Prolonged fever in 2.5yo

[Indadhanu]

Ok, so this is my first illness/fever since she's weaned and I'm kind of at a loss.

She woke up at about midnight last night crying, which is unusual, so I went and got her a brought her in to bed with us. She felt warm, but I put it down to being a really warm night.

She woke up at 5:30am really hot, and when I took her temp it was 38.4. I let it go, just watching as she didn't seem effected and I wanted the fever to do it's job. About 20 minutes later she felt hotter (but was the same temp when we checked) but we gave her paracetamol as she wasn't her usual self and seemed to be suffering (it was already about 27 degrees at 6am as well!).

The panadol brought the temp down to 37.9, but it spiked again to 38.4 at 10:20am and then 38.9 at 10:30am, so we gave her some ibuprofen (even though I hate using that stuff).

That brought it down to 37.3-37.4 by midday and it stayed that way for about an hour, but it's gone back up again to 38.1 by 1:30pm, and its now 2:30pm and it's 39.2 and rising...

She had a slight drippy nose this morning but it was gone by mid-morning. Now it's back and she seems to be blocked and she is now mouth breathing.

She hasn't eaten or drunk all day except three chicken nuggets and a little chocolate milkshake when all else failed LOL! Plus this morning she had one of those Hydrolax iceblock things, and I might try another soon. We've been encouraging water and she's drinking sips but hasn't had much at all I am at a loss because usually I have been breastfeeding, so at least I have known she is getting something and I am doing something, but now she has weaned and is fighting this on her own I just feel totally helpless for her

What do I do?

Do I give her more paracetamol? Do I take her to the dr? The hospital? Would the dr just say to take her to the hospital? What would they do at the hospital? I don't know if we are doing all that they can do or if they can do more for her? Will they just tell me to give her more paracetamol and come back when she's had a fever for 24 hours?

What is the temperature that you would take your kids to the hospital??

[Ahurani]

If it was me Id take her to the hospital. I think a GP would just say do the paracetamol thing :/

Get well soon Jazzy

[Yeddi]

I would take her to the GP first, she just might need antibiotics to help her fight it off. I wouldn't want to spend hours in the hospital waiting room, exposing her to other pathogens, if I didn't have to and TBH I don't think they would do much more than a doctor wouldn't unless it was putting her on a drip, or sticking a tube down her nose but I don't think she's quite there yet. I wouldn't worry too much about the food for another day yet either. Fluids though, is the big thing. Ice blocks, not just the Hydrolax ones (they taste pretty average) but any mainly water ones. Anything to get more fluids into her - lemonade... An epsom salts bath to counteract the panadol and ibuprofen side effects might be a good idea too, and will help her keep hydrated by absorbing through the skin as long as the water isn't too hot.

[~me~]

A GP once told me some fevers are good fevers, the bodies natural thing to fight off a virus.
I would take her to a GP for reassurance, they won't give you AB's if they think it's viral, they will tell you just to keep her hydrated and use a paracetamol. They may even reccommend a hdyrolite, in either icepole form or drink.
I would be thinking of taking her to emergency if her fever gets over 39.5 or going to a pharmacy and talking to the pharmacist to see what they say as well.
I would be forgetting about all solid foods if she is not interested or stick to basics or things that are easy to swallow like jelly.
Cold compress as well to help her cool down.
You would be amazed how sips of water can keep them going

[Livinthedream]

My GP told me that if the temp doesnt respond to panadol within 1 1/2 hrs, take them to hosp.
But if you can manage it with panadol, they should be fine and just get them checked by your doc.
She may need AB's and I may be lucky, but all the GP's we have seen have been really reluctant to treat anything with AB's unless they really need it.
Hopefully its just a 24 hr thing, they often are....

[Liz]

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

[Traveller]

I would probably just nurse her at home, as you have done with paracetamol and ibuprofen if the fever gets too high. Keep her cooly dressed and use a cool cloth to bring her temperature down further. It may be that the fever lasts a few days but in the absence of any of the symptoms described by Liz, a visit to the GP or emergency is likely just to make her feel sad and uncomfortable when she would rather be at home. If you are very concerned of course seek medical advice, even without more worrying symptoms.

