DD has temp of 39.35 NHS not ringing back for approx 2 hours

[onlyjoking9329]

DD went to drs yessterday given some trimethoprim, doc thinks urine infection which is likely as she has wet herself a few times, she been having nurofen cos of her temp and she may have pain but as she has autism its hard to know as she ain't telling us anything, i phoned nhs direct explained everything including her special needs and they said they are busy and i should get a call back but it will be in around two hours, when does a high temp become dangerous?

[cupcakes]

Have you stripped her down? tepid flannel to sponge her down? I think 40 degreees plus is when you need to worry but I don't know for sure...

[cupcakes]

Here is their website if that's any help.

[tammybear]

my dd has a temperature a couple of weeks ago, which was just under 40. i kept her cool, just let her sit in her pjs. she didnt want a bath, which was very unusual for her so i tried keeping her cool with damp sponge or baby wipes. i didnt have nurofen then, so used capol which helped, and just letting her sleep when she wanted. it went down by the morning, although she did get it again in the afternoon, but i was stupid enough to take her to nursery although i had to go to work. hope she feels better soon onlyjoking x

[WideWebWitch]

I would take her clothes off and make sure she is coolish, give her Calpol as long as it's 4 hours since the nurofen (I think that's the timing, can someone confirm?), sponge her with tepid water (NOT cold), make sure she is drinking water/other fluids (Ribena, juice, anything) and that's all you can do really. A high temp is sometimes a sign that the body's fighting something and isn't always a terrible thing (so NHS Direct told me ages ago) but the worry is, I think, that a high temp can cause fitting and that's why it's important to bring it down. But I'm NOT a doctor, just telling you what I'd do. My dd is ill too, horrible isn't it?

[WideWebWitch]

I would be doing all this stuff with a temp of 39 btw, but wouldn't be absolutely panicking.

[wheresmyfroggy]

dd had temp of 39.1 on thursday, spoke to nhs.
make sure dd has paracetomol in some form to control temp, take off clothes and maybe put in lukewarm bath (not cold as that can be dangerous) or pat down with wet cloths or wipes all over face and body.
think 39.3 is very high but not critical temp but if it continues to rise despite efforts to bring down then get to hospital (we thought 39.1 was quite high but nhs seemed to think this was quite normal for fever in young children)

[soapbox]

onlyjoking - have you tried interspacing calpol with the nurofen - there is a good chance that will work. You can give both together safely.


You give calpol 2 hours after you give nurofen and then keep repeating at the normal 4 hour interval. Just watch not to exceed the maximum daily dose of calpol or nurofen.

Cupcakes is right - 40 degrees plus is when my GP says you should worry. However, you should expect her temp to come down after medicating so it is still on the high side.

Good luck - hope the calpol works

[cupcakes]

I think you can combine the nurofen with the calpol - so 2 hours after the calpol you can give the nurofen and then the calpol another 2 hours later; a dr told me to do this. We only use this double dosing when we cannot get through four hours with a soaring temp.

[dinosaur]

I don't know what age your DD is, but when my DS was four and was running a high fever, we were told by the GP that he could have both Calpol and Nurofen - give full dose of Calpol appropriate for child's age and then two hours later give full dose of Nurofen appropriate for child's age.

Agree with stripping off and sponging down also.

[LoubieLou04]

Had to phone them myself the other day and after answering the initial yes no questions they wanted to send an ambulance even though I knew one wasn't needed. So I'm sure if they were worried they would act quickly.

[onlyjoking9329]

thanks folks, she is ten had nurofen about an hour ago very difficult to get her to take any medicine, makes herself sick and has been known to bite, have had to wrap her in towel and give her the stuff, i would have thought her temp should have gone down by now thou

[SenoraPostrophe]

calpol (i.e. paracetemol) is better for bring down a temp than nurofen (Ibuprofen) - but you can give both - do you have any Calpol?

[onlyjoking9329]

yes i have calpol but she only had the nurofen around an hour ago, so i wil have to wait another hour wont i ?

[SenoraPostrophe]

no, they don't interact so you can give both at the same time. When dd is ill, i space each by 2 hours, but only so that the ibuprofen takes the pain away when the paracetemol wears off (IYSWIM).

[onlyjoking9329]

shes had a cool bath and i have put the air conditioner on in her room, shes not keen on the thermomitor but i will try to get her temp again soon, thanks

[Ameriscot2005]

I thought the advice nowadays was not to overly worry about lowering the temperature as the body has a high temp for a reason - to fight the infection that's causing it. Lowering the temp with Calpol is only going to prolong the illness.

Unless the child is uncomfortable with the high temp, or is at risk of fitting, you can just leave it an treat with lots of fluids.

[wheresmyfroggy]

NHS direct were very adamant that temp was lowered for dd [it was 39.1 because of febrile convulsions and because temps can damage] Dd is 16 months.

[WideWebWitch]

Ameriscot, I just looked and nhs direct do recommend getting a temp down - here

[onlyjoking9329]

i may be best spacing the doses of calpol and nurofen out as other wise both will wear out at same time, just taken her temp it is now 38.65

[wheresmyfroggy]

Glad its coming down onlyjoking

[onlyjoking9329]

i did the online questionaire and it came up with possible urine infection and advised that i phone NHS direct, it didnt advise that i would have to wait two hours thou, i cant find anywhere where it says about temps and when it becomes dangerous thou, i suppose it depends on the childs age/size too

[Jimjams]

depends on your child oj. Mine all seem able to run very high temps safely (ds1 frequently goes above 41), but our mutual friend's children very rarely go much above 39 (and as you know her ds has had convulsions).

Agree to give calpol and nurofen together and sponge bath if she'll allow you to. Is she on antib's for the urine infection? I can't remember how verbal/cooperative she is- would she allow anyone to check out ears/throat etc.

BTW we had this last weekend with ds1- I thought he might have a throat infection/or mumps. He wouldn't allow me to check anything obviously- I think it was just some random virus in the end. He then took to holding his ear for a few days but I think it was just blocked.

Much sympathy - I hated it last week not really knowing what was up with ds1- so much easier when they'll tell you where it hurts!

[Jimjams]

oj do you have an out of hours drs servce- I find ours much more useful than NHS direct (although they're still fairly useless when it comes to autism and most back off too scared to examine him!)

[madness]

just to mention, nurofen is only to be given 6 to 8 hourly, calpol 4 to6 hourly

[onlyjoking9329]

dr said it maybe a urine infection and tested the sample but needed to send it off for testing further, this is the worst i have ever seen her, and she keeps saying very clearly, i am not poorly, she hates medicine shes not keen on being touched either, her twin sisters not helping by running into the kitchen every few minutes to bring her some medicine
is DS1 much better now ?