High temp - not sure what to do

[positivelythought]

Hi,any help welcome. My 23 month old had had temp last night but was ok today. It's gone back up this eve. It was 40.5 half an hour ago, I have given calpol and it's now 39.4.

I've not been able to get him to drink anything other than his milk at bedtime.

He's not is distress, just hot and clingy.

If you are concerned, best thing to do is call 111.

Google 'nice paediatric traffic lights' is a good tool for deciding when to call for help with sick children. Green is self care, amber GP or go out of hours, red a&e or own transport to hospital whichever is quickest. Can't post a link as return key not writing properly tonight.

Thanks, will do.

I was told to alternate between calpol and nurophen.

Yes Calpol and Nurofen alternating so you can give something every couple of hours then. Also cool flannel on his head and neck. The key is to keep temp down not let it soar then bring it down. Hooe he's better soon.

Just a thought, but if you happen to have any ice lollies/ice poles in they may help to bring his temp down a bit, aswell as providing fluids.

Advice is don't cool skin with flannels etc.
Strip yo nappy.
Cooling the skin tricks the body into raising the temperature to warm the body up.
Or so the staff of 101 say.

Keep a close eye, id be on my way to a&e at over 40 degrees. That's dangerously high for a child.

39.4 is still high. He’s only 2 so I would call 111 for advice.

When our DS was only four months he had a very high temperature that went down a bit with meds but then went up again as they wore off. He otherwise seemed well. We went to GP who said that as he had no other symptoms (ears and throat looked clear) we should go to A&E to be checked over. We did and it turned out he had a bad UTI. We had to spend a couple days in hospital as he needed intravenous antibiotics but he was then fine. I hope your DS has been ok overnight but would definitely suggest GP in the morning if he still has a temp.

That's still a very high temp. I'd call 111. Hope he's ok!

Thanks everyone. He's back to normal now. Will keep close eye today.

I’ve always been told my GP/Out of hours not to worry about high temp? Unless it’s causing issues. Now wondering by the responses if this is true.... dc (13mo) had a temp of 41 last week with a virus, it was only when his breathing became extremely fast that I thought I should phone for advice, luckily it calmed down quite quickly and temp didn’t go that high again so I didn’t have to get him seen. Hopefully that was it peaking last night and he’s on the mend, drinking wise I was told to be seen if had signs of dehydration (mainly lack of wet nappies).

Don’t use flannels or ice pops. Do alternate calpol and nurophen. Visit GP if these meds don’t brong his temp down or if he sustains a temperature for more then a couple of days.

positively... - very pleased he’s feeling better! cheese... that’s always the approach I took - that the temp was a symptom and not a reason to go to the GP by itself unless it took a couple days to go down. I still more or less take that approach. In our case, DS had had a (very) high temp for 36 hours so I went in. I thought I’d be told he was fine so was very surprised when they sent us to A&E, but their take was that there is always a reason for a high temp so if it’s not obvious, other reasons should be checked out.

How is he tonight op?

He's been okay all day and ate enormous tea but is now running high. Temp of 39.9. Have given calpol, will definitely make Drs appointment tomorrow. Hoping will come down soon as calpol kicks in

I think the issue with a very high temperature is it can cause other problems so if it is persistent then it is really important to get them seen.

Op - how is your son today?

When you say he's been okay during the day do you means he's normal temp during the day without meds and it's shooting up at night time?

Yes, normal in day. I saw Dr today and he said not to give anything to bring down temperature because that's how the body fights infection. Only give if DS appears uncomfortable or in pain. Dr thinks virus, big issue is avoiding dehydration. So plenty of fluids.

I don't know about others but with my ds we've never had normal temp during the day and then shooting up to high 39's at night for a few nights in a row. Sounds like periodic fever syndrome to me.

If it was me I would be at hospital 39.9 is too 40.5 is way to high they always say go to hospital if temperature goes over 40 as there at risk of fits hope your child is better soon

he might have caught hand foot and mouth this is how it started with my son. neuroffen workes so so so much better than calpol and in half the time. id ditch the calpol and get neuroffen. and honestly if he does have hand foot and mouth im so sorry in advance its awful and stock up on calmoline lotion and get a sore throat medication too. literally buy as soon as you see spots or you will regret. really hope its not and just a temp thatll go away by morning. but do switch for neuroffen calpol is really shit.