feel that fever up and down is confusing and doesn't gauge how sick the kid is really. They feel better so they get active and it is a bad cycle, illness lingers. On the other hand I did medicate when my ds had hand foot mouth, once he had a dx I knew the illness needed to run its course but he was in so much pain that the only thing to do to keep him comfortable and able to rest was alternating ibuprofen and Tylenol.

Not medicating isn't the right choice for every family but I do think it is important to understand why or why not to give meds. It would be a good conversation to have with your doctor.

I would really encourage you to use the proper dosage and follow the specific instructions with meds. Do you have the dispenser that came with the ibuprofen?

[amberskyfire]

I talked to our pediatrician when DD got her first fever and this is what he told me:

Fevers are good and in many cases, life-saving. A fever is not an illness or even really a symptom of an illness. A fever is an immune response. It's sort of the body's last ditch effort to fight what it's having trouble getting rid of. By raising the body's temperature, it prevents incubation of bacteria and viruses. If you lower the fever, you are prolonging the illness by allowing it to reproduce and preventing the body from curing itself, possibly making your child more ill.

He told me not to worry about a fever unless it reached 104 at which point I should give ibuprofen. If DD did not respond to the medicine, only then should I take her to see him or to the emergency room for assistance. Otherwise, he said that high fevers are okay, even good. "Just don't let it get over 104" is what he told me.

Since then, I have been "feeding" her fevers, as they say, making sure not to try and lower it unless it gets high. Her fevers have been pretty short-lived. She will usually have a high fever for a short period of time and then seems to burn off whatever it is. The only other time I give  ibuprofen is if DD is really miserable and unable to sleep all night. Sometimes I think it's more important for her to get a little rest, so I'll give her a dose so she can sleep.

(and one old-fashioned treatment for reducing fever is to uncover and wash baby's feet with vinegar water - dunno if it helps, but people used to swear by it)

[neonalee]

Thanks for the info & experiences. I do know what the fever is for, but are right, it isa fear response. I'm afraid he'll havea seizure & get brain damage. I know I'm overreacting, but there it is. my doc isn't available until Monday & the one we saw today said to give the ibuprofen if it went over 101. so I did. I think I should've waited to see if it went higher again. you're points are well taken.


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[neonalee]

Oh, and I'm going to get another ibuprofen so I will have the right dispenser.


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[Dazedstella]

I didn't read all the posts and I don't know where you are located but I wanted to let you know we have had a funny cold going around the toddler circle in VT/NH area that is a highish fever 101-103 for like 36 hours with not much else for symptoms and then just some whiny/cranky behavior for another couple of days. DD got it last week and then kindly shared it with me. (Oh you want to share my fork/drink/pillow child?)

Another thought is it could be roseola, which has a high fever 103-104ish for 2 or 3 days (i think, we had it last summer and I can't remember exact details) with not much else for symptoms followed by a rash on the chest/back area, sometimes extending down onto the legs. Harmless rash, doesn't itch and once it's gone your child is immune.

GTG toddler destruction