My son had a high fever this morning which is now down to 102.1 a couple of hours after giving him ibuprofen. He is 3 1/2. He doesn't have any other symptoms other than every so often he starts breathing fast for a few seconds. He denied his ear or tummy hurting. He is obviously low-energy but not irritable. No runny nose, no cough. He has had high unexplained fevers before, but they usually come down quickly with medicine. Has anybody had this experience?
Thanks everybody! It is back up to 104.1, so I am going to call the doc's office. Weird that he is eating lunch though and otherwise seems okay other than the low energy. UPDATE: The doctor said as long as he is drinking fluids and is comfortable that they would wait to bring him in unless the fever persisted. After a long nap, the fever broke and today he seems fine.
Could also be Roseola. The only symptoms are a high fever for a few days and then when it breaks they develop a rash. My son had this with a fever for 3 days.
at least it came down. My oldest will often say that he feels fine when he has a fever only to find out he has strep throat you might want to call the ped and see what they say you don't want to be stuck with the weekend coming.
edited:Its normal for fevers to come back up when the tylenol or motrin start to wear off. Please keep us updated.
My pediatrician says "104, get out the door" meaning if temperatures rise to this, it's time to go see the doc. Don't mess around. Make an appt. and get seen.
I have always heard that you should call the pediatrician if your child has a fever above 101.5, because they want to see them. I would call your pediatricians nurse to be sure.
You can alternate the tylenol and motrin, and sometimes they will dose together. One of ours ran 105 with an ear infection, and we had no idea that it was that high until we got to the doctors office. They dosed her with both tylenol and motrin, stripped her down to her diaper, and used cold cloths and some rubbing alcohol to cool her. I don't know where the danger point is, but I am pretty sure that it is above 103, so, while you want to keep him comfortable, you probably do not need to worry about brain damage. Keep him hydrated, for sure.
I would want to know what is causing the fever, so I would call the doctor.
M.
try getting him to drink some room temp pedialyte; cold drinks he wont want cause with a fever, that may feel painful to him, and put a COOL not cold for that will also feel painful but a COOL damp wash cloth on his forehead or the back of his neck (or both) alternate tylenol or ibprophen and motrin every 2 hours (have to wait 4 for the same medicine) but alternating those two plus the cool rags usually keep a fever at bay for my kids
Put a cool cloth on his forehead, and wipe him down w/ warm cloth time to time. Also you can give tylonal 2 hours after Ibuprofen is given to alternate the meds. I would call your pediatritian, they need to be aware of what is going on. They tend to know what is going around and the best wat to treat it.
Yes, and just recently. Alternate the tylenol and motrin; that way you can give him a dose every couple hours to keep his fever down to a 'reasonable' level. Fevers are not "bad" they are a result of our bodies fighting off illness. If it creeps above 104 at all, i would take him in. My youngest had a fever for 5 days last month, didn't run all the way to 104, it was mid-range 103 and even with medicine didn't go much below 101. I was going to take him in if the fever went on any longer, but then it disappeared as suddenly as it came. Make sure to try to keep him hydrated.
yes. my kids temps don't go down much and dr usually has me giving mor meds... i guess the max amount on the bottle isn't always accurate, but plz don't do on your own
at 103 you need to take him to a hospital thats when brain damage can occur....i just looked it up on childrens hospitals website. you are suppose to call a docter if the fever gets higher than 102.2
If someone has a high fever in the hospital that cannot get down then they give them a calcium IV. calcium is the bodies way of getting fevers down. I would call your doctor and give your child some extra calcium in some apple sauce. My son does the same thing. then my pediatrican had me up his calcium in the fall and give extra the entire cold/flu season. When his fevers went up I give him the extra calcium. Once I started doing this in the fall we did not have fever problems anymore. Good luck
I haven't had this exact experience, but my son was "panting" with a fever of 104F and the doctors in emergency told me that it was totally normal - that because babies haven't developed their sweat glands yet they pant during fevers to release the heat from their bodies. I would take him to the doctor, though, especially since the fever is not coming down. Or at least call a nurses hotline....
It does sound like the flu. A high fever in children isn't as bad as you think, the only time you should worry is if you administer tylenol or motrin and it doesn't drop at least 1 degree within an hour. Just remember it MUST drop at least 1 degree within an hour..if it does you are okay, If the fever doesn't drop 1 degree you should call your dr or take him to the ER.
