Toddler Has Fever Again After Not Having It Since Last Friday...

It sounds like this may have turned into something else during the week. In my experience, when a fever comes and goes, and there is a wet cough and runny nose, it is very likely to be an ear infection. Is he having trouble lying down at night? Ear infections can develop very quickly, and the intermittent fever is a dead giveaway for infection. Suggestion? Call the pediatrician's office, explain that you were just in with your son, and he's gotten worse, you suspect him of having an ear infection, and ask them to prescribe him an antibiotic. If they insist on you seeing the NP, express your worries about her, and ask for them to have the Doctor call you asap. Be sure to ply your son with lots of water, ibuprofen, and lots of yogurt while on an antibiotic, to help soothe his stomach and to avoid yeast infections. I hope this helps!

I would at least call the office and ask to speak with a triage nurse or the Nurse Practitioner. Unfortunately, if he had something viral before, there isn't anything they could have done for it (cold is a virus), and viruses are hard for our body's to address.

My guess is that he got better and rebounded.

If it were my child, I would take him back into the office (even if you're not 100% comfortable with the NP as it's the weekend, and it will be so much more expensive to go to urgent care/ER if it gets worse.

Unfortunately, if he's around other kids, he could have picked up something completely new while he was still recovering from the last thing. We believe our daughter had H1N1 earlier this winter, and they couldn't recommend anything (she was 19 months at the time) other than tylenol/motrin for her. We just had to ride the wave and give lots of TLC.

Good luck. I hope he gets better soon!

A bunch of kids in my playgroup had sporadic fevers like that, including my daughter. Her's would spike up to 103, go away for a day, and then return. It was most likely the flu or something. She was sick for a good solid 6 days. I just gave her lots of fluids and read her lots of books. I

I took my 17 month old daughter to an urgent care center on Saturday because she had a fever of 103 and they checked her ears and said they were fine. Well, Monday her fever got to 104 so I took her to the doctor and she had a double ear infection and a ruptured ear drum. So it only took a day to get really bad. I would go back to the doctor becuse you never know, something might have changed and it will at least give you some piece of mind.

Are there any peds around with urgent care? We have one in our area, Lee's Summit Physician's group, that has some weekend hours and you see a real pediatritian. We've done it a few times when our dd (who was very prone to ear infections) was sick on weekends.

I agree with Anna. We have been through this twice with my nephew that I keep. He is 17 months and recently had a cold with fevers that lasted about 2 days. Then he was fine for about 2 days and the fevers returned with a cough and runny nose. We called and got him worked in for an appt that day b/c anytime a fever returns it usually suggests a new infection. Turns out he had a very bad right side ear infection. It took 2 rounds of antibiotics to clear it up. We alternated Tylenol and Motrin every 2-3 hours as needed for the pain so that he could sleep and gave Tussin (liquid Mucinex) to help with the mucus. If you don't like the NP at his office and there is no other doctor available in the practice to see try taking him to a walk in clinic. I've done medical transcription for years and typed I don't know how many ear infection cases for walk in places. They should be able to easily diagnose an ear or sinus infection, prescribe the appropriate meds and then you can schedule a follow up with his regular pediatrician at the end of the course to make sure it is all cleared up. I hope your little one feels better soon!

When I was a kid our family doctor always had another local doctor be on call if he was out of the office. I realize there is a NP present at the office, but perhaps there is an on-call doctor for when the situation warrants it. I'd call the office and ask about that possiblity, expressing your concerns about the NP. I'd also take a close look at other possible symptoms and make sure to mention them - how is he sleeping? Eating? Does he have a rash? Does he look pale? Is he complaining of any pains? Does he say he is tired? I have found if I have concerns about my kids when it seems they may have a run-of-the-mill virus I am more likely to get attention if I mention all the symptoms beyond the one or two major ones.

I think the meds they were prescribing for the flu had to be given within a quick window of time (I think within the first 48 hours of the onset of symptoms). I had heard news reports indicate they weren't always effective, could cause nausea and vomitting, and really only shorten the length of the flu by about 24 hours. You might be able to find more info on it at the CDC or local health department website.

If you aren't already doing these, some things that can help to alleviate the symptoms a bit are propping the head of the mattress slightly with a phone book, running a vaporizer at night, giving him plenty of liquids to keep him hydrated, using saline mist to help clear out the nose.

Best wishes. I hope he feels better soon.

Our pediatricians office has always said if they have a fever that resolves and then comes back a few days later that they need to be seen in the office because it is probably a secondary infection.

As for ear infections... I took my daughter for a check-up. Just the normal yearly check-up a few months ago & she was perfectly healthy. Her ears were perfect and had now issues... this was on a Friday. Saturday she was very sluggesh and just laid around the house & had a mild fever. Sunday I notice her hair was matted around her ears and looked odd... when I touched the side of her face to look at her hair she pulled away & told me it hurt. The mattedness of her hair was the fluid from her ears. I took her to the ER - she had a double ear infection (both ruptured) for no reason... no runny nose, no cold or other issue. Still don't know why, but I told the ER doc that she was just in on Friday & was fine - I was told an ear infection can happen within hours. My daughter is 5 yr old... she has only had 3 ear infections in her life - all within the last yr to year & half. All have ended up being doubles & ruptured... and they are gettin worse each time. Last time she was on meds for over a month to get rid of it & lost hearing in her left ear for almost a month after the infection was gone.

If you think he might have one take him back in even if you know the doc isn't going to be there. Also, some signs of teething is runny nose, fever and crankyness and with him being a toddler he might be teething also. Follow your gut - if it says he is sick take him in... you know as always mother knows best!

My 19-month-old daughter gets fevers like that with random viruses all the time. Not every kid reacts the same way to every virus, either. We've been to the hospital for tests twice with high fevers and both times it was pronounced a virus. My ped's office always says to bring her in if the fever lasts more than four days or to go to the ER if she has trouble breathing or shows signs of dehydration--no pees for over 6 hours, no saliva, no tears when crying, etc.

There isn't much you can do for H1N1 after you get it--unless it's caught within the first 48 hours, and even then Tamiflu doesn't work on alot of cases.

I'd say juice, water, pedialite, watered-down Gatorade, etc. and keep your little guy in cotton light clothing.

Hope he feels better soon! Hang in there, Momma.

i have not read any of the other responses yet so if you have heard this then im sorry. My son does this sometimes and whenever he gets a high fever (it has gotten as high as 104.6 one nihgt) and i take him to the doctor and he said it is a viral infection and it can not be treated with antibiotics. We just have to ride it out. I do Tylenol and Motrin every 2-3 hours so he always has something in his system. My son's fever lasted about a week and he was very tired and napped more than he normally does and was just a cuddle bug. If your son is coughing at night and having lots of drainage, i would try the benedryl at night so it might be able to help with that. This last time that my son had a viral infection he woke up coughing so badly and i had to call the medical exchange at like 3 in the morning and run up to walgreens, only to find out that you cannot give children under four cough medicine now. so do not try the cough medicine unless he has already had it and your doctor ok's it. i hope this helps, and keep us posted! Oh and i just remembered something, do not give him a bath to try to get the fever down, it could actually give him the chills and make his fever go up because his body would be trying to heat the body up from getting the chills. just make sure he is drinking lots of fluids also, and i know milk does not help with the mucus.

Just because it wasn't an ear infection last week doesn't mean it isn't now. Especially since you say he is prone to them. I vote to take him back today. If you still are unhappy with her I would consider changing doctors or talking to your doctor about alternative doctors on call.