Anyone awake - anxious about my son

[Anxiousmother23]

He came down with a temperature and very off colour yesterday morning, we kept him off school. His fever was at 38.9 last night, gave calpol and about 30 mins later ibuprofen to help, which brought it down to 37.5 (this is forehead temp)

Now he’s woken up in the early hours with a horrific cough and can’t stop coughing, his fever is back at 38.5 I’ve given him more calpol. But his cough sounds horrific. He was totally fine on Thursday, the whole thing started yesterday morning.

I’m mega anxious when it comes to illness, especially his. As I always think the worst, especially at night like this.
He’s also very rarely unwell with a fever etc.
He can’t seem to get back to sleep with this cough - obviously he needs to sleep to help get himself better.
Is it worth taking him to out of hours in the morning just to get him checked over? In case it’s an infection and he needs antibiotics?

I was going to suggest the steamy bathroom too. Like really steamy. He's over 5 so could have a childrens liquid cough suppressant but I know a lot of people don't like them
If it's croup he will sound like a seal when he coughs . It;s quite distinctive. The doctor will hear it straight away. Mine once heard it from the waiting room. There's medicine for it , it's just not a nice thing to catch. If they prescribe a puffer make sure you get a spacer. They are useless without them for kids as they don't breathe in fast enough to get the medicine. Vicks is good too, I always used to put it on their singlet, ruins them but for some reason they didn't like is directly on their chest. I've heard the vicks on the foot one too but never tried it.
Hope all is well soon.

I would call 111.

Since having my little one (now 19 months) I always get her checked if she is unwell, especially with a temperature, just for peace of mind. Our drs are lovely and always say they would prefer to see a child who is ok than it being left a few days and seeing a child who is seriously unwell. I would call 111 for advice as they usually can book you an appointment at somewhere like urgent care which will reduce your wait time . If you go, and have to wait, and he ends up being fine, yes it's annoying to have gone through all of that for "nothing" but much better than him being seriously unwell. We have found the vicks humidifier in our daughters room really helped settle her with a cough. Big hugs to you and your son xxx

Dh has a chest infection and when he phoned to make appointment they asked that he do a Covid test first as other patients are going in with coughs and it’s Covid. But I’d ring 111 and see what they say. Horrid when they are unwell.

For a 56 year old I would just treat at home I should think. Prop him up, get comfy beside him and ride out a long night, things often feel better in the morning. You will be able to make a much better assessment in the cold light of day, and kids perk up quickly, if they don't then it is time to take action.

6 not 56!

I may be wrong, but I think most recently they’ve recommended cold air (reduces swelling) vs steamy for croup. Croup often sounds like a barking, seal like cough and does seem to come on quickly at night. But I would recommend ringing 111 because they will take you through the steps to see if he perhaps has issues with breathing, stridor, for instance, and will help you feel more confident about whether or not he needs to be seen.

Both of mine had this a few weeks ago and took them straight to GP. Thankfully was just a viral infection and lasted about 2 days.

Always best to be cautious. Is he sucking in under his chest when breathing? Ds2 woke up with a bad cough and irritable one morning a couple of months ago and I booked him in first thing with the gp. Started sucking in under his ribs while we were in the waiting room and they ended up sending us to hospital in an ambulance as he had bronchiolitis and required oxygen. Hope you’re little ones feeling better soon!

Try not to worry, there are so many things flying around at the moment and they produce all the symptoms you describe. Children are resilient, I remember mine burning up with fevers and making horrible barking noises with their coughs… and being up down giving them calpol and liquid ibuprofen all night long.
As pp have said, call 111 if you are worried and they can advise. It will hopefully put your mind at rest.

I would call 111

I’ve been told that temps that come down with calpol are a good sign (even if they go back up again as it wears off), it’s fevers that don’t respond to medication that are a concern, or a fever that comes and goes for 5 days (I couldn’t get antibiotics for my eldest until it’d been 5 days).

In terms of coughing, again mine suffer really badly with coughs and a normal cough/cold will result in a few nights where we have 2-3 hour coughing fits that sound awful. Even in adults a cough is always worse at night.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that what you describe sounds really normal in our house for a standard cough / cold - a temp that responds to calpol and an awful cough overnight. That said, if you’re concerned, there’s no harm in getting him checked out at all, better safe than sorry!

Take him to the walk in this morning and watch him closely over the weekend x

I'd call 111. Hope your son feels better soon.

Is he struggling to breathe, I.E are his ribs pulling in when he breathes? Look up recessive breathing.

Or does his cough sound like a seal barking? (Look up croup cough videos)

To be honest if his only symptoms are a temperature and a cough I’d honestly just treat at home, I’m surprised at the number of people saying to call 111.

The NHS has some helpful signs of when to seek medical attention for your child. It’s mainly around if they’ve had a temp for more than five days, are listless/ not responding normally, not drinking etc.

Temperatures are the body’s response to an infection so there is nothing alarming about the temperature itself. Focus more on treating his symptoms than the temperature. Sounds like it’s coming down with medicine anyway.

sounds like you both fell asleep - hope the morning feels better

Hello my darling, I'm sorry to hear this.

I also have anxiety and a few weeks go my little girl (5.5) had the exact same symptoms, was sleeping all day, temp upto 39.5 and even taking calpol and ibuprofen temp would only come down to around 37.7, this lasted 3 days, cough started on day 2,

After day 4, temp was around 37.9, so not too high but also not the norm, and cough was getting alot worse.

Then day 5 perked up loads and thought we were seeing the back of it.

Day 6, woke up crying, falling asleep just after waking up so got her booked in to GP and was given antibiotics for a chest infection.

I hope your little one gets better, but as another mum who suffers with health anxiety, you'll know when it is not anxiety and you need to get them seen. Pay attention to his cough, is it dry? Is it chesty? Coughs and fevers are scary but they're a good think, they're fighting the virus and keeping any nasties off his lungs.

Also this was my daughter's 4th fever of all time too, so just like you, my anxiety was at the roof.

@Anxiousmother23 steam in a bowl of water. you need to hold him tightly. keep his head under a towel. just for a few minutes and hold his arms. unless you have a facial sauna?? buy a couple of bottles of calpol today and make sure you dont run out of it. there are many viruses going about. if you listen carefully to his cough. listen for croup or congestion. put some big books under the top of his mattress so he sleeps elevated.

I'd get him checked as I'd be worried about a chest infection. If it's not then there's no harm done and the drs seen him.

See I'd watch and wait. He's had a cough but his body is doing it's thing using the temperature to burn off the germs.

You can always seek medical attention if he gets worse.

Definitely take him to get checked OP. He sounds like he’s very poorly and he’s only 6.

The quick onset sounds exactly like when we all had flu which is awful but needs to run it's course. I got both of mine checked out though in case (was hoping actually) it was a chest infection because the fever and coughs were awful. Hope he perks up soon x

Honey is better than cough syrup, try a teaspoon or two of that

Coughs are always worse in the night. This sounds like the cough virus that a huge number of us have had. Calpol again for now, and see what he's like in the morning when he's been upright for a while.
Taking someone with a viral illness to an oy of hours clinic where they'll be waiting for ages and coughing over everyone, shouldn't be fine lightly. Give it some time. Things always seem worse at night, and coughs always so when the person has been lying down.