Since my 3 yo just fought the highest fever he's ever had last weekend, I'm going to add a couple of insightes the phone-a-nurse gave me. (I'd let it go during the day bc I'd read fevers are actually good in that they kill the underlying illness, but when he reached 104 w/in a half hour, I paniced a bit and figured I'd skrewed up):

1. First, I was right in letting the fever burn a little, especially since he was in good spirits (as you state above).

2. It's good to start the Tylenol at about 102 (or earlier if the kid looks uncomfortable).

3. At 105 (or if a lower fever is combined with other symptoms such as stomach pain or a rash) it's time for the Dr/ER.

4. At 107 the fever can cause "damage" (I didn't have the guts to ask what that meant...but since 104 still scares me, you can bet we won't reach 107 on our own).

Also, I was right to be concerned that the fever shot up quickly (usually a bad sign). Oh, and it's also normal for young kids to have a low/or no fever in the morning, only to shoot up in the afternoon over the course of a couple of days. He did this for 4 days in a row, and we were tempted to take him in to his daycare in the mornings. Now I'm a believer that their "no fever for 24 hours w/o treatment rule" is a good one. This info made me feel a little more competent about treating fevers.

Reply

My son had a 103.6 degree fever this week. The ONLY reason I took his temperature was because he kept asking me to pick him up, which I found odd. I NEVER would have suspected he was ill. Glad I followed that hunch.

If I had a 103.6 fever, everyone in four counties would know about it! Kids are funny that way, aren't they?

Reply

From my own experience, the one tip I'd add to that list is to be aware of what febrile seizures are and how to handle them.

My daughter had a recurring high fever for about three days when she was two and, one of those nights, I heard wierd noises over the baby monitor. I went into her room to find her in the middle of a seizure.

Only because I had previously read about febrile seizures (seizures caused by high fever) did I not panic!

Take five minutes and read about them - just in case!

Reply

some more comments:

#1 - fever has NEVER been shown to lead to brain damage (no matter how high the temperature).

#2 - using tylenol or any other drug will make the disease last longer (the body uses the fever to slow down or kill the viruses or bacteria and speed up metabolism and the immune system). So DON"T suppress it!!!

#3 - Fever is a NORMAL response to infection.

A great book to read is "How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor" by Dr. Mendelsohn

Reply

Kevin is correct. Fever is a normal response and should not be suppressed. And I second the book recommendation - it may be an older book but has such great advice from Dr. Mendelsohn!

Reply