High fever and safety overnight

[SuperDuperTrooper]

My DS is 14 months old and for the first time in his little life he has a fever. I'm really worried about him as it has been really high. First reading at 4pm was 39.7. I gave calpol and stripped him down which brought the temperature down after about 30mins and he was feeling a lot better for a couple of hours. I've just given him another dose before bed and could feel the fever really kicking in again. Last temp reading w 38.8 an hour ago. I've dressed him in his usual pj's with no vest and put him in a low tog grobag. I'm really worried about the fever causing a seizure overnight when I'm sleeping. Has anyone got any advise for me to help stop me worrying please?

[ChaChaDigregorio]

Put him in bed with you. You'd have crap nights sleep anyway, you may as well have him with you so you know he's ok. Get some ibuprofen too. You can alternate the two of them. Seizures are unlikely and are also not life threatening (febrile convulsions). He'll be fine, you'll be knackered. Story of being a mum!

[JustCallMeFish]

Alternate cal pol and ibuprofen. You can give them at two hourly intervals.

So cal pol at 8.
Ibuprofen at 10
Calpol at 12 etc

Take the gro bag off.
Wipe him down on his face, head and neck with a wet flannel every so often. Whether he's awake or not. And not hot or cold water. Just lukewarm.
Offer juice/water regularly
Wake him for his medicine and an offer of juice, but otherwise let him rest.

My ds convulsed at 40degrees. But it's not the temp that makes them fit, it's how fast the temp is raised.

So regular dosing of cal pol and ibiprofen will keep it down.

Hope he's a lot better in the morn

[SuperDuperTrooper]

He won't sleep in our bed! We've tried this several times in the past and he just won't relax and gets agitated or excited. I might sleep on the floor in his room though.

[JoandMax]

Have him in with you, you'll not sleep for worrying otherwise! I still bring DS1 in with me if he has a temp and he's 4.6....

Alternate calpol and nurofen, I'd also take off the grobag and use a light blanket that can easily be taken off without disturbing him if he starts warming up too much

[noblegiraffe]

If he's that hot, I wouldn't put any pyjamas on at all and just cover him in a sheet.
Set an alarm to check on him regularly in the night if you're worried, and put a baby monitor next to your bed if you want to listen out for him getting restless. Or put a mattress on his floor and sleep in with him.

[JoandMax]

Just seen your latest post - you might have to go in with him then!

[SuperDuperTrooper]

Justcallmefish that's interesting about the rate in the rise of the fever that causes the convulsions. I didn't realise that.

I had been told about alternating the 2 medicines but DH was reluctant to do it but if others think its safer to do it than not then perhaps we will. I also didn't plan to wake him for his medicine but will do now. Thanks.

[TheDetective]

Please don't give more than 4doses of paracetomol and 3 doses of ibuprofen in 24 hours :)

[JustCallMeFish]

Good point Detective.

We were told to do this after our ds by, by the hospital. But only when he has a high fever.

So if you alternated every two hours for 12 hours and he still had a fever you'd have to take him to the dr in the morn.

Our ds had the medicine for longer than 12 hours but he was in hospital at the time.

[dizzymac]

DS is 2. We had this a few weeks ago. Dr suggested keeping the house temperature constant through the night and lightly clothing/ covering him. We kept heating on and went for PJ top and lighting sheets. I kept checking throughout the night as I was worried his temp wouldn't go up and he'd be cold. He was fine. We gave ibuprofen just before bed and again 6 hrs as it seemed to bring it down better. We kept calpol for waking hours when I could control things better.
Don't forget to check amounts per 24 hrs. We found writing times of each on a big board helped.

[JustCallMeFish]

Also you could still alternate the medicine every 3-4 hours, depending on his temp.

Alternating is still better than just calpol. (But I can't remember why-I have been told by hospital though)

[DancingInTheMoonlight]

My Ds has febrile convulsions and the advice of the paediatrician was to alternate ibuprofen and Calpol. Calpol can be given every 4-6 hours (up to 4 times daily) and ibuprofen every 8 hours (3 times daily). We have found that giving one every 4 hours it keeps his temp more steady than trying to juggle different spacing and times and makes it easier to remember.

I would suggest putting him in just pj bottoms and a sheet and checking on him regularly. We always get a 'feeling' something isn't right when ds, us fitting and often i can hear a fit over the monitor.

If he gets really hot take him in the shower (not cold) as this will cool him down and use damp flannels as suggested.

If he does fit, try not to worry (hard i know!). Put him on his side and make sure his airway is not obstructed. We now only call an ambulance if the fit is over 5 mins or he doesn't come round but for a first fit we would have called an ambulance if we hasn't already been in hospital.

Good luck

[appletarts]

Son has had convulsions with high temp and you have to make sure that temperature stays down overnight while you are all asleep. How you do this is alternate ibuprofen and calpol, totally safe and recommended by all health professionals. Get a piece of paper and write down what you give and when, plan out doses until tomorrow morning and set alarm in night to get up and give him the doses whether he has a temperature or not. This way his temperature literally cannot go up. I would either camp on his floor or put him in with you (be careful he doesn't overheat in your bed though). I would also call your out of hours doc for advice rather than rely on MN and if he still has high temp tomorrow take him to gp. We've had ambulance out twice with convulsions and this was advice we were given at A&E. But call your doc.

[appletarts]

Oh ps if your child is fitting you call an ambulance, no question about it!

[PureQuintessence]

I second alternating ibuprofen and calpol, but take care not to over doze so stay within the recommended time frames. I always found that my dc temperatures spiked at 4 am when they had not been given anything since I went to bed around 11 pm. The gro bag may be too hot though, so you could try just the pj with a cotton cellular blanket over him if he is hot.

[Liskey]

DD has had febrile convulsions (quite a few now) and we've been told not to try and prevent a convulsion with calpol/ibuprofren as it'll happen when the drug wears off a bit as its the speed the temperature then rises at. If your DS does have one then dial 999 (now DD has to have one longer than 5 mins before we go to A&E).

However we'd still give both drugs to make her more comfortable - Ibuprofen is better to bring temperature down we've found. You can defintely alternate both of them as this is what the hospital did with DD when she was admitted with a temp of 41.4 and as it turned out a UTI. She's also had them with colds and ear infections so if high temp continues worth going to GP to get checked out.

Hope he's better soon.

[Procrastinating]

Yes alternate the medicines (have been advised this by a number of doctors) and go and sleep in his room. I find when something is wrong I wake up if they are next to me. He might be sick too, mine are with high temps.
No grobag, better to be cold than hot.
I used to carry my little ds outside in pyjamas in the winter to get his temp down, it would shoot up so quickly. It worked.

Don't worry, they all get this, over and over again. Hope you have a good night OP.

[BamBamAndPebbles]

How's your ds this morning op?
How did you get on last night?

[SuperDuperTrooper]

Thanks for everyone's advice - it was really helpful.

Last night we woke him every few hours to give him medicine alternating between calpol and ibuprofen. It did the trick and kept his temperature down well. I've not given any medicine this morning just to see what his natural temperature is like and currently its 38.8. Still a bit high but not scarily. I'm taking him to the dr.s in an hour just to get him checked over.

Thanks again!