Low temperature

[miki100]

Hello, not sure if anyone has been through this but here goes.
My 6 month old daughter has been perfectly healthy since she was born, until last Saturday when she got feverish with her temp going up to 39.6. It took approx 12 hours to get it down to her usual healthy 36.5. On Sunday morning however her temp was 35 and has remained between 35 and 35.7 since then, so 4 days in total now. I took her to see the gp yesterday and he just told me to keep monitoring it over the next week or so. She doesn't display any other symptoms, except that she is a bit more grouchy than usual. So my question is, should I worry about such low temp, has anyone been through this? I know that low body temps can sometimes indicate a serious underlying condition and I am going out of my mind at the mo with worry. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Thank you

My DD used to get very high temperatures with every little illness, regularly hitting 40C and occasionally 41C. I had an ear thermometer and used to monitor her temperature regularly when she was ill as she had a febrile convulsion when she was 2. I often found that once the illness and fever had passed, her temperature would be low, the same as you describe. It would settle after a few days. I didn't ever discover what had caused this (she is 17 now), I just presumed that as she was prone to getting such high temperatures, it was due to a faulty thermostat. I hope that helps, it is such a worry when they are ill.

Thank you moniker, good to know I'm not alone. Good to hear it never amounted to anything with your daughter. My little one has become very unsettled now, took her to the doctors this afternoon but they didn't have much to add. They keep saying that she has no other symptoms of concern but I can't help but panic. It's been 4 days now so hopefully her temp will go up a bit soon :)

Our baby. Is 5.5 months and we had exactly this after an illness a couple of weeks ago. My father is a retired doctor and he said its nothing to worry about - its common for a baby to 'overcompensate' for a fever and go a bit low. I was also worried so v reassured by this.

that's really comforting to hear kardisa. temp has gone one up a bit to about 36 but I'll still be monitoring it for a few more days

We have had the very same problem with both our children. The first time it happened with my son I totally panicked at called the OH doctors as it was in the night. They suggested waking him up and giving a warm milk and cuddle. I slept with him for another couple of nights to keep him warm but it didn't seem to make any difference to his temperature which still dipped down. The same time it happened with my daughter at night recently after a virus. I think that it probably happens quite often but most people don't take their childrens temperature if they feel cool to the touch. I admit to taking my kids temps alot more often than my friends who don't often know what temperature their kids go up to.

Hi Ladies, I just read your messages and wandered if any of you had my experience and have any idea what could it be. I had a really rough night with my 18 months old daughter. She has got tonsillitis and GP gave her antibiotics ( Phenoxymethylpenicilin - started yesterday morning ) and because she had high temp. (40.5 Celsius) I gave her during the day Calpol and during night Nurofen. So last night before bed I gave her antibiotic and Nurofen and after a long time she finally slept. In the middle of the night she woke up screaming and crying and went like this for some time. Nothing will help. Took her temp. again and it was low for her 35.6 Celsius. I really don't know what happened to her. I'm thinking if it is a reaction from Nurofen or antibiotics like stomach cramps as she was arching a lot while crying? And maybe her temp. dropped so much because of the Nurofen? thank you Ladies

It is in my experience that the temperature often dips like this after they have gone to sleep while taking calpol/nurofen. They often go into a sweat which further cools the body. Make sure your dd has a light covering over her if she is cool. Nurofen cannot make her temperature go too low because it wouldn't do that if you took it for teething etc (if you see what I mean). My kids often go quite nightmarey after their temperaure has dropped in their sleep while poorly so maybe this is what happened?How does she seem today? Also she is bound to feel in pain with tonsiiitis too which will make her feel pretty rotten right now. Hope the antibiotics help soon.

RCEE in my experience with DD with tonsillitis, the penicillin will work very quickly and will start to fight the infection immediately and so the temperature will come down. As craziedaisy says, the nurofen won't make her temperature go too low.

Tonsillitis typically gives tummy pain as a symptom as there are glands in the stomach so I would suspect she was arching due to this.

If the antibiotics don't agree with her, then she will have very loose nappies for a day or so. This always happened when DD was small but improved after a day or so. Just make sure she has plenty of clear fluids to replace what she is losing.

Hope she is better soon, it is horrible when they are ill.

Thank you for your quick answer craziedaisy. She woke up about 30 min ago and she seems better. Never experienced such night with her before and I got a bit worried. Thanks again.

Thank you monikar! She is much better now, no more fever and no low temp. either :-)