A&E or wait for GP – 16mo poorly

[vitjab1988]

Hi all,

Looking for some quick advice – not sure if I should take DS (16mo) to A&E tonight or wait for the GP tomorrow. He’s had a high temp (39.5°C) since this afternoon, calpol brought it down a bit but it’s creeping back up. He’s also very clingy and not himself, whimpering a lot. No rash, breathing seems OK, but he’s refusing fluids and only had a couple of wet nappies today.

Would you wait it out or go in? I don’t want to overreact but also don’t want to leave it too long if he needs help.

TIA x

This sounds like how my daughter was at a similar age and she ended up having a febrile seizure due to the fever. We had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance and it turned out she had tonsillitis. We were sent home with antibiotics the next morning once her fever dropped.

I find with mine having a bath really helps with a fever. Not a tepid bath just a normal bath, it also makes them feel better when they’re in it.

I personally wouldn’t take my child to a&e with a fever unless there were any other concerning symptoms such as breathing difficulty or a rash.

Hope he feels better soon, it’s horrible

How often are you alternating the calpol and ibuprofen? And when can he have his next dose of calpol? How many wet nappies has he had today and when was the last one?

Fevers make children pretty miserable and he's bot going to settle, sleep well, eat or drink until the fever comes down. Its late, it's likely past his bedtime so he's going to be even more grumpy and unwilling to drink.

Obviously go to A&E if you're worried (i think it's best for 111 as at least you're not sat in A&E for hours but hopefully see an out of hour gp) but if all observations aren't worrying in triage other than a temp and posssibly high heart rate which is common with a raised temperature, then they'll top him up with calpol or ibuprofen, whichever comes first, to get his temp down.

How much as he actually drunk? It’s normal to drink less if unwell but unless he’s not taking any fluids, not had a wet nappy in 12 hours ED unlikely to do anything other then try and get you to syringe in.
I’d monitor overnight and see gp/anp morning. Tonsillitis often the cause of this in my experience.

Listen, don't even think of it as overreacting or wasting anyone's time. It's not. I have always been taken seriously when
I've gone in with a baby or toddler as staff know how worrying it is. A&E is often a long wait but little ones do get prioritised for obvious reasons. They can't speak for themselves.

If you are worried, take him. Better safe than sorry and the staff will get that. 111 tend to advise it for that reason too.

Nothing you have said is a red flag to take to A&E . If you are worried just go to the GP in the morning.

It is were my 18mo id take him in. Reason being prolonged very high temp, refusing liquids, reduced urine output, lethargic. It must be an infection as there is a temperature, and if it’s not cough/cold then what is it? I’d make sure a dr checks him over just to be safe.

I hope that you’ve heard back from 111 now OP. It’s really horrible when your little one isn’t well and everything somehow feels so much worse in the night. If it’s any help my thought process has always been along the lines of I won’t regret getting baby checked out but I might regret not doing if it is something serious, complete opposite thought process for myself though which is much more along the lines of I’m sure I’ll be fine! Assuming this isn’t the first time your little one has been unwell something about this clearly feels different to you and I’m a big believer in trusting your instincts.

My DD has had tonsillitis a few times and it always presents like this (she’s 10 months). If his temp isn’t coming down with nurofen or calpol I would take him to be seen.

This is what they make you do at A&E anyway if your baby is dehydrated. You have to do a fluid push with diorylite(spelling??) every 5 mins or so. Where I live at kids A&E they always say bring them in if you are worried. We'd rather check them out and stop you worrying. If there is any sign of dehydration you'll have to stay in for the fluid push. Hope you get your LO sorted.

Mum has said she feels she should take him. On that alone, she should take him. These threads are SO dangerous. Non medical professionals giving conflicting advice. One day a thread like this will kill someone, I personally think mn should ban them.

A&E every time if there's any doubt

💯 this

I think it's very difficult to ask this on mumsnet. A simple test is: is it an accident? Is it an emergency? If not then usually can call 111 for advice

15 month old here. Similar situation. Take to A&E. Take a video before you go to show what like as they always perk up when you get there. Just go, 111 will send you anyway if not drinking.

Yup, I've only ever regretted NOT following my instincts. You know your child. There's people on here that think a leg half attached will sort itself out eventually.

He is a baby just take him in
im sorry but if im worried enough to be thinking about hospital I would take them in.
You know him better than anyone and if you are worried enough to be thinking about taking him into the hospital just do it.
I’m another one here who is surprised that people are still talking about tepid baths for temperatures
I’m sure that is something that was advised against years ago

Sounds like tonsillitis. Please take baby to A&E if you haven't heard back from 111. For that age 111 should send a paramedic to your house to check baby and triage you over the phone . When it's your first you may feel like you're wasting precious NHS time but please go against that feeling. It's always better to have a child checked over than something serious being missed.

A whimpering baby with a temperature that isnt going down with meds
Both warrant A&E
Go now

Trust your instincts

Do not give cool Baths or put a fan on a baby / child with a temperature. You will send his body into shock

It's always so hard when your baby is poorly. I've found 111 the best option. They get back to you quickly when it's a kiddie, they give great advice and if they think you need to go in, they can get you fast tracked. When my kid had gastro, they gave great advice. They said as long as there was a wet nappy in the last 12 hours and that keeps being the case then that's good. They suggested apple juice mixed with water, using a call syringe to get fluids into them. Just 5-10mls every 15 mins or so. And just keep an eye on nappies being wet. Use call. And if anything changes then you call them straight back and they will help you out. They were so understanding and had lots of tips and what to look out for. It only takes 5 mins to get that first call in and start waiting for a call back so definitely use the service and get some advice x

Hope you're on your way in!

Always better to be safe!

There have been times when my baby has had a 39.5 degree fever and I've been fine managing at home. It's high, staying quite high, but I can tell baby is OK. There was once it was 39.5 and I just knew it wasn't right and I was worried. The difference is incredibly hard to describe to anyone else. A feeling in my gut based on how baby was. I went in, no one thought I'd wasted their time. In fact there were multiple other babies and toddlers with identical symptoms in A&E and I recognised 2 of them from a playgroup the week before. Mine got worse while there, with the really cold hands and feet and mottled limb rash due to the fever.

My child needed checking over by a medical professional. It was an emergency. That's what A&E is for.

@vitjab1988 have you tried giving your DS syringes of water, I have been to a&e with my DS with a high fever previously and this is what they got us to do every 10 minutes to get his fluids back up.

With refusing fluids alongside a high temperature and his age, 111 will send you to A&E. No one will see you as wasting time. You're his mum and you have an instinct something is wrong.

My baby at 7 months had a temperature and drowsiness. I knew something was off, and it turned out she had two types of flu. They told me to bring her right back if she had a fever that wouldn't come down or if she was refusing feeds.

My son had about 40 x 40 plus temps as a young child. My general rule of thumb was if both calpol and nurifen could not being temp down he has an infection - usually ear and needed antibiotics