3 Year old DD temperature 39, otherwise ok. Do we do car journey tomorrow?

[RoxyFox211]

Hi, my daughter has been a bit off her food yesterday and today and didnt sleep that well last night but apart from that she has been her usual happy self all day..running to nursery, potting training as usual, playing etc. However while we were reading i noticed she was a bit hot, used the ear thermometer and her temperature was 39.3!!! I was a bit panicked, especially when she complained of feeling sick aswell. Gave her bath a usual, rang nhs direct and gave her normal dose of calpol. Her temperature has come down (38.5) and shes asleep. Im less worried now than earlier but we had booked to stay in a caravan for 3 days starting tomorrow...really rare for us to go away cus of time, money and no transport...my mum was meant to be driving us (shes coming to) around a three hour journey in her car, will we still be alright to go? really worried, dd was really looking forward to this trip and we have no refund etc, just worried about the journey making her worse and being away from local gps. If there is no worsening in her condition would it be irresponsible to take her on the car journey anyway? really torn :/ would love some advice!

Oh dear, what a worry.

The most likely explanation would be a simple virus which will probably run its course in a day or two - you might even find that she is fine tomorrow.

If it were me I would see how she is in the morning - if she seems on the mend, then it would be ok to go. A car journey will not make her worse. Have someone sit in the back with her just to be on the safe side in case she is sick but often they feel sick when the temperature is up, and that could explain why she felt sick tonight. Just make sure you have sufficient calpol and give her a dose before you leave.

Where are you going? If you are near a town there will be a gp which you could take her to as a visiting patient. Perhaps it might be an idea to look up on the internet the route to the nearest A&E unit from where you are staying - highly unlikely you will need it, but if you are prepared you will be able to relax more tomorrow.

Children always get unwell at the most inconvenient times - hope you can go and have a lovely holiday.

Thanks for the reply! Thats a good suggestion about gps, we're staying in a holiday park called fresh water beach, will check if they have anything on site. If not i'm sure there will be a local one , but best we check before setting out. I know :( its so sad shes only been ill about 5 major times in her life and she was so excited about this, we were going to the dinosaour museum, swimming etc all of which will be a bit miserable for her if shes unwell :(

Hope she feels better tomorrow morning.

I would take thermometer, calpol and calprofen/nurofen though. Also, important that she drinks enough water during the long drive.

I hope it works out. It is good that the temperature responded to the Calpol, however it did not go away altogether. She is clearly fighting something.

Did you check both ears? If only one comes up with 39 she may well have an ear infection in that ear (which could also explain the feeling sick bit).

(and could explain her feeling fine running around all day but being unsettled at night - ear infections seem to hurt more lying down)
Hope you can still go

Take heart, my DD has had a couple of occasions of having a v high temp in an evening or during the night, and then the next morning she has been miraculously better. Temperatures are generally higher in the evening than in the morning, so it mightn't be as bad as it seems. If it's coming down with calpol, that's good.

I would go providing that she seems well other than the temperature, in the morning. It would be a shame for you all to miss out as holidays are few and far between.

Take a stash of calpol/ ibuprofen solution with you for emergencies.

The only exception when I would say 'don't go' is if you think she could have beeen exposed to something like chickenpox, measles, cytomegalovirus (basically, things that could be really harmful to other members of the community). You wouldn't want her infecting anyone else on the holiday park who might be immunocompromised. Or if she seems otherwise unwell (lethargic, averse to bright lights, etc).

We (like everyone else we know!) have had many holidays when we've had to seek out the local doctor owing to a badly-timed illness. GPs in these areas are usually well used to seeing holidaymakers, if it comes to that.

I hope it comes to nothing, you go, and have a nice time.

Appreciate the replies everyone :) Didnt think of it may be being in one ear but actually that makes sense because the temperatures shes had in the past have almost always been down to ear infections. Her temperature went down wit the calpol, then came up again towards the end of the four hours, just woken her up to dose her up again and she's still cheerful :) thanks for the positive replies, glad to think we will probably still be able to go! Fingers crossed! I don't think it is anything contagious but I'll definitely keep an eye out for symptoms of chicken pix etc seeing as she does go to nursery and could've picked something up there.