Low temp in a child?

[Pollony]

DD 3 had a fever last night (39 degrees) which ibuprofen bought down to normal. She has been ok all day, fever was back up to 38 this morning which calpol bought down again and other than being off her food and a bit grumpy she has been fine all day.

Gave her some more ibuprofen before bed at half 6 as fever was 38 again, she went to sleep no problem, I've just checked her temp again as she felt cold and its reading at 34.4. She had her duvet on but can tuck and untuck herself in her sleep. She has no other symptoms.

Should I be worried? I have tucked her right up right and plan on taking it again in 20 minutes but should I call out of hours if it's still low? I've never experienced low temp before so not sure if its worrying or not.

I would phone 111. My daughter has a consistently low temp which causes me some stress but at least it's consistent. A high to low shift like that would warrant being checked I'd say. Although try not to worry too much. Does she have a rash or mottled hands and/ or feet?

If it’s still the same you call 999. Everything below 35 degrees is hypothermia. It’s obviously quite serious.

No rash I can see or anything worrying like that she is just cold, it just seemed very cold to me and I'm a worrier and didnt want to waste anyone's time if it's nothing worry about.

Are you sure the thermometer is working? What kind is it?

It is very cold at that temperature and all the advice I’ve found online is to seek immediate medical attention.

I would definitely phone someone. It does seem very low.

That seems very low, I'd phone 999

A doctor on the news a few days ago said that in children covid can present with a low temperature not just a fever. I'd get her checked.

I would be calling 999 now OP , don’t take any risks x

I thunk because it’s been so warm, I assume in most of the UK do it would be unusual to be that temp because she’s really cold.

It’s so hard being a parent and to know what to to do. If you’re sure the thermometer is right and not faulty then do you have an emergency doctors number? I wouldn’t bother with 111.

I’d maybe even phone A&E and advise titter taking her down now.

I’m sure she’ll be absolutely fine. They’ll check her over, probs keep her in and you’ll be home tomorrow absolutely knackered but relieved.

It says about low temp and meningitis in google but... from my understanding if it was that then there’d be a rash likely and they go town hill very quickly. As you’re lo is asleep then it’s hard to tell that’s why I’d call the docs first advice.

They’d rather see a child and it be a false alarm that see one too late. Not that I think you’re lo has meningitis but it’s to ease your mind then you can relax

Just checked it again and its 35.5 so going up which is reassuring but I will call them anyway and just see what they say. Thank you to everyone that replied

I don't have any advice but I hope your daughter is ok. It sounds like you are in for a tough night either way

Hope everything is OK - keep us updated OP

I would question the thermometer rather than assume hypothermia in June. I always struggle to get a good reading with in-ear thermometers and my hunch is that if it’s angled slightly incorrectly, it reads lower than it should.

How are you taking the temperature and with what kind of thermometer

I found out today...maybe you already realised this...that even if your child only has a temperature, you have to isolate for 7 days or take a covid test.
Hope you little one gets better soon x

Hi OP, did you call? Was just wanting to support calling. Low temperature like that and I would definitely call OoH.
Hope all is ok

What war the advice when you called? A low temperature can be one of the symptoms of sepsis so very definitely something to get checked out.

I know this is an old thread but wanted to post here in case it helps others in this same scary situation.
My son had his 6 month shots and had a fever (101.5), so I gave him Tylenol at the recommended dose before putting him to bed that night (acetaminophen 2.5 ml). Several hours later he was cool to the touch and I took his temperature again, both with a digital thermometer and rectal. He was at 94 degrees F (34.4 C)
This was terrifying, as technically it is in the hypothermic range. I checked the temp again to verify, then immediately stripped us both down, put a wool hat on him, then put him on my chest and wrapped us in blankets in order to bring up his body temperature. It took 3 hours of this insulated skin-to-skin to get him back to 98 degrees. I spoke with my doctor on call during this time to consult and they said as long as he was not exhibiting other symptoms (blue skin, shaking, disorientation, etc), this was the right thing to do. If he did have other hypothermic symptoms beyond the low temp, we would have taken him to the ER.
The next morning he was acting normal again and his temp was at 99.5. We took him to the doctor and spoke at length about how this could have happened. I had done extensive research online and could not find any articles about vaccination causing low body temperature (as immunological responses typically raise body temp). The doctor looked into it further and we finally found an explanation:

---acetaminophen has an antipyretic action (lowers temp) and sometimes this can go too far in infants, bringing it to the hypothermic range. There are several European studies about this effect that you may find useful and reassuring, as I did!

Transient major hypothermia associated with acetaminophen: A pediatric case report and literature review: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31331796/

Hypothermia: an unusual side effect of paracetamol
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2652877/