fever starting after two weeks of a cold?

[sunwise]

Hi all,

I hope someone can give me some perspective or reassurance here. I always get super-worried when DS has a fever because the very first time he ever had one, he ended up with pneumonia! That experience kind of traumatized me (even though he responded very well to treatment and didn't go to the ER or anything).

My 14-month old DS has had a cold that's been hanging around for maybe 2 weeks now. He has a runny nose (clear) and a junky-sounding cough (mostly just in the morning and evening). After a horrible night where he could barely sleep, he saw his pediatrician on Oct. 17 and was diagnosed with a double ear infection - he finishes up his 10-day course of antibiotics today.

So, l had been feeling like the cold was getting better because the nose stopped actively running (he still sounds congested but nothing is coming out) and his cough was getting less frequent (although still junky). Then last night I noticed that he felt hot and his temperature was around 101-101.4. He didn't sleep very well last night either. Temp this morning was 100.6. DH took him back to the pediatrician today - I was thinking that his antibiotic had not cleared up the ear infection. Well, turns out his ears are fine (and no signs of pneumonia) and the pediatrician just thinks the fever is happening because this cold has been hanging around so long. She advised us to treat the fever only if DS seems miserable, and to come back if it is still there in 72 hours.

Has anyone experienced something like this? It seems weird to me to have a fever start up after the cold has already started. I've never dealt with an "unexplained" fever before, so I am nervous. Anyone have advice or ways to get through the next few days?

[katroshka]

Well, reading the first half of your post I was going to say "pneumonia"! But I guess not, though it could still be developing. All I can say is that fevers can be mysterious things and don't necessarily mean anything scary. Your ped's advice sounds good to me. I will add, though you are probably already aware, that if he seems super miserable, or lethargic, and fever reducer doesn't help then you should take him in again.

Good luck, I know how stressful this kind of thing can be! When DD2 was about 11 months she had a fever for a month while she was teething (8 teeth in a month, ouch!), but we never really found out if it was the teeth or what, and it was usually 101 which seems high for teething... like I said, fevers can be weird.

[sunwise]

I guess it is true that fevers can be weird! DS's temp stayed steady for most of the day yesterday (upper 100s to lower 101s), but he wasn't miserable so we didn't treat it until bedtime to help him sleep. About an hour before bed, we gave him some tylenol and then let him play in a lukewarm bath. (The bath really cheered him up too, which was a bonus!) By the time I was nursing him before bed, his head no longer felt obviously feverish. I felt his head intermittently throughout the night as well, and the temp never went back up. This morning he was normal, so I am cautiously optimistic that the fever broke. Not sure what it was, but at least it ended!

[mkksmom]

My thought was that maybe he picked up another viral infection. I agree that unless your gut tells you otherwise, just watching ans waiting is best. Also wanted to make sure you know it's best to take probiotics after abx.

[pianojazzgirl]

Normally I'd say secondary infection, but it sounds like the ped has ruled that out.  The pp might be right that he just happened to pick up another virus as he was getting over the cold (bad luck!).

Hopefully he's well on the way to recovery by now.  Take the pp's advice about the probiotics too if you aren't already. 

[sunwise]

Maybe it was another virus....I can report at this point his fever has been down (normal) for the past 24 hours, so I think he is through the worst of it. He was also acting normal today - not so fussy and clingy. He was very smiley and playful. I am still keeping my eyes on his cough, but I think that it is getting better.

DH has actually had the same cold as DS for the past couple of weeks, and he has told me that his just got worse today. Maybe they are going through the same course of an illness?

I will definitely make sure DS gets his probiotics. Thankfully, he loves eating yogurt, so I try to give him some every day. But we have had issues in the past with yeast diaper rashes after antibiotics before, so we are pretty diligent about making sure he gets his probiotics.