That being said you should undress him to his underwear and keep him uncovered it will help to release the heat. If he just can't stand it use a light sheet to put over him but its best to use no cover a cold wet rag on his forehead will also help.
Also make sure he is drinking plenty of fluids, pedialyte, gatorade, popsicles, jello, chicken broth, anything is great, but nothing red, orange, or purple. these colors can show in his stool and be confused with blood. Just avoid those colors while he is sick. Children can become dehydrated very easily while running a fever. Easy signs of dehydration is not urinating and you can also tell my pinching his finger..it should turn white with pressure and when you release it should instaneously turn back to pink if it doesn't call your dr.
In my experience a 104 temp could be result of the flu or a urinary tract infection. With a UI children will run a high temp.. The breathing could be result of the fever. Just keep an eye on him and definitely consult your doctor.
The human body runs a fever when fighting off an infection. Infections can be treated with antibiotics, although the body will fight off all sorts of infections itself, the infection will be gone faster with the help of antibiotics.
You can also alternate tylenol and motrin. Good Luck!!
When kids run a fever, they drink less which can help the fever go UP instead of down. This is because the fever and lack of hydration feed off one another. Then they get more low-energy. Get some cool liquids in him and that should help.
But I would probably call the doctors office anyway because, especially with it being Friday and most doctors are closed on the weekend, fevers tend to spike at night. This way if the doctor wants to see him you can get him seen and maybe an antibotic started (if needed).
Keep in mind that a fever is the body's natural way of fighting things off so it isn't all bad for them to have a fever (means their body is working properly). The concern is a fever that is too high or one that continues without knowing why.
***I know they say don't worry if it is less than 104.5 but when my cousin was told this with her daughter (it was 103.2 and not coming down), she got off the phone and I convinced her to take her daughter to the ER anyway. By the time she drove the 10 minutes there, the fever was up to 105.1. No telling what would have happened if she had waited at home and then drove and waited for check in.
Yes - continue to rotate tylenol/motrin, put him in a lukewarm bath asap, and get some fluids down him - lots of fluids.
Sounds like either the flu or strep. Rotate the Tylenol/Motrin every 3h.
M.
Fever is a sign something is going on inside his body. Keep an eye on him. Alternate between ibuprofen and Tylenol. My 4 year old had a fever the other night, but also had runny nose, gave him some Benadryl and by the morning everything was gone.
You should call the "On call nurse" at the pediatricans office, they will tell you what you need to know, and if you should bring little love in for a check up.
Definitely call & speak to a nurse. But also put him in the tub. My daughter was sick Tuesday, so we stayed home. I think she has a little cold, but I didn't have any more Mucinex Monday night to give her. Tuesday morning I took her temp, it was fine. We went out to get new medicine, came back, and I checked her temp again. I think it was 101 or 102. I gave her Tylenol (thank goodness I also picked that up!) and checked her about an hour later. It had only gone down by 0.3 Then she asked to take a bath (play in the tub). She did that for a bit & I checked her temp afterward - it was 97.7 or so! :) She was fine, as far as the fever, for the rest of the day, without taking any more Tylenol.
Sounds exactly like the flu we've got in our house. I got it last week, one son got it earlier this week and my other son started symptoms last night. There is no stuffy nose or anything. It's all body aches and fever. It's quick moving though if that is any consolation. A couple days at most.
He is a kid; so 103 is okay and will not cause brain damage. It is probably just viral. I would undress him, down to just his underwear. If he wants to cover up, a sheet is all I would allow him to do. Watch him and watch the fever. Try to keep him hydrated. Sometimes preschoolers will do popciles and freeze pops over drinking. The fast breathing is just due to the fever. As long as it is not labored, I would not worry. I would then alternate Motrin/Tylenol every three hours. You actually do not want the fever to go down super fast as it will spike super fast. It is the quick rising of fevers that cause the issues. So hydrate, strip to cool, medicate, watch..... If anything else changes call and take him to urgent care, but I would bet it is viral and he is fine.
As long as something (Tylenol/Motrin) brings it down for awhile, I wouldn't get too worried yet. Keep an eye on it and look for emerging symptoms.
When my son was an infant he'd sometimes spike a 103 temp (but not be acting sick) and then 1/2 hour later his temp would be normal again.
It made a nervous wreck out of me, but he was fine.
