If your child has had the flu ...

[goldengirlz]

... how did it start?

DD has a low-grade fever and has been complaining of head and ear pain. Because she gets a lot of ear infections, I took her to the doctor, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with her. She said it could be a regular cold ... or the start of the flu.

I know we just have to wait and see but I thought the hallmark of the flu is that it comes on fast and furious.

[bcv513]

It came on so fast. C fell asleep for a nap perfectly fine and woke up an hour later with a temp of 103. It was a weekend, and snowing, so I panicked and went to urgent care. She tested positive for Flu A and B and was able to start Tamiflu that night.

C has had a few colds that sound like your DD - runny nose, pulling at ear, low grade fever. Hopefully she feels better soon

[jenny1223]

DS1 (7) got it a couple weeks ago. His started with a headache, chills, and feeling tired. (He took an afternoon nap which NEVER happens so I knew something was up!) I got it a few days later and felt like it took 5-6 hours to fully hit me.

[vtdiamond]

It was pretty quick for us. Both kids got very sleepy and took a nap which they rarely do, then woke up with fevers around 102/103 and started coughing a lot.

[zarapipe]

Fine in the morning. Daycare called at 12 that she had a 101 fever. Quickly progressed and it was 103.8 by the time we got her to urgent care at 6pm. She couldn’t walk at that point bc she was tired and sore.

[loira]

Started with one instance of vomitting. Turned into complaints of her ears hurting. We actually thought it was an infection but nope. Several days of high fevers, lethargy and congestion later we realized it was probably the flu.

[goldengirlz]

Liking as a thank you, not as a “like,” of course!

I hope all your kids had an easy recovery. No change in DD so far, still plugging along at 100 with no symptoms except head and ear pain ...

[CloudBee]

It came on SO fast. He went from fine, to a 104 fever.

Around 24 hrs later, though, he was back to himself and fever-free. (Though tired.)

The drastic fever that I couldn't get down with Tylenol was the only reason I brought him to the pediatrician / to get tested. (He's immunosuppressed, so I had to take him in.)

Thankfully he didn't have any of the respiratory issues that often coincide.

[chickadee77]

L's had it twice in the past - twice in one year Like others said, it came on pretty fast. She went from just being maybe a little tired and cranky but playing, etc. to 104 fever. We only found out once the fever was down that it was flu, because we were traveling both times and didn't want to go to the ER in a different city and pick up who-knows-what, when we were able to control it with meds. Ugh. Good luck.

[sunflower17]

The flu is so high in our area that my pediatrician has a very low threshold to swab for it. I’m not sure if that’s the norm. Dd was swabbed (negative) when she was having fevers (that ended up being a reaction from her MMR) even though she didn’t have anything else going on at that time.
I know that’s not what you asked, I just wish your dr could have swabbed so you’d know for sure.

[L]

Fever, tired for 5yr old. The older kid had a dry cough to start.

[goldengirlz]

Yeah, I’m thinking if it were the flu, we would know by now. My pedi said she’s seen tons of flu cases where we are, which is probably why it was on her mind. (She did say that most kids looked A LOT sicker.) It stinks that this year’s vaccine didn’t cover all the strains, and that so many kids have gotten sick.

[Deleted]

It came on really quick. We were out walking with him around the neighborhood with him at 10am, he started coughing at 11am, and had 103 fever by 12:30pm. I was shocked and glad he wasn't at school when he came down with it.