Toddler temp 40.8

[wifeyxx]

My 2 year olds temp has been going up and down since Tuesday (now thurs) Highest it has been is about an hour ago at 40.8 it's been dropping to 38 then shooting back up.

Took him to doctors today and they said he has a slight throat infection. Gave him antibiotics and inbroprofen.
I've been giving him ibroprofen that I already had and calpol since tuesday. Just a bit worried that his temp is going constantly up and down.

Doctor said not to get too hung up on the temp but just the way he's acting.

Has anyone else's child ever been like this?

My dd has just finished a course of antibiotics for a throat infection. First day off asking them her temp was still spiking really fast, second day she was pretty much back to normal. Hope he feels better soon

• of taking them

this message really isn’t to scare you but to make you fully aware.
my son had strep A in January- he was on the antibiotics when his temp soared above 40. I trusted my gut because I knew something wasn’t right so I took him to a&e. He had sepsis from the strep. If you can’t control his temp and it’s just going back up I would 150% get him seen today urgently. Just to add my son was actually acting completely fine at first then very sudden you went downhill very very quickly. I hope all is okay, trust your gut x

That's what I find weird, he actually seems not too bad. Don't get me wrong he's a bit more sleepy and crabby and not really playing with his toys. He is sometimes sitting on his tablet and just now he's lying in his bed watching his telly.

When I said about his temp she said not to get "too hung up " on it 🙄 but you can't help but worry. I don't know wether it will just take a bit to let the antibiotics kick in or what.

Trust your instincts @wifeyxx. @sahm9 I'm so sorry you had such a scary time with your LO - glad he's better

Doctor is right they do say treat the child not the temperature. A child with a temp of 38 could be more poorly than one with 41 all bodies react differently to infection. My little one every time spikes above 40 when she is ill it used to really worry me but doctor explained the above to me when we were in A&E and just said above 41 can have a higher chance of febrile convulsions so keep eye on that but not to worry that temp is always over 40. Any concerns just go and get checked again but sounds pretty normal

sounds like it could be strep throat and he’s just started the antibiotics which will take 24-48 hours to work so I’d expect high temps until then.
Sepsis signs are much more than a
high
temp - you’d be looking at:

1. temp that doesn’t come down with meds (your one does if it’s dropping to 38 and coming back up again, that’s his body fighting the infection until the antibiotics work their magic
2. lack of urine output for 12 hours +
3. clammy mottled skin
4. hard to wake / confused/ limp

As a dr in a&e told
me recently, kids with sepsis look extremely Ill and are generally unresponsive and don’t care when needles are out in etc. my daughter had many sepsis symptoms in my mind and he said I was so far from it being sepsis which I was surprised by. So “just” a high Temp on it’s own is far more likely to be an infection you have got antibiotics for and you need to wait for them to work.
Lastly, some kids just fever higher - my
son will peak around 38.5 but my daughter will easily hit 40+ with a bacterial infection like tonsillitis. Go by how your child seems not the number is the latest NHS paediatric advice. Sending get well hugs and mama bear ones too x

Thanks everyone. As soon as I give him the calpol and ibroprofen he's fine for a while then goes back up again. He napped there for half an hour and woke up and it's back to 40.1 maybe will just take a couple days for the antibiotics to kick in.