temp @ 34.5

[ilovesprouts]

ds 2 is 4.5 he woke up lat night and was sick on my bed ,anyhow hes only had 2 small drinks today, but he wont have calpol etc and hes still very hot with just his nappy on his temp is 34.5 but hes shaking.

Ooh, that doesn't sound good. How have you taken his temp? It might be worth doing an anal temp check as its most reliable. 34.5 is very low and with his symptoms a high temp would be expected, not lower. Try to get more fluids into him. Double check the temp thing. If it is low, don't strip him off and do call NHS direct.

An unusually low temp is not good following a high fever. It means parts of the body are 'shutting down' to conserve the blood supply where its needed most, brain kidneys etc. The shaking could be a rigor indicating a serious infection going on.

Your priority should be getting calpol or brufen in him (brute force if necessary - syringe into cheek and hold mouth closed - no pussyfooting about) and getting him checked over.

It may be once the calpol starts working you are much happier with him, but I would still get him looked at.

Dont strip him off but dont overheat him either.

Sneezecake - that could be a bit drastic! The thermometer could be slightly off (ear thermometers can do this sometimes if the battery is low) and he might just be shivering to raise his temp.

Ilovesprouts - have you taken your own temp with the thermometer to compare? If he has a fever then keep him lightly covered - you want to cool him down a bit if he is uncomfortable but if he is shivering it means he is too cold and his body is trying to warm itself up which is obviously counterproductive! If he has a low temp (which can also happen when they're sick sometimes) then try to bring it up a bit. Snuggle up with him under a blanket, give a warm drink and plenty of snuggles. The most important thing is how he is in himself. Is he responsive, smiling, chatty? Keep pushing fluids so he doesn't dehydrate or if he'll eat some fruit then that will help too. If you are worried about him or he becomes unresponsive etc then take him to be seen.

Hope he feels better soon.

Sorry but I have seen very sick kids like this. OP gives little information about the condition of DC. Are his legs/arms mottled. ? is he responding normally etc. I'm just looking at the worse case scenario.....result of being an A&E nurse!

I think he really needs some calpol, it is impossible to assess a feverish child properly. If OP thinks he looks particularly ill she should go with her instincts.

PS Children don't shiver to raise their temperature unless they are in extremely low temperatures.

Sneezecakes - he isn't feverish according to the thermometer. In any case, unless the child is uncomfortable reducing the fever is not necessary (according to NICE guidelines)

"Children don't shiver to raise their temperature unless they are in extremely low temperatures."

Yes, they do. If you don't believe me you can look it up - it's listed as something you should try to prevent when treating a feverish child on most of the health organisations' websites.

How is he doing ILS?

hi hes fine this morning ,gave him a nice cool bath got some calpol in in at last,hes had a yogart and a drink today temp is now ?! my batterys gone now grr cant find new one so off to town soon

Glad he's feeling better sprouts. Your experience just shows how 'trusting equipment' can be misleading - sounds like batteries were naf!

It's easy to check for abnormal temp - just feel your child, look at them & then assess behaviour as sneeze says

Relying on technology worries me cos I think it encourages parents NOT to use their instinct & common sense

i have a spare batt but cant find it hes seems ok but he cant tell me hes got sn and non verbal

Sprouts....Invest in a couple of cheap as chips digital thermometers (£1!) I would imagine as you said initially DS felt very hot because he was very hot! Just shows that the hand is mightier than the tech.
We always say 'look at the patient not the equipment' this shows how true it is. His shivering was clearly because he was feverish and trying to cool himself down, not heat himself up.
I am not a big fan of not giving calpol when a child looks and feels unwell simply because its so difficult to assess them properly. If the temp settles with the calpol and the child perks up and eats/drinks because he is more comfortable, he feels happier, you feel happier...simple!

hes much better now thanks

Sneezecakes - your body does not shiver to cool itself down. Your body sweats to cool and shivers to warm up. I'm sorry to correct you but I don't want people to read this thread and be misinformed.

Ilovesprouts- I'm glad he's feeling better. It's amazing how quickly they can bounce back at that age!

Bubbleymummy - afraid im also in agreement with sneezecakes - the 'shivering' was probably something called a rigor which children (and sometimes even adults) do when they have a high temp. Far more common for children to be 'shivering' because of a high temp than a low one.

A high temp with rigors is also a sign the child probably needs antibiotics because the cause of the rigor/high temp is more likely to be bacterial (that needs treating) rather than a virus.

Raeray, I'm not quite sure what you are saying but if you are suggesting that shivering is the body's way of reducing a fever then I will have to correct you too.

Yes, rigors are extreme episodes of shivering, are more common in children with fevers rather than adults and are indicators for a potentially serious infection but that does not mean that they are cooling the body down.

[http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Rigors.htm Here]] is some more information for you. From the second paragraph:

'Shivering is a reflex which occurs when someone feels cold and, physiologically, it serves to raise body temperature.'

Here

When my ds had a rigor (he had pneumonia) I can't remember him shivering but he had blueness around his mouth and lips although he was breathing fine. Just thought I'd add the bit of experience I have.

Glad he's better ilovesprouts [smile0

Oh and the Dr who was with us when it happened said it was a rigor, looking at the definition a rigor is the shaking part

oh hes full of beans now back at school had 48 hours off :)

ils Glad your DS is feeling better. By the end of his childhood you will be an expert at managing sickness. Grey haired but an expert

Regarding the shivering. in your DS case it was clearly caused by his rising temperature and luckily you ignored bubblymummy's advise of a warm drink and a warm blanket - it would only have raised his temperature further making him more uncomfortable. It was only the thermometer that was naff not my advice! Rigors can be nasty in children (like a heavy duty shivering and not to be ignored) and as Raeray says can be an indication of serious infection.

Thank heavens for calpol and brufen - once a child gets these on board you get a much clearer picture of how the child is and decide whether they need a doc or not. It is always scary when a mum says the DC has had brufen and calpol and temp still sky high!

well im an older mum too have ds1 whos 21 and dd1 whos 18

would not of put blanket on him anyhow i was always told to cool them down

ils. I think the best advice to give any mum is to use their common sense and instinct. After 12 years of nursing kids and adults I am amazed at the number of parents bundling up hot DCs! They also dont give calpol for pain! Some bring clearly broken arms in and they dont think to give pain relief. Luckily MOST parents are sensible and do the right thing but when a DC has communication issues it can be a nightmare. 3 y olds will say theyve got earache in their tummy!! I'm so glad DS is better again, their resilience always amazes me.

Sneezecakes, if you read my first post you will see that I recommended the warm drink and blanket if he had a LOW temperature. Do you disagree that a patient with a low temperature needs to be warmed up rather than cooled down? This was also after I advised checking the thermometer on themselves, testing the batteries and if he had a high fever then trying to cool him down but preventing him from shivering which is counterproductive because it warms the body up (despite what you seem to think).
Just to clarify, I do not mean you should bundle a warm child up. If the child has been stripped down to a vest and/or nappy you can cover them with a light cotton blanket just to keep them comfortable while still allowing them to cool down but preventing shivering.

My son had high temprature since last 3 days.it went upto 40.we were in california and showed a doctor.he said it's viral.since yesterday his fever got normal.we came back to London last night and since today morning his temp is between 34.5 to 35. I went to GP. He said its fine. Nothing to worry. Kindly advice moms.