Toddler 40 degree temp. What to do

[Eatentoomanyroses]

Dd 26 months has an ear infection and sore throat. She’s very prone to spiking 40 degree temps. She started with her current lurgy Tuesday night. Sat up with her most of the night and gave her paracetamol and ibuprofen. Paracetamol doesn’t bring it down. Ibuprofen does but takes a good 60- 90 mins to work. I took her to the walk in centre yesterday and they gave an antibiotic for her ear. Then last night sbout 4 am she woke and was so hot and sure enough temp was 40. Gave her ibuprofen and it came down. Then she was pointing to her mouth and saying ‘mouth ow’ so had a look and I thought I could see swelling. Took her down to a&e and they checked her over and sent us on our way. When we were seen she’d had ibuprofen a couple of hours before so her temp was down to 37. Literally as I left the building she went very pale and shivery and promptly vomited so I took her back in. Dr was probably a bit annoyed but acknowledged her temp was 39.8 and mentioned something about febrile convulsions and bring her back in if she got worse. Temp keeps going back to 40 when the ibuprofen wears off. Trouble is I’ve now given her 3 doses of ibuprofen since 4 am. So I can’t give her any more. What am I going to do in the night when this last lot wears off ( last gave at 5pm)? I can give her another dose of paracetamol but as I say it doesn’t seem to work. Obviously will do all the stripping off, fluids and will probably sleep on the floor next to her cot. Anyone else with a Dc that doesn’t seem to respond to paracetamol for temps?

Call 111 and you will get an emergency out of hours Doctor. Hope it's nothing serious xx

Febrile convulsions occur with the speed of a temperature rising rather than a high temperature itself. How is she in herself when she’s hot? Mine always react better to ibuprofen rather than calpol for some reason but the advice nowadays is to give medication etc for feeling unsettled/miserable and pain rather than aiming to get the temperature down. Although the two do tend to sit together.

She might not need a Doctor but for peace of mind I'll call them.

I'd call them*🙈

@Cassie9032 I’ve seen two, one of them twice. They just say cycle paracetamol and ibuprofen, give fluids etc

Sympathies. My youngest is exactly the same- if nursery call and day her temp is 38 I shrug and say she's teething. It's always 40 minimum when she's teething. I've found doctors never mind checking her over if it's 40 plus though. How many days has she had that temp when the ibuprofen wears off? Def mention that on the call to 111 as well. Hope the poor little thing is on the mend soon x

When she's unwell! Sorry. 38 is teething. 40+ is I'll

If your worried called 111.

fever in itself isn’t bad as it’s the bodies way of fighting off the infection - but obviously keep on top of pain relief.

a fan set to cool the air not her may help. Don’t do anything like cool compresses which cools her skin though as that can send her body temperate up.

keep fluids up too, something like difflam spray may help her sore throat

A temperature is the bodies way of dealing with an infection, you don’t have to bring it down. Paracetamol and ibuprofen can be used to keep her more comfortable.
The fact she has been seen and sent away makes me think you need to hunker down and let her recover, lots of fluids.
Obviously keep an eye out for any rash, and if she is still ill in a day or two you can ring 111.
I have lost track of the number of times my toddlers had high temperatures but they always recovered at home, never needed A&E.

Can you go to out of hours gp and get antibiotics

I would go back to A and E if her temp is over 40 again. If you have had antibiotics for 48 hrs with minimal improvement then you might need a different sort or an increased dose. Hope she is OK tonight. Xxx

Antibiotics should start lowering the temp after 24 hours or as so, I would do paracetamol/ibuprofen every six hours but staggered 3 hrs apart (or P 8am, I 11am, P 2pm, I 5pm etc)so she's always covered by something and that means waking her to give it at night if needed. I recently had to do this with DD with her scarlet fever as she spikes at least 41 with infections.

The temps in and of themselves are not always worrying, it's their reaction. So if she's not floppy or fitting and is otherwise lucid carry on with above and you should find that she starts improving over the next 24 hours.

Hope she feels better soon

The OP said they got antibiotics yesterday, give them some time to work.

Antibiotics will also only be effective if it is bacterial when many throat and ear infections are viral so just need time

Yes sorry should have been clearer. Only left a&e and 5pm tonight. Dr was aware she was spiking 40 degrees since Tuesday night. He said just to keep up with the ibuprofen and paracetamol. She’s only had one day of antibiotics so far. I’m just worried about this window of time coming up when the last lot of ibuprofen wears off and I can’t give more. I know they’re the bodies way of fighting illness but she gets very agitated and upset.

I have a younger toddler and was advised by the gp recently (his temp was 40 but not for more than 24 hours) to put a warm cloth on his head to bring out the temp

I didn't beed to thankfully as he was ok later but I think there is conflicting advice about temps

When we run into that issue with the timing I stop our toddler down to her nappy and lay her on my bare chest. It helps bring her temp down a bit at least and also calms her.
Hopefully the antibiotics will kick in quickly and she'll be a bit better in the next 24 hours

Thanks. I’ll try that. I get so nervous about the nights when they’re sick

You can also put ice cube in a zippy cup, or even give him ice lollies to suck on. I k ow it’s horrible when they are ill but if does sound like you just need to cuddle through it. Hopefully be better soon.

Yes it's always worse in the middle of the night when you've not had enough sleep and you're worried about them.
Good luck, hope he'll be feeling better soon

You keep bringing the temp down rather than letting it do its job. The temp will kill the bugs so stop giving the ib. We've gone up to 42 with little ones but kept a close eye. If you leave it usually 24 hrs later the improvement is dramatic.

Sorry 41 not 42

@Morechocmorechoc are you in the UK? I know other countries don’t do ibuprofen/ paracetamol but it’s what’s recommended here. I couldn’t leave her in discomfort with no pain relief

@givememarmite thanks

Me too ☹️ I would alternate the nurofen and calpol every 2 hours, strip to nappy, open the windows, and put some beakers of squash or whatever she likes to drink in the fridge. Take her outside in the nappy if needs be, we did this all the time as advised by a paramedic. Do you have any ice pops? DD loves them when she’s got a temperature. Keep an eye out for rashes,
mottled skin, cold hands/feet, or an abnormally low temperature. Hope she turns the corner soon, it always feels so panicky doesn’t it xx