14w with fever

Hi All

DD has had a fever all day long. She woke up at 3.30am last night screaming with a temp of 38.8. I gave her panadol and a full bottle and she went back to sleep. She has slept on and off all day but everytime the panadol wears off, the fever comes back. It just hit 39degrees then and I have her the last lot of panadol I can give today. I have also given her a bath to cool her down. Last week the same thing happened (but she only had the fever that one time at 1.30am in the morning) and the GP said she has a sore throat. She was fine until today.

What should I do now since I can't give her any more panadol (if the fever continues)? I know if it hits 40 I should take her to the hospital, I think?

hi Mel,

This must be frightening - especially if it is the first time your baby has had an ongoing fever.

The thing to remember is that fever alone isn't necessarily anything to be concerned about - it is the body's natural way of fighting infection etc. Having said this, if the fever persists for more than 24 hrs, a trip to the GP is probably a good idea.

Ways to bring down baby's temp include a tepid bath (not too cold or you will make her shiver which actually increases the body temp).

Strip down to nappy only

Wipe down regularly with a cool facewasher.

Don't forget to keep offering the breast if BFing or to offer cool boiled water if bottle feeding.

Does your DD have any other symptoms?

MG