How long to keep 0 month old inside for?

[littleboyblue]

Ds1 has had a temp of over 38 degrees for a week now, I took him to docs last weds who gave antibiotics to prevent an ear infection over this weekend. His temp has continued to be high and last night got to 41.8, the out of hours doctor came to our home and said it looks like a viral infection so to keep him on calpol and nurofen alternate 3 hourly, keep his fluids up and avoid cold weather, so I gather that means to keep him indorrs, but for how long? He has a trip with the nursery on wednesday that I am going to cance, but we were also supposed to be visiting my SIL this weekend, should I cancel that too? She lives in a seaside town, so can get quite chilly

[littleboyblue]

Typo, the heading should say he is 20 months old

[ruty]

'avoid cold weather' ? I wouldn't be taking him out if he is that poorly but i do hope you are keeping him cool. A temp of 41.8 is dangerously high, what is it now? If it is controlled by nurofen and c alpol ok, but if not i'd be taking him to a&e. He should be in just a vest.

[ruty]

presumably the doctor saw some inflammation in his ears when he gave antibiotics? Otherwise odd to give antibiotics preventatively.

[littleboyblue]

The doctor said one ear looked slightly red, nothing else. He is at home at the moment in a nappy and his temp is currently 36.5 so is being controlled by meds.
He is perfectly well in himself, he has been running around and playing normally so he is not mooping around feeling sorry for himself and doesn't seem to be in any pain, but how long should I keep him on meds and how long indoors? If calpol and nurofen are controlling his temp, how will I know when he is better, do I leave it 3 days and then come off medicine and if still high take him back to docs?

[ruty]

yes i would. Glad his temp is down. I would take it easy, travelling may make it worse, play it by ear on how he feels. Does his temp start to go up after a few hours before the next dose? I woul keep him on the meds at least for a couple of days and then see how it goes. the way i do it is at night i don't wake them for meds if they sleep through, unless the temp starts to spike again, but with him having had a temp of 41,8 i would be very very careful and take him to A&E if he shows any signs of deterioration.

[littleboyblue]

Yes that's what I plan to do, although I will wake him for the meds I think.
It's monday now, so by rights he should be ok by weds if nothing serious, doesn't it say on the box for these meds, if symptoms persist after 3 days, see your gp again? I don't really want to cance SIL, as they've been looking forward to meeting the new baby, but I obviously will if need be, but like I sai, he doesn't seem to be in any pain or anything

[littleducks]

he was an out of hours doctor, you dont think he wanted to come back do you? they often prescribe antibs 'blind' when child has high temp

and it is the public who get blamed for antibiotic resistant bacteria

[ruty]

you could always go if he seems well but be prepared for any changes. Yes the box is right and you should defo contact doc again if still persists longer than 3 days. i would probably wake at night when temp has been so high.

[littleducks]

your 20 month is the baby?
dont take him to sil if she has a new baby

[ruty]

and antibiotics don't do anything for a viral infection.

[littleboyblue]

littleducks it was our gp in surgery last week that gave antibiotics, not the out of hours doc, he just told me to finish the course as it's been started so ds doesn't become immune to them.
The 3 hours is up now, he had calpol at 10am and I'm about to give nurofen, but his temp is 35.9, so it's clearly being kept down

[littleboyblue]

littleducks No, I have the new baby. Ds1 is 20 months who is the unwell one, but my SIL wanted to meet my new baby who is 9 weeks

[ruty]

yes you'll have to finish them.

[littleboyblue]

I know AB@s don't do anything for a viral infection, but we have to finish the course as it's been started the doc said. Ds1 was given AB's as a prevention I think rather than a treatment iyswim.

[littleducks]

oh yes, sorry, yesterday you had a 9 week baby didnt you, oops!

bit too late to worry about him catching it then

thought the out of hours dr gave anti bs and pain killer advice

[littleboyblue]

littleducks. No the surgery doc gave AB's last wednesday and the out of hours doc gave pain killer advice. Sorry, I must have worded it wrong

I have just allowed myself to be pulled back into the shiops open on a sunday thing again. I am so stupid.......

[SlightlyMadSimnelCake]

Did you say he is wearing just a nappy? You should really put a vest or T-shirt on him. Having bare skin is not an appropriate way to cool a child with a fever as it drives the blood to teh core of the body and prevents them cooling. Because they are in a cold environment the body trys to conserve hheat. Strange I know as it is counterintuitive - but keep him in cool clothes...but do keep his clothes on.

As far as knowing when to stop the meds - obviously you need to finsih the ABs. WRT to the calpol and nurofen - you don't have to give them every 3 hours (in fact you shouldn't give them every 3 hours round the clock as this will lead to a nurofen OD because - assuming you are using hte nurofen brand - you can only give this 3 times in 24hrs). If he seems to be happy wait 4 hours and see if his temp is starting to go up. You shouldn't give them more often that 3hrly...but you might find as he gets better 4-5hrly will be fine.

[littleboyblue]

SMSC He is in a vest now. He was in just his nappy over night because that's what the NHS direct people have told me to do in the past, get him in bed with me and strip him down to his nappy.
I know I have to finish AB's and think they'll be done omoz anyway. I'm using ibuprofen, not the nurofen brand, nurofen is just easier to type! This was all advice form the docs, not just hat I felt like doing btw.

[SlightlyMadSimnelCake]

LBB - the advice regarding stripping down has changed relatively recently (and I got a stern telling off when I turned up at walk-in with a child with a temp of 39.5ish and a nappy only ).

The only reason that I mentioned the nurofen thing is because different brands have slightly different dosage instructions. The Nurofen brand says a largish volume - max 3 times a day. most other brands use a smaller dose 4 times a day. Both give the same max dose in 24hrs but distribute it differently IYSWIM. It is not suitable to give 4 "Nurofen" doses in a day though IYSWIM - and because there are different standards out there it can be confusing and/or mis-leading - even when Dr says to do it 3hrly IYSWIM because it can depend which brand you are using. Also - with nurofen, if you time it right you can do 3 doses in a day but skip the overnight dose - as most people don't wake to give it through the night - unless it is an extreme fever like the one you are treating - so it doesn't tend to matter IYSWIM - unless you are dosing through the night.

[SlightlyMadSimnelCake]

[littleboyblue]

No, I know what you mean SlightlyMad. I was told on thursday to strip him down to his nappy for the night when his temp was over 39 degrees.
It's all so confusing isn't it?
I did put a sheet over him for the night to stop a draft though

[SlightlyMadSimnelCake]

thats fine too. I think in theory a sheet is better than a vest - but in practice if they are in their own bed/cot they tend to kick it off