To have taken my baby to emergency

[NeedingAGoodNap]

Our 8 month old daughter was feeling very unwell. She had a temp of around 40.3 and her breathing was very fast. It was 2am in the morning and we didn’t know what to do so we jumped in the car to take her to emergency. The triage nurse did some tests and found that her temp, breathing and heart rate were all very high so she admitted us straight away.

The doctor seemed confused as to why we were there and thought it was obvious that it was a virus and we should have just treated at home. They monitored and gave her pain relief for 4 - 5 hours until her heart rate we back in a normal range and then sent us home.

Where we unreasonable to take her in? It’s not like she can talk and tell us why she is so upset and unwell

@AlmostSummer21 yikes, that must have been scary!

YANBU
Hope she's better now or very soon.

Babies that little I think are automatically admitted for fevers over a certain (pretty low) level. And if you’d called 111 they would’ve told you to come in for that reason. The dr you saw may or may not have been peds specialist & and may or may not have been experienced with babies that small. My BFF is a peds dr and she is generally very relaxed about most things EXCEPT fevers in babies that small, because you just don’t know and it can go south with them extremely quickly.

A doctor once said to me Arhh if you’re not coping with your baby we can get someone to visit you at home regularly for support. Turns out my 5 month old had an interceception and her intestines had gone into themselves.
I think it’s always best to be safe than sorry, and doctors don’t always know best

Absolutely spot on, that triage nurse. You were absolutely not BU and did the right thing. Great it turned out to be nothing serious, I hope she feels better soon.

Better to be safe than sorry.
Never apologise for seeking medical advice our children are so precious.

Never feel bad about trusting your instincts. Your baby had a high temp and was admitted. I hate doctors like this

You were absolutely right to get your baby seen, well done. The doctor should not have made you feel bad for doing that, a temp of over 40 is very high. I'm an adult nurse, when my children were unwell as babies I always got them checked. Unfortunately us nurses sometimes have to fight to get taken seriously by doctors when concerned about patients

I must be in the minority. I would have given Calpol and monitored. But I have 2 children, one of which temperatures easily spikes up to 41.7 etc. If temperature continued for more than 2 days I would have booked a Drs app. A&E wouldn't cross my mind

NHS says babies under 3 months should be seen if a temp over 38, so YANBU at all. We're just about to go to OOH with our toddler on the advice of 111 and the GP.

Always err on the side of caution, and always wise to remember they don't always know best or get it right.

@Christmasfairy2020 I agree. Always give Calpol and monitor. Majority of the time the temperature followed by heart rate will come down. If it still hasn't then a call to your GP or 111

If the breathing was very fast then it was an emergency. Maybe her breathing had slowed when the doctor saw her? It was probably viral but viruses can make babies very ill. My daughter was admitted to hospital with viral induced wheeze at that age.