TEMP OF 38.9 What should I do?

DD woke up this morning at about 7am and was feeling really hot so I gave her some panadol.

At 9am she went down for her morning nap and has just woken up (4.5hrs!!!! later) and she was boiling hot all over!!!

She was sleeping on top of her covers and her room isnt hot, just her. I have never felt her this hot all over so i took her temp with the digital under her armpit and it came back as 38.9!

Excuse my ignorance but this isnt good is it?

I have given her some more panadol and stripped her down and she has had plenty of boobie milk but I am a bit worried.

The thing is, it doesnt appear to be worrying her, she's crawling around but that is a massive sleep even by her standards and the temp is worrying.

Any ideas what I should do????

You are doing the right thing.

Keep offering her the breast and fluids
Keep her surroundings cool
Keep and eye on her
Keep up the panadol.

She may just be fighting something off so the temp is her bodies way of fighting the bug.

If she is otherwise happy I'd just keep doing what you are doing. If ithe temp won't come down or she doesn't seem right, might be worth a trip to the GP.

HTH
Spring

Thanks Spring xo Thinking of you today :hug:

Cool baths also might help.
xx

Ali, keep in mind that a fever alone is not something to necessarily be concerned about. Fever is the body's natural response to fighting various things including pain, infections, and general illness. If she is otherwise happy, I would be disinclined to automatically reach for panadol. Whilst it is a high temp, it is not detrimental. See if you can perhaps bring the temp down through stripping her down and cooling her environment.

A tepid bath is a good way to reduce fever. However, you need to make sure it isn't too cold. The body's natural response to being too cold is to shiver... which actually increases temperature. So cool flannels to forhead, back of neck, groin, back of knees is a good way to help. Don't put anything wet on her if she is in an air conditioned room or in front of a fan.

HTH

MG

Okay well she slept another 2.5hours this arvo!! That's massive considering she had a big 4.5hour sleep this morning!! She was only up for an hour and then went back to bed.

When she woke from her arvo nap her temp was 38.7degrees and she was boinling hot. I ran a tepid bath and that helped to cool her down a bit but she just wanted cuddles.

She has had lots of water and milk today and did managed to have some vegemite sandwich for lunch and a milk arrowroot biscuit.

I did try to give her some panadol again this arvo but she wasnt happy about it and I think only about 0.5mL went in her mouth.

I am about to go in her room and take her temp again.

Anymore advice??? She is just sleeping in a nappy and singlet on top of the covers.

Is she teething by any chance?

It sounds as though she is becoming more agitated although her temp is reducing. Are her glands inflamed? If she still has a fever in the morning, I'd possibly get her checked out by your GP but otherwise, you're doing a brilliant job! Keep up the good work! I know it's tiring and hard when they're not well - especially when all we want to do is make it better for them - but you're doing brilliant!

:hug: MG

Thanks MG :hug:

Just re-teasted and its 39.1

She doesnt have any teeth yet so could be a possibility but I cant feel any.

SHe jsut feels so hot. I might go run another bath for her

your doing a great job hun haven't got any more advise from all the advise that u have already been given, i hope ur beautiful girl gets better soon, xx

If you really need to get panadol into her and she refuses it - you could try suppositories. You just need to get over the whole sticking you finger a wee bit into their bottom... Keep up the fluids and keeping her cool.

Hang in there!

In this situation I would give ibuprofen as well as the panadol (the two are safe taken together). Usually I would give panadol, then ibuprofen 2 or 3 hours later, then panadol after another couple of hours, etc etc.

Also cool baths, a fan in her room, lots of cool liquids, a cold cloth on her body, etc etc. I know this is scary but if it is any consolation my boytwin gets this often and it always resolves after a day or two.

I experienced this recently with my DS and we went to the emergency room when his temp got over 39 (I measured 39.2 and it was 39.8 when taken at the hossy) It turned out he had a UTI and we were admitted for IV antibiotics for 36hrs till they identified the bug and could have orals. He had no other symptoms but the fever but I'm gald I took him in. As the fever is increasing I would go to the doc or the ED.

Okay just got her down again. She had a 10minute bath in tepid water.

Dressed her in just a nappy and gave her another breastfeed and had a cool face washer on her chest while she was feeding.

Have put her back to bed with the fan on in her room and she went down straight away.

She is having normal wet nappies and is not crying or screaming. I managed to get about 1mL of panadol in. I dont have any nurofen. When should I take her temp again? If she is sleeping should I just leave her??

Thanks for all of your advice. I amr eally hoping it is just teeth coming through. If it is then I ahve to say she is coping remarkably well. Just her mummy that is struggling

Hun you are doing so well. Your doing everything you should be doing.
Keep checking her regularly. Is she irritated or just sleepy??
Definatly second the trip to the dr in the morning if her temp is still up. Wet nappies indicates shes not dehydrated which is a good thing.

Keep up the good work hun. :hug: xx

Thanks for your kind words and your advice Sunshine :hug:

She doesnt appear irritated, just sleepy. She had heaps of water today. I'd say 2 full cups with her straw and lots of breastfeeds.

