16 month old temp not coming down with calpol or ibuprofen

[HJB2021]

For the last two days my son had a temp, seems to have a cold, off food completely. He’s up and down playing fine one minute then next just wants cuddles and crying. Nurofen has been working but tonight it’s not bringing his temp down, was 38 an hour ago have him some and now 39.1

Is this normal?

If it's not coming down I would phone 111. They will probably tell you to go to A&E.

(Or at least the out of hours GP)

@cortisolqueen Thanks, I’ve spoken to 111 they said they will get a nurse to ring me tonight for advice on how to manage to symptoms at home. I’ve never had it where his temp hasn’t come down so bit worried because could be waiting all night for a call

Can you alternate ibruprofen and paracetamol? That was the advice 10 years ago when mine are small, sometime you find one works better. Not sure if things have changed since..... hope he feels better soon

Hi OP, we have this frequently with our kids (the youngest being 20 months old). Paracetamol literally doesn't bring their temperatures down at all, the only effective thing we've found is ibuprofen, but of course we're then screwed when the temperature comes back 3 hours later as we can't give any more for another 3-5 hours.

You've done the best thing in calling 111. I'd sound it out with the nurse that calls but we've always been told to alternate between ibuprofen and paracetamol every 4 hours. Also (and what I try to cling onto most) is a doctor that tried to reassure me when I was panicking about our then 14 month old son having a temp of 39.9 that wasn't coming down. She kept saying that temperatures are the body's natural response to fighting infection. She also said that providing the child's breathing was ok and no rashes/ other serious indicators on the whole it's ok for children to have a high temperature and wait for the body to naturally manage it.

Hope your little one feels better soon x

Exact same advice here.
is it still going up or is just steady at 39.1 and not coming down? Can you give calpol just now too or have you given that in last 4 hours? sometimes mine need both at once to bring a temp down, which of Course then makes it hard to wait for next time they can have one / both but a&e would give both of a temp isn’t coming down to see if that works. I’m a mum of a dd who gets raging high temps and many trips to a&e with them so know how scary it is but 39.1 isn’t scarily high and as long as he’s responsive, breathing ok, no rash I wouldn’t be too worried and I’d try the calpol too and taking layers off him. I’ve even had paramedics getting me to take my dd out into the snow in a blanket to bring her temp down 🤦‍♀️Just to see if it would in fact drop.
hand holding here 💐

Also temps Are
always higher at night due to natural drop in cortisol xx

one of my kids had a high temp that wouldn’t come down with calpol and ibruprofen. 111 dismissed me but I knew she wasn’t right. I ignored them and drove to a walk in all night centre. They sent us up to the hospital for admission. They were being cautious and she only needed monitoring and antibiotics but they kept her in 2 days.
If it is unusual for your child, insist they are seen is my motto now. I had a snotty nurse once who implied that I was wasting their time but every other nurse and doctor I’ve seen has always told me they would also rather see young children and it’s never a waste of their time. Hope you get some sleep and they’re feeling better very soon.

It is all too easy to obsess over temperature due to modern digital thermometers. How is the child in themself? Are they unusually quiet,clammy,upset?

I agree with mummabubs comments

Thanks everyone, he was seen this morning he has an ear infection which explains the temp. The doctor just couldn’t give me a straight answer and I’m still confused 😐 he explained as long as his temp comes down with calpol then not to worry but if it stays 39 or above then a&e would be appropriate, I explained to him it stay at 39 for almost 3 hours after taking ibruprofen, and he didn’t really say anything. I’m worried it’s going to happen tonight again, and I have no idea how long to wait with his temp 39 before being concerned 🤷🏻‍♀️

If it happens again tonight and you are concerned that in your position I would go to A & E and say that is what your doctor advised you to do in those circumstances. I would expect that to be unlikely with an ear infection but I am always super cautious with young children. I don’t know a doctor who wouldn’t rather check over a child when their parent is concerned then risk not spotting something serious. If you’re overreacting through worry they won’t mind that and if they do mind it, well, that really isn’t going to impact their lives for long.

Chances are everything will be ok if your child has a high temp that won’t go down with ibruprofen and calpol - it has been fine every time with my children and our youngest child has temperature goes up to 41/42 with unsettling frequency. However if things don’t go ok and a child becomes dangerously ill then often those symptoms are a first warning sign. In my experience doctors are usually less concerned once they can identify the cause (usually tonsillitis or ear infections for my kids) and only kept our youngest in for observations because the 41/42 temp can cause hallucinations and occasionally other serious issue.

I hope they’re feeling a lot better very soon and you all get some sleep tonight.