Soothing a toddler with a temperature
Jacob is unwell ATM and running a temperature, the poor little sausage. We've taken him to the Doctor who thinks he has a virus and that we need to keep an eye on him and give him panadol and offer plenty of fluids (the latter is easier said than done!). I can honestly say that Jacob has never ran a temperature before, so this is all new to me, and quite scary.
We're giving him panadol 4-hourly and keeping him cool as much as we can, but he's off his food and fluids, with the exception of the odd bit of milk and a bit of yoghurt here and there. I thought that being hot he would want his water, but he just won't have it, so I've been offering him bottles of milk as it's the only thing he's currently not refusing (although he's not having much per bottle). He normally only has 1 bottle of milk at bedtime per day, but since he's not wanting anything else, I'm more than happy to give him a bottle whenever he wants it!! Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to get food and fluids into him? I'm more concerned about the fluids at this stage....I know a day or so without much food and he will be ok, but the same can't be said for fluids! He won't eat anything really cold like icy poles etc which would obviously reduce his core temperature a bit - he seems to dislike things this cold (always has).
He becomes really upset whenever I try to do something to cool him down, e.g. a tepid bath or putting a cool face washer on his forehead. All he wants to do is to be held, which is fine, except it makes him hotter, and he's having a lot of problems sleeping and is just soooo tired.
Can anybody suggest anything else that I can try to soothe him and to help him sleep?
He's just in bed with a nappy on - nothing else ATM, but I'm sure that before long I'll take him to bed with us, like we did last night as the poor little sausage just couldn't settle and wanted to be with us for cuddles.