Keep checking her temp during the night as it seems to always go up at night. Def use suppositories as they are a sure way of getting the meds into her. If the panadol does not bring the fever down then def try the Nurofen. I normally have to give them both to DD2 if her fever won't come down. I've always been told to take a baby to the dr if a fever is over 38.5 for more than 2 days and definately if over 39. Remember that she could have a febile convulsion if the fever goes too high although this is scary it does not do any harm. Good luck. I know how stressfull it can be if your child is sick.

Just to clarify for you - neurofen isn't designed to reduce fever. It is analgesia (pain relief). The reason neurofen reduces a fever is due to any discomfort the person may be in (a natural response to pain is for body temp to increase).

If you going to administer neurofen please make sure they have food in their tummy first if possible (whether it be a BF, FF, or solids).

If you are going to give BOTH panadol and neurofen, the current recommendation from Melb's RCH (and I'll explain why) is to administer BOTH at the SAME TIME and then to repeat at the longest interval (neurofen is 6hrly, panadol is 4-6hrly, so give at 6hrly). They say to do this because they are two very different medications which target different receptors in the brain. If you stagger the administration, it confuses the brain and actually cuts off the first medications receptors. For example, if I gave panadol now and in two hours neurofen, the neurofen would stop the panadol signals from getting to the brain . This means you're cutting short the effect of the panadol. Did that make sense? If not, I'm happy to reword...

In relation to when should you take a temp again - it can take up to 30 min for oral medication to take effect - so I'd wait at least half an hour.

You are doing a GREAT job hon. How is she this morning?

Thanks for that info MG. Very handy to know.

Well she only just woke up 10 minutes ago (so she had a massive 14.5hour sleep last night) and her temp is back down to 36.7. Phewww! She was sitting up playing in her cot with her toys when i heard ger tthis morning. so cute!!!

Thank you to everyone for your support and advice. I would ahve been lost without your help. DP says thank you as well as you girls all kept me calm and helped me to help DD. :grouphug:

Oh that's wonderful! I hope she stays well now and the fever doesn't return. Well done and enjoy the day!

GREAT news!!!! And isn't that what is so brilliant about BB? Go enjoy your day!

Well done Ali, I was in here checking on her.

Must have been the days for it. I finally took my little guy to ED last night after 48hrs of temps over 39. They reckoned it was viral and sent me home to continue what I was doing....even though they said he was really sick and needed to be there :dunno:

Kim- I hope that your little man gets better. This was the first time DD has ever had a fever temperature and it was scary. Let us know how he goes. :hug:

MG- BB always comes through. SO lucky to have this community

Miss H- Thankyou. I hope it doesnt return as well. I will continue to check her through the day.

Arrrhhh! the temps back! 38.7degrees, Just gave her some paracetamol and have put her to bed again with the fan on her. Just have to keep doing what we did yesterday.

Oh no. Perhaps a trip to the GP won't hurt just to check her throat, ears etc. My DD1 also had high temps recently and had tonsilitis. Had to have AB, then I got pharyngitis and DD2 also had high fevers. All on AB. Maybe see by Monday. A fever normally clears within 72 hrs. Keep up the good work.

Hang in there hon. I too think a trip to GP may be in order

:yeahthat:

Poor bubba. Sending lots of healthy vibes Ash's way.

xxx

Hey there Alibaby - it sounds like you are doing a great job there.

I'm going to second what Mother Goose told you - you don't need to worry too much about trying to control the fever, it won't hurt her, and it's actually an important piece of information for any doctors or nurses who happen to be looking after your little girl. Panadol and nurofen are good for relieving pain, but treat the whole fever thing as a secondary benefit. Give her panadol or nurofen if she is really whingy or unsettled, but if she i happy with her fever, then don't worry too much about it.

Given she's had a couple of quite high fevers over the last 36-48 hours, I think it would be a good idea for her to be seen by a doctor as well, for a good look at the ears and the throat. Fevers in children, though, are almost always related to viral infections, though, and as such, you may not need to give her any antibiotics.

Good luck - I hope she's feeling better soon.

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If you are going to give BOTH panadol and neurofen, the current recommendation from Melb's RCH (and I'll explain why) is to administer BOTH at the SAME TIME and then to repeat at the longest interval (neurofen is 6hrly, panadol is 4-6hrly, so give at 6hrly). They say to do this because they are two very different medications which target different receptors in the brain. If you stagger the administration, it confuses the brain and actually cuts off the first medications receptors. For example, if I gave panadol now and in two hours neurofen, the neurofen would stop the panadol signals from getting to the brain . This means you're cutting short the effect of the panadol. Did that make sense? If not, I'm happy to reword...

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That's very interesting, as the guidelines from the NHS are to stagger intake of drugs as both will have an effect on her fever. Hmm, I think I need to do some research into this. As I said this happens to boytwin a lot and if there is a better way to control the fever I would like to be doing it!

Thanks for the info.