We try to let the fever run its course... sometimes it goes for 2-3 days. Usually they sit at a steady 38.8 and they are ok with that. I have used this advice as a guide: FEVER

Interestingly the 'common fever' is 38.4 - 39.7. So I wouldn't be too worried at the temps you've listed so far. I do like the advice 'treat the child, not the fever'. I've found with DD that if her temp gets up over 39.3 or so, she starts to get a bit distressed, saying her eyes hurt etc (I get the burning eyes with fevers too.. so I know how that feels) and then we give her something. Otherwise we find their temps do tend to stabilise themselves in the high 38's or low 39 and we let it run and keep their fluids up etc. If there's other symptoms such as sore throat or ears, I take them to the GP to be looked over.

Aside from the advice on that site..
If your child of any age has one or more of the following symptoms, you should probably call your doctor right away:
High fevers of 104 (40 Celcius) or higher that don't come down to 101 or 102 (38.3 to 38.9 Celcius) with the treatment measures below.
Lethargy – this means more than your child just isn't acting right or laying quietly in your arms. Lethargy actually refers to your child being limp, lifeless, unresponsive, or won't make eye contact.
Irritability - this means more than just fussiness. A truly irritable child will cry for hours with minimal verbal interaction, and is almost impossible to console.
Meningitis – symptoms are high fever, stiff neck or pain in the back of the neck, vomiting, headache, bright light hurts the eyes. Before paging your doctor, you should also look up any other symptoms your child has, such as cough, vomiting, rash, etc and read those guidelines to determine your best course of action.
..I would avoid going to emergency. I sat in emergency for a few hours the other night with a friend.. and OMG.. the sickness that came through was awful. People with vomit bags.. kids with TERRIBLE coughs.. I'm sitting there pregnant thinking stay away from me!! I don't need whooping cough right now!!

I hope she feels better soon. I know for myself the worst feeling of a fever is the actual change in temp.. such as the chills as it goes up, so I do try to avoid the fluctuation of temps that panadol etc can do, cos the body is trying to do it's thing and keeps trying to raise the temp once the panadol wears off. Once it settles at a temperature it doesn't feel so bad (for me anyway.. and I know my kids are more miserable if the temp keeps moving too).

HTH