At what temperature do you give Calpol?

[iwasagirlinavillage]

I have a 7 month old and a 3 year old who have a very mild fever. At what temperature do you give Calpol (or nurofen)?

when they whine feel like shit.
I don't give it 'just' for a fever.
fever is a good thing

For my very fever prone dd1 I give it to her at about 38 degrees normally if she feels otherwise fine. She is 6 so well able to tell me how she feels.

For the baby I give it for less because she can't tell me if she feels crap. To be honest I don't tend to take their temperature very often (obviously I do if they seem poorly too), you can just tell when they are burning up. I'd guess probably around 37.5 degrees.

Around 38.5 I start considering it. Mainly as he can't have brufen so don't want to risk it getting too high.

When they look ill and/or feel quite hot. I've never owned a thermometer.

I have a 5 year old and 21 month old and have only ever taken a temp once.

If they feel very hot and/or obviously feel like crap then I'll medicate.

With ds when he has a high temp with floppiness, and ibuprofen hasn't bought it down (won't take calpol so has suppositiries)

With dds if they are miserable with a temp or in pain.

If they are happy but have a temp, I don't give anything.

Official advice is not to medicate a fever on its own and you don't need to lower a fever as routine. You give pain relief if they are in pain or uncomfortable.

Some children can run a high fever and feel well, some can run a very low fever and feel absolutely awful. A fever is merely a sign that the body is fighting something and can be doing a very good job.

So, to answer your question, I give anti-pyretics if my child is in pain, uncomfortable etc. I don't medicate because of a number on a thermometer (don't even own one actually).

At the most ill my child has ever been (hdu with double pneumonia), he had no fever at all.

When DD(12) had tonsillitis over two weeks and wouldn't have anything, I found a glass of water and a walk round worked much better. Also, stopping her snuggling under a fleece blanket and putting a fan on when she got floppy. An old fashioned folding fan is useful too.

Her temperature control went AWOL.

We were told cooling down with fans isn't recommended, along with cold flannels etc, as the body reacts to the cooling by trying to raise the temp further.

With ds we have to be careful as his heart rate can go very high with a temp, he has had rigors and febrile episodes, his temperature control is a bit wonky and he has a tendency to seem not too bad, when in fact his sats are dropping and suddenly he is very unwell.

I wouldn't medicate purely for a fever, it's there to do a job. However if they were in pain and miserable and I thought calpol or nurofen would improve that and settle them I would give it. If they were happy and playing I wouldn't. Having a temperature alone isn't a reason to medicate, I would look at the other symptoms. What are you classing as a temperature? I wouldn't medicate for anything under 38.

Strip them off, encourage fluids and keep an eye on wet nappies. Don't tepid sponge.

Yes, that is right for febrile convulsions. My DB had that years ago and back then, they were all for sponging with tepid water and fans. Things changed.

A bit of air movement is fine for stopping it shooting up in the first place and preventing the 'nesting' that made it worse. I found she became still and grumpy when her temperature was going up and used this as a guide instead of the thermometer. It was only by accident that I found getting her to get up and walk around worked too. It is very tempting to huddle into a ball when you feel ill and not necessarily the best thing.

My doctor was very unhelpful - just said that if she still had spots on her tonsils then he wasn't worried and that antibiotics wouldn't help. What I wanted was someone to look at her and tell me what to look out for and how to get help. Her temperature kept shooting up to 41C and I was very worried after what had happened to my brother.

I don't think rapid cooling (ie water or fans) is recommended for any temperature regardless of febrile convulsions.

Febrile convulsions aren't stopped by use of medicine, as it is the sudden spike in temperature that causes them, however because ds has had seizure like episodes with extremes of temperature, his paediatrician recommended bringing his temperature down with suppositories and ibuprofen.

Only if they tell they're feeling really poorly/ somewhere is hurting. I rarely take their temp if they're ill but I do take it when they aren't poorly so I know what temperature is 'normal' for them.

Depends on the child and what they're ill with.
With dd1 she'll only take it at deaths door, so I let her say.
Dd2 tends to run high temperatures (41 isn't unheard of) and looks totally fine at just under 39, so probably around 39.
Ds tends to get ear ache with any illness so generally when he's got even a mild temperature he's in pain, so I'll give him some.

When ds has had impossible to control temperatures and been in hospital they use a fan well back from him on osscialte to cool the air - I think the issue with fans comes when your sat right in front of it

DD1 has a recent history of pneumonia and she doesn't show any sign of being unwell until she's really unwell. Temperatures and saturation indicates the illness before she shows any sign herself. Her temp has just peaked at 38.6 so I've just given her some Calpol. She has cold symptoms so hopefully it'll help with that a bit as well.

DD2 is only 7 months so unable to tell us when something hurts. She's generally miserable with a cold, conjunctivitis and probable viral throat infection. Today is the first day she's had a fever - it was just below 38 and I did give Calpol. I don't want to give it too much or leave her uncomfortable but it's really difficult to judge when they can't tell you how they feel.

I don't for fever...but would for pain if other natural measures not working.

And we run at over 40 here...always have!

I will medicate if they are feeling rubbish with a fever or going to bed so they can sleep well. I won't if they have a fever but are quite happy.
DD1 has recurrent tonsillitis and temp goes to about 41and we struggle to get it down and she's barely conscious. I think they feel quite burny at about 39. Everyone is different though.

DD has had rigors too when she had a high temp with tonsillitis. At the hospital they told us to keep her temp down and alternate between paracetamol and ibuprofen. Her temp was 39 at the time.

Definitely not