At what temp do you reach for the medication for your child?

[3volution]

i just wanted to check at what temp do people reach for the medication?

A little background: My DD who is 5 has had a temp for 2 days, luckily no other symptoms as yet she has been fine otherwise and seems herself, apart from feeling cold (room temp 20 degrees). She's been hovering between 38.5 and 39.3 during the day, i've been doing the scheduled Calpol dose every 4-5 hours.

Last night it peaked at 39.5 so i gave Nurofen which brought it down.
Its been approx 8 hours since the last dose of meds and now her temp is 38.2, should i still give her Calpol?

I usually tend to only give medication above 38.5, my thinking is that i need to let the body fight the viral infection.

At what temp would you reach for the medication?

I usually go based on how DCs are in themselves but there are exceptions.

If they are under 39 and feeling OK in themselves I won't give anything.

Above about 37.5 and out of sorts I will give calpol. (My DC usually run cold at 36.5)

Regardless of how they feel in themselves if they are above 39 they get calpol and Ibruprofen.

Above 37.5 my DD is not good with temperature.

If it’s over 38 I seek help.

I go on how my children are rather than the number on the thermometer. If they’re ok, not uncomfortable or miserable then I leave them. The height of a temperate isn’t always an indicator of how ill they are.

My youngest can quite happily sit at 39° and you wouldn’t realise, it’s when he gets miserable that I know he’s feeling really poorly. My eldest will look ill with a lower temp so I tend to base it on how they are. Also if they’re drinking, weeing, how they’re behaving generally.

40 is when I get concerned. I'd probably medicate at 39. If I couldn't keep it under 40 then I'd get some advice. Sometimes we're too quick to medicate temps if they're otherwise 'ok' in themselves.

I give immediately at 37.6+ due to previous febrile convulsions. All medics say absolutely fine to give calpol.

My sons resting temp is lower than average at 36.5 - calpol anything over 38. 39 or above GP for him. More than two days or calpol doesn’t bring it down GP but I have had issues in the past with spikes of 39 untreated rapidly going to 41 so GP takes anything over 39 as serious for him

daughter resting temp is 37.5 calpol for 38.5 or over. GP for 40 or more than 2 days at 39.

38 for me, she's had a febrile seizure before and it was absolutely terrifying. It can't hurt, I don't really feel comfortable going along with the normal response to infection train of thought. A high temp makes her feel crap and she perks up usually once it's come down a bit, so why not give her the meds. Each to their own though.

Also we give baby nurofen not Calpol, it's been much better for bringing down a temp ime.

Whenever I can feel that they’ve got a temperature. I wouldn’t fancy letting my body fight an infection without paracetamol if I could help it!

This surely depends on your child.. one of my dds gets a slight fever every time she gets a snotty nose (38 ish), and it rarely bothers her, so i don't give her meds until she's closer to 39, and even then only if she feels rubbish (has been at 39.9 before and she just looked a bit peaky, gave her ibuprofen to bring it down, but I was definitely more bothered than she was). The other dd feels rubbish if her temp goes above 37.9, but she rarely gets a fever so when she does, she gets something to bring it down.

So there is no right or wrong, just knowing your child(ren) and treating them accordingly..

38. I was in outpatients with my DS who's 2, due to have bloods. He spiked a temp while there and they told me to strip him and they gave both paracetamol and ibuprofen. Its more to prevent fits etc than disguising the illness. Usually when you have a fever you feel rotten so helps with that too.

I don't really take temperatures, it's usually pretty easy to tell if they have one. I give medicine if they're showing signs of feeling ill.

I usually only treat if they're uncomfortable. Fever itself is helpful in fighting infection so there's little point lowering the number if they're not seeming too unwell. Saying that though, if they seemed fine and it was 39.5+ I might get a bit itchy about the risk of febrile seizure and treat.

Over 38.5, if they are about to go for a sleep and has say 38.2 then will also give

If the child is uncomfortable, or suffering and not their usual self.

Paracetamol isn't given for any other reason as it will not prevent convulsions.

www.nice.org.uk/donotdo/antipyretic-agents-do-not-prevent-febrile-convulsions-and-should-not-be-usedspecifically-for-this-purpose

38, I would give Calpol

Both of my children are very prone to fevers above 40. I always medicate anything getting close to 40. On October both my children had fevers around 41 for about 5 consecutive days. Horiffic. But since I know high temps are normal for them I didn't panic and jsut took them to see the gp after 2 days of high fever

We don’t have a method of temperature taking other than a hand on the forehead so I don’t have any set number.

Both my older DC utterly refused medication of any kind until several years old so we never got into the habit of giving it, just managing symptoms. This was not my preference, it would have been easier if they’d taken the medicine instead of painting the walls with it but it was what it was.

Oldest DC is now managing a chronic condition and takes pills daily so that’s ironic, but middle DC (teen) has still never actually taken any medication for pain or fever relief.

Always would for any high temperature, and also do if they are clearly unwell generally even without temperature, and also give nurofen for tummy/growing pains my 5yo DD sometimes has (usually give her a lower dose in that instance though just to take the edge off to help her sleep etc, because i think its abit of a placebo thing sometimes) x

If they are in pain, feeling grotty, not themselves or hot to touch will give them meds. I don’t necessarily use a thermometer unless I’m really concerned their temp is not coming down and I know I will be asked if I call anyone. Sometimes just calpol will work, other times they need nurofen on top. Sometimes I will stagger the nurofen and calpol so they have a continuous dose on something.

There is no one way, each child and illness is different. Trust your instincts and as long as your not giving more that the recommend dosage you will be fine. If you feel what’s being given isn’t helping, then call 111 or your GP.

Anything over 38. Having a temperature is miserable.

I'd definitely give mine calpol at 39. If her temp was lower than 39 i'd give her calpol if she seemed out of sorts, but if she was OK in herself I'd just keep an eye on her. Although saying that, when dd does get a temp it tends to be at least 40, she's definitely all or nothing!

That's very interesting.
However when DS was in for his febrile seizure they were very clear about not letting us go home until temperature was down and suggested using both ibuprofen and calpol to make sure it stayed low

38? 40 is the seek help, a temp is another way off fighting infection and can come down on its own. I would give med if it reached 38.5 anything lower I just keep a eye on.