3 year old with fever

[lucylouz]

My LG (nearly 3) hasn’t been herself at all today very quiet and not as active as usual. I took her temp and it was 39.4 so gave her calpol and monitored, it did slowly come down and just before bed it was 37.8. I have however just been up to her (about an hour and a half after putting her to bed) and it’s rocketed to 40.2!! She’s very hot and was a bit shakey. I have given her more calpol and made her have a drink and she’s gone back to sleep. I’m really worried and can’t really understand where she’s picked anything up from! She’s been off preschool for a week for half term and spent all week at home with me apart from going to the park on Wednesday. I have booked us both to have a covid test tomorrow to rule that out but I’m just so worried about her. Any advice would be appreciated and also if any of your toddlers have had covid could you tell me the symptoms they had? Thanks.

I would ring 111 and get some advice as that does sound like a high temp.

Poor little thing. There are a few things that have long incubation - chicken pox for example. Have there been any cases at nursery recently?
Covid of course also has a long incubation, that's why we isolate for so long if we're a contact, so you're right to get a test.
My little girl had a sky high temperature when she had a UTI once, that's an explanation that isn't caught from anyone else.

Definitely give the doctors a call (or 111 if she's not responding to calpol/you're worried), they'll have a process for dealing with people with Covid symptoms.

I'm really worried she is just lying there with her eyes open and then slowly closing and then opening again (I'm watching her on the camera) I've just gone back up and to her and re taken her temp and it's now 40.5 I've taken her duvet off her and put a thin blanket on. I sat by her bed and asked her if she wanted me to stay with her and she told me to go my OH thinks I'm overreacting (which I do have a tendency to do) and says she's just poorly she will be fine and to leave her to sleep.

It's been half an hour and her temperature is going up?
Have you got any nurofen you can try (assuming you have no reason to believe chicken pox?) - if not, or that has no effect either then I would definitely be calling 111.

Definitely try ibuprofen for children as that tends to bring a temperature down greatly but be careful not to over use it. If it still hasn’t come down in the next 30-60 mins seek further advice. My daughter suffered terribly with high temperatures when she was a baby/toddler and often came out in a rash of sorts. Just watch her carefully xx

The NHS website says to call 111 if your child's fever does not come down with paracetamol. I tried to attach a screen shot but I can't access my photos for some reason

Just been through the exact same with DD, 5, and she had it once before too. It was a UTI. I'd get to GP or out of hours if at all possible - a simple urine test will confirm it and antibiotics clear it up fast.

UTI's can cause really high temps.

Good luck and hope she's better soon.

My child always has high temps but 40.5 is fairly high and if it’s not coming down I would go to hospital. However the doctors always said to me it’s more important how ill they seem rather than the temperature. Still I’d probably get them seen

Call 111 ask for advice, her temp is still going up you need to seek advice. X

@lucylouz my 14 month old was very unwell week before last. Had a temp of 40 and really wasn't herself. It was up and down for days. No appetite, slept a lot and showed no interest in playing. Just wanted to be latched onto me!
Had to get a Covid test to rule that out. Eventually got an appointment with the GP and she had ear infections.
I also think she managed to pick up a nasty virus from mixing with other children at her childminder.
I found that Calprofen worked a lot better than Calpol.
She got prescribed a course of antibiotics and started to get better again very quickly.

I really hope your little one gets well again soon. It's terribly worrying when they're so unwell and you feel so powerless. I spoke with 111 who were great and if you're worried then I would strongly urge you to do the same. Even for peace of mind.

Thank you everyone for your advice. I went back up in the end and took temp again and it had come down to 39 she then asked me if she could sit with me downstairs so I said yes and encouraged her to drink lots of water and kept taking temp. She really perked up and wanted to play which I took as a good sign. I then spoke to a friend on the phone who's a paediatric nurse and also has young children, she advised for her to take paracetamol and ibuprofen together and alternate but after speaking to her I gave it a quick google and nhs advise against children under 16 doing this. Just put her back to bed and it's down again to 38.1 I will wake up at 1am when calpol wears off and take temp again and then give ibuprofen if temp is high I think. It's so worrying having children! She's rarely ever ill so I'm not used to this at all. Thanks again for all the advice.

It's absolutely fine to give both ibuprofen and paracetemol - as your nurse friend suggested. Alternating meds ensures she maintains a lower temp. I'd recommend only using a bed sheet for coverage, rather than a blanket. You can always double the sheet if her temp stays down.

Just make sure you're not giving her the ibuprofen on an empty stomach - even a bit of bread or some banana will help line her stomach first. Cool damp cloth also helps.

If she goes floppy, twitchy or shaky again, definitely worth getting her triaged asap. When mine were wee with temps, I'd often sleep in the living room with them so I could keep an eye and if they wake up feeling poorly, you can pop something soothing on the tv and use the damp cloth etc. Hope she feels better soon!

Hope she's feeling better this morning.

I alternate the two if they really unwell, doctor advised here too. But yes the ibuprofen can make them sick if on an empty stomach so a little snack is best.

I must of woke every hour to check on her and wish I had given her ibuprofen before I put her to bed now like suggested. Her temp was 40.8 at 4.30am!! I gave her ibuprofen at this point and checked again at 5am and it down to 38.1 so it seemed to work a lot quicker than the calpol had last night. I've checked her temp this morning (8am) and it's down again to 36.4 and she seems back to her usual chatty self and not refusing breakfast which is looking good. It is scary how quickly they can turn though so I will monitor her all day. We have our covid test at 10am which I've briefly just tried to explain to her what will happen. I said because she's been so good she can pick a toy to order off my phone after so she seems happy with that!
Thanks again everyone. It really helps when your in a panic to hear what others do!

Hopefully it stays down, although she would still have had the nurofen in her system at 8. You know your child, get her checked if you're not happy. Xx