DD has a temp of 39.6. I gave her paracetamol and half an hour later it was 39.3 I've stripped her off and given her a cool-ish bath.
We live in the country, if it was a week day i'd take her into the Drs. There is no Drs here on a Sunday. (There is an oncall dr for emergencies at the hospital)
So would you ride it out until tomorrow, or take your child to get looked at?
ETA- i just found a fact sheet on the royal childrens hospital website. They don't recommend tepid baths?! oops. Seems, they are not concerned unless temp is over 40. So think we'll just keep an eye on her.
Last edited by Junglemum; May 24th, 2009 at 04:32 PM.
Have you checked her temp again? I know with DS it can sometimes take longer than 30 minutes for the paracetamol to really kick in. How is she otherwise?
Yeah she's grizzly, and a little more lethargic than usual. But seems fine otherwise. Still able to have a tantrum.
I just took it again and it was 38.9 So i think you're right J, just took a bit longer than i expected.
I *think* if it was DS, and he seemed otherwise okay then I would run the risk and wait until tomorrow. If he was extremely lethargic I would think again, but being able to tantrum is a good sign. Hope the high temp was a one off A!!!!
One other thing to try, (provided there is no medical reason not to ie allergy etc?) is childrens Nurofen or ibuprofen.
DS2 ran a temp once somwwhere over 39, we gave him panadol & it continued to go up, he was drowsy & unresponsive, took him to hosp, nurses gave him nurofen & within 30 minutes he was sitting up in bed singing songs. they pulled the curtain back & called to the docs & nurses on duty to come & look.. he was a different kid from the one we took in!
Apparently panadol & nurofen work on different areas or something like that, anyway sometimes one will work when the other doesn't, is my understanding..something to keep in mind anyway.
If it's your youngest, then I would definitely take her to the hospital. 39.6 degrees is a sign of a serious infection of some sort. If it's your eldest, then I might still be inclined to take her to bec checked out, but it depends on whether she has any other symptoms.
Why don't you try Nurse On Call? It's only the cost of a local call, with trained nurses who can do a phone assessment and give you advice.
I wouldn't become too reliant on the paracetamol or ibuprofen. They might bring down the temperature, and make your little one feel better, but they won't actually treat what is causing the infection, and they may in fact make your little one look better when in fact they are getting worse. Paracetamol and ibuprofen are best for relieving pain or discomfort.
i phoned the MCHN line and just got a call back. (Love the call back service!) The nurse was lovely. She pretty much said what the Royal Childrens hospital fever fact sheet said. She advised taking her to Dr's if it got over 40 or there were other associated symptoms such as vomiting, rash, unresponsiveness (is that a word?!). Panadol not really needed to bring temp down, but if temp is over 38.5 then you can give it if you want, to make her more comfortable.
Thanks for all your reassurance. Will see how she's going in the morning.
M had a raging fever not long ago - I learnt that baths etc that are too cold/cool, will make the body try to raise temp again.
Also that panadol etc will take about an hour to work.
If you can get her through the night ok, take her to drs tomoz babe xoxoxoxo
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Temp 39.6. advice?
I'd take the mini straight away!
Will see how she's going in the morning.
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