I really like my peds advice on fevers. Here are some excepts......
The Nature of Fever
First, let us think about just what fever is. Fever is a very carefully controlled elevation in body temperature. To have a fever, your body temperature must be greater or equal to 100.80; temperatures below 100.80 may be elevated but are not considered fever. The rise in temperature above 100.80 is the result of actions taken by the body, presumably to defend itself.
Therefore, fever rather than being harmful, is actually an attempt to benefit the body.
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Consider how often the temperature rise with fever actually does lose control and increase beyond the safety line. Almost never. It turns out that despite the very frequent jump to 105.0 in childhood, the body’s temperature almost never reaches to 106.0 or beyond. And so it is more realistic to think of fever as very well-controlled temperature rise within the range of 100-105 degrees. Essentially all fever, then, occurs within a narrow 5 degree range, and is not a sign of loss of temperature control or regulation.
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Fever Temperatures are Safe
Despite widespread fear about the heat of fever causing bodily harm, it turns out no harm is caused by the body temperature elevations to the 105.80 range. Infrequently, any degree of fever may trigger a febrile seizure. Although frightening, this event causes no harm. And, for the vast majority of infants and children who do have a seizure provoked by a fever, the rise in temperature has no impact on any of their organs, including the brain.
Treating Fever
While fever may be harmless, occurs frequently in the context of minor viral illnesses, and very rarely exceeds safe levels; it also turns out to be very safe to treat it. Acetaminophen (in brands such as Tylenol™) and ibuprofen (in brands such as Motrin™) both work well in reducing the extent of fever, and appear to be very safe when given properly.
The key to proper use is not exceeding the dosage. Acetaminophen is given every 4 hours up to 5 times per day, in an amount determined by your child’s weight. Ibuprofen is given every 6-8 hours up to 4 times per day, in an amount determined by your child’s weight.
It is fine to give one of these medications in the proper dosage whenever your child is in pain or uncomfortable from their fever. If fever is present, but your child feels fine, there is no need to give these medications. For the point of treating is to improve comfort, making treatment unnecessary if they are comfortable.
Ibuprofen reduces fever and pain to a greater degree than acetaminophen, but has a greater chance to cause abdominal pain. And so I would recommend you treat most mild discomforts with acetaminophen, reserving use of ibuprofen for when the discomfort is significant. There is good evidence that once you start using either acetaminophen or ibuprofen, there is no further reduction in temperature gained if you use both.
being for fevers. However, I have used IB as a comfort measure... for instance if nothing else is working and they totally aren't getting enough sleep... but even then I just give them a dose at bedtime, and not throughout the night.
