3 weeks old and a fever

[Acacia]

Our family has been sick for the past week, myself included. I had a fever of 102, body aches and just felt horrid. Last night my 3 week old became very fussy and I noticed that when she latched on her mouth was warmer than normal on the nipple. I took a temp with this new forehead thermometer and it was 100.1. She was fussy all night long. She is nursing just fine and has been having wet and poopy diapers just like normal. Temp this morning was 100.9 and I just took it and it is down to 99.5. When should I be alarmed with an infant having a fever? After having a homebirth I just want to keep her away from germy doctors offices and hospitals and I don't want to give her med's unless it is absolutly necessary...she's just so tiny!

[holly6737]

Our ped. told us that if our baby was less than 3 months, with temp over 100.4 rectally, to call asap. The big things they are worried about are pneumonia and meningitis I believe, but if you've all been sick then you kind of know what's going on, right? If you just take her to the ER she'll probably get the full work up, including possibly a hospial stay until they get the blood cultures back.

[olive&pimiento]

I would definately call the ped. Little babies cannot isolate infection like older children, and the risks are especially high in those less than 6 weeks.

[Reha]

i would be very wary of trusting those sort of thermometers....they are notoriously inaccurate. Personally, I would take the temp rectally before I would make any decisions.

With that said, if your mama instinct tells you something is wrong, you should contact your care provider.

[Acacia]

Thanks for the responses. I ended up waiting it out and he fever is gone. She isn't as fussy so I am positive it was just a touch of what I had. She hasn't stopped nursing through it all. My mama instinct was telling me she was fine, but I have never had a sick newborn! I guess that's what happens when you have a 3.5 year old in preschool that brings all kinds of nastiness home!