Fever, loose stools and tiredness

[Dad2017]

First of all I do suffer with health anxiety over my child so everything seems a lot worse to me than it does my partner but could do with some advise.

Last Thursday my boy (just turned 2) had a low grade fever of about 38.5 that went down after Calpol, he did have a loss of appetite and some loose stools. He also looked extremely tired. The next day no fever and appetite still wasn't the same and still quite tired. 4 days later he got a fever again of about 38.5 that went away with Calpol.

2 days later he has got better but still has a mixture of loose stools and looks really tired still. His appetite is back to normal and he has more energy than last week but this is where it's confusing me.

He still looks really tired with some loose stools, he gets upset all of a sudden, sometimes it's just typical 2 year old behaviour and other times he just cry for no reason.

His bottom 2 year molars have not cut in yet but we had a good 2 weeks nightmare with this when it first started. The reason I don't think it's that now is because he's not biting anything like he normally does. He does seem to be developing a bit at the moment and suddenly trying to speak in sentences with a lot more words so I don't know if he has a virus, teething or going through a bad phase as he is suddenly so sensitive and really demanding.

Any advice or if this has happened to yours would be greatly appreciated.

From a concerned dad

Hi, I also suffer from health anxiety so I know how hard it can be to think rationally when our kids are sick. It sounds to me like he had a virus first last week, teething doesn't cause a 38.5 fever nor tiredness.

Sounds like he is on the mend with the energy coming back, appetite coming back and the fever staying away now which is a great start. After a bad virus that has wiped them out they can be a bit sensitive, clingy for another week or so after, they are used to the extra attention from being poorly and having things their way to comfort them plus they may still not be feeling 100% and need some more comfort.

If you feel like he is teething, this could be a combination of both, viruses and teething aren't considerate enough to come separately always 🙂

If the loose stools continue to after the weekend then consider seeing a GP purely based on length of time but upset tummies can last a long time in toddlers because their immature guts are not used to being in contact with these germs much before.

Thanks nogidnomasters. I am going to seek help for my anxiety as it cripples me. I freak out a bit as even when he starts touching his head I think he has a brain tumour and he grabs his legs and goes sad like he's about to cry or in pain. It's horrible as he's still not old enough to say what's wrong so you have to guess.

He does seem to be getting a little bit better by the day and he dies seem to be going through a development stage and he is always a nightmare at those.

Hopefully he's better again tomorrow and can relax a bit more

Definitely seek help as health anxiety can take over your whole life, I know from experience. The help won't make it disappear but it will help you cope much better as it can be mentally and physically draining. The fact he is showing improvement each days means he's definitely on the mend, sometimes it's just slow progress with viruses especially if it's the first time their immune system has fought that particular one. It does get slightly easier when they can talk and tell you where hurts etc but you will go through so many occasions of this with them when they are small so getting help is definitely the way forward.

I have private health care with work so I'm going to get help through that cover.

My boy is rubbing his head a lot but doesn't cry or seem sad when he does it. He does do it more when he's tired but wondered if this is normal?

Is it his face, forehead or actual hair covered part he's rubbing? If it's eyes/forehead it could be tiredness. If it's his hair he genuinely might like just feeling his Hair, could be soothing to him. Unless he's getting distressed while doing it I wouldn't imagine it indicates any pain or issue.

Yeah I'm definitely reading to much into it as I think it's more of a tiredness thing. His stools are a lot better today.

Also found out I get 6 free counselling sessions through private health and already booked my first session in so I can stop panicking each time.

Thanks for all the advice nodogsnomasters really appreciate it

Good for you! I wish you the best of luck for your first session. Your little boy is going to be just fine.