Sick kid advice needed

[janetplanet20]

My son's had a fever all day. He was a little warm last night, but not hot. He was hot most of the day today, though he cooled off with Tylenol and a long nap. We couldn't find the thermometer until a few minutes ago, so idk what his temp was all day. I just took his temp and it's 102*.
I gave him another dose of Tylenol and he's asleep. When should I call worry/call the dr? He's one and a half and this is his first real fever.

[eb777888]

I guess I'd worry if the fever didn't come down with medicine or if he was acting lethargic. David has since grown out of it, but he was a big fever-runner when he was sick. Sometimes for several days in a row. I think when it got to 103.5, I freaked out because that was rare for him.

Can you give him Ibuprofen at this age? I honestly don't remember. I do remember Tylenol was okay, but it didn't do nearly as much as Ibuprofen.

[Deleted]

Does he have any other symptoms? A fever following a cold could be an ear infection, for example.

I know it's a holiday weekend but I'd call the doctor in the morning if no improvmemt. Pretty much every fever we dealt with at that age was a "she needs antibiotics" type of situation (usually ear-related.)

[lilac05]

I always worry (needlessly) about fevers. I call the doctor & they always tell me not to worry about it until it gets above a certain number (which I'm not certain about and don't want to give you bad advice) or he starts acting lethargic or it lasts more than 72 hours (I think). If your child is truly lethargic, you'll know. It's scary and is much different than tired/not feeling well/long nap.

Most doctors and nurses will tell you that fevers are actually a good thing because it means they are fighting something. Our doc says to medicate for fevers only for the child's comfort, not to make the number go down. If they're comfortable, they're OK with a fever. You can use ibuprofen at his age, and that's usually my first choice for fevers. If it's really high, you can alternate Tylenol and ibuprofen, but my doc doesn't recommend it unless you're SUPER careful about documenting the med/dose/time and only have one parent giving it to the child. She said there are too many instances of kids accidentally getting overdosed.

I have started using the thermometer only very rarely with my boys. If they're warm but acting pretty normal, I just let it run its course. If they feel REALLY hot or if they're acting miserable, I'll take it. I've found that I just worry otherwise.

[janetplanet20]

Nov 29, 2014 0:02:52 GMT -5 @linzercookie said:

Does he have any other symptoms? A fever following a cold could be an ear infection, for example.

I know it's a holiday weekend but I'd call the doctor in the morning if no improvmemt. Pretty much every fever we dealt with at that age was a "she needs antibiotics" type of situation (usually ear-related.)

He's got a stuffy/runny nose and a cough.

[janetplanet20]

Nov 29, 2014 0:04:42 GMT -5 lilac05 said:

I always worry (needlessly) about fevers. I call the doctor & they always tell me not to worry about it until it gets above a certain number (which I'm not certain about and don't want to give you bad advice) or he starts acting lethargic or it lasts more than 72 hours (I think). If your child is truly lethargic, you'll know. It's scary and is much different than tired/not feeling well/long nap.

Most doctors and nurses will tell you that fevers are actually a good thing because it means they are fighting something. Our doc says to medicate for fevers only for the child's comfort, not to make the number go down. If they're comfortable, they're OK with a fever. You can use ibuprofen at his age, and that's usually my first choice for fevers. If it's really high, you can alternate Tylenol and ibuprofen, but my doc doesn't recommend it unless you're SUPER careful about documenting the med/dose/time and only have one parent giving it to the child. She said there are too many instances of kids accidentally getting overdosed.

I have started using the thermometer only very rarely with my boys. If they're warm but acting pretty normal, I just let it run its course. If they feel REALLY hot or if they're acting miserable, I'll take it. I've found that I just worry otherwise.

Thanks for this. He was acting like his regular go, go, go self most of the day today. And he actually ate dinner tonight; he's had a very poor appetite the past few days and has been refusing to eat for the most part.

[tdk2]

Glad to see this post. I was about to post. J has had a fever like this last night . We were verging on taking him to the hospital. We got it down a bit w cool cloths and tepid bath and alternating ibuprofen and TYlenol. I've been to the hospital In town myself but never had to take a kid in there and there isn't a pediatrician in town. It's always a little different taking care of medical care in a diff country so I'm hoping his fever stays low and goes away soon. He was better today but right at 5pm temp rose and he got uncomfortable . So sad to see sad baby