DS seems to get ill from cold weather/cold water

[Bananmanfan]

I always thought this was a myth, but I've just had another scary experience with DS2 (4.5 yrs) after he has been out in the cold.

It's very cold and snowy here and we are cut off in our village. Walked with DS to local shop 1/2 mile away. He was well dressed; 2 tops, 2 jumpers, coat, hat, gloves, waterproof trousers over trousers. I sat him inside the trolley at the shop as he seemed to be flagging and he was shivering. I got to the till and the cashier said he had fallen asleep and didn't look well. I wrapped him in my coat and tried to push the trolley home (failed quickly).

DH managed to get the the car out to get us, DS was awake and crying/wimpering and shivering. We got him home and put him under a blanket and gave him calpol. He was really blotchy, feeling sick and still violently shivering. I was getting really worried about possibly needing to get him to Drs. After a few minutes he was fine and has been ok since.

This happened a few weeks ago when he got really cold on a bike ride (well wrapped up again) and was then ill for a few days. Also he has been sick and feverish after swimming the last 3 times we have been.

I'm starting to worry that this could be an indication of an underlying ilness, but I wanted to check whether this is just a 'normal' thing for some children before making a gp appointment.

I get like this (also if I get too hot) but I have an underlying health condition (a form of autonomic dysfunction) that means I can't regulate my body temperature properly. Is he very thin? Some very thin children struggle to maintain temperature and it could be that his core temp is dropping too low. Blue lips or anything like that? I probably would make a GP appointment as it can be a sign of an underlying condition but he might grow out of it as he gets bigger.

Thanks for your reply, unweave. He is slim, but not thin. He does get blue lips too. That's really helpful, I will get it checked out.