I would take my child to the hospital if their fever went on for more than 3 days, or went above 40, or did not respond to paracetamol and ibuprofen.

[Indadhanu]

It hit 40.4 Went from 39.2 when I posted to 40.4 in 10 minutes. Her eyes glassed over and she started shaking and falling asleep so we rushed to the GP (closer to us than the hspital and were open until 5pm today), and got straight in, we stayed there for about 90 minutes in the nurses section as the dr and receptionist helped us get it down (and calm us down LOL!). The dr, who is a pead. refused to let us go until it went down to 38 in case she can a convulsion. Which it did after 90 minutes. Her right ear was extremely inflamed and lots of pus, but she hadn't complained of any pain so I had no idea Coupled with a UTI that we suspected she had. And her throat also seems raw and red, well she didn't get a good look but thats what she said. So we've got some antibiotics now.

We got home and it went back up again, but we got it down with a cool bath. She's gone lethargic again, but the dr told us not to worry too much.

We do usually try to let it go but the heat today just made it really hard, it really knocked her around. We've actually been able to get it down without medications now which is great It was just totally unresponsive before. Maybe because it's a pretty bad infection (er, infections )?

[Traveller]

poor Jazz, I hope she starts to feel better soon.

[Indadhanu]

Going back up again and she woke up crying "too hot, owww!" hate feeling so useless! Wish I was still breastfeeding!

[Yeddi]

I'm glad that you were able to get into the GP so fast Indadhanu and got everything sorted. A double infection would explain why the panadol etc. didn't work for long, poor little thing had a lot to deal with. I hope she's feeling better soon. The antibiotics should kick in soon.

[Indadhanu]

Yep we just walked straight in, and the receptionist walked us stright through the waiting room and out the back.
AND she bulk billed us!

If more doctors were like that emergency rooms wouldn't be so packed!

[Yeddi]

She'd most probably be feeling most of the heat at the nape of her neck, so if you put a wet flannel there it will help bring it down, just make sure it's not too quick, because that can set off febrile convulsions.

[Indadhanu]

Good idea Yeddi

She's very sad now, sleeping restlessly on the mattress on the floor in the lounge room, waking up crying and yelling "ouch" or that she's "too hot". I think she's feeling really stiff, when she tried to move she cried. But nothing else - so that on it's own isn't a worrying is it? Not with a constant fever?

[Liz]

Just saw your fb post. I'm a serial temp taker too. You've done all the right things *hugs*. hope it clears up quickly.

Eta: posted without refreshing If you're worried about her being a bit stiff, have a read on that dr sears site about meningitis and symptoms to worry about. Always follow your gut tho if it doesn't feel right.

Eta again: sorry that last bit sounded dramatic hehe. She's probably just sore from her ear and throat and it hurts to move I do find myself reading up on all things fevers each time tho

[Yeddi]

Yes, it might be worth finding out how she feels stiff. If it's just in her joints it's most probably just from being ill as the flu can make your joints feel sore, but if it's limited mostly to her neck it might be worth checking out but I would like to think the doctors would have checked her out for meningitis if they suspected it even for a second. Liz is right though, always follow your gut.

[Ozziehoffy]

Awww sweetness... replied on FB... but her waking and crying ouch could be her ear and/or UTI. Elijah had a UTI and woke up crying every time he pee'd. I hope little Miss Jazzy feels a lot better in the morning! I am with Yeddi, the doctor would've noticed anything untoward re: meningitis. You generally get a rash or patch type rashes with that... and they don't respond to the pressure test, where you press on them and they go "white" or disappear then come back... if they don't then you worry, if they do then it is usually ok. However, you haven't mentioned anything like that so I would think she's uncomfy hun from temp and infections. Oh and don't feel bad cos she didn't tell you something hurt either, both of my little ones come usually get high temps before I'm any the wiser on them being ill.

[Liz]

Ozzie- that rash is for meningacoccal isn't it? Not meningitis.