Tonsillitis in toddler - what can I do/expect?

[Ginspirational]

2 year old DD came down with a 40 fever yesterday, slept literally all day, woke briefly for drinks and then ate a few chips off my plate at 5pm and back to bed at 7pm, slept all night (on and off). Woke with a raging temp again today, took her to the doctors who said there were white spots on her tonsils but as she’s got runny nose/cough etc it’s presenting as viral and need to just run it’s course, no antibiotics. Fever is being managed with calpol, and she did perk up a little today but is back asleep again.

I suffered awfully with tonsillitis in my teens, and always needed antibiotics to get rid of it so I’m feeling anxious, I don’t want her to suffer more than necessary. How long can I expect this to last for, how can I help her etc. Just feel useless.

Obviously DH took her to the doctors this morning as I was in a work meeting and didn’t ask any of those questions!

My son always suffers from tonsillitis. They always tell me it looks viral to start with but it’s always strep a. I now ask them to swab his throat each time and it comes back with strep. I would take her back tomorrow if she’s still got high temp and white spots. My doctors give antibiotics if temp is 39 +, white spots and glands are swollen in the neck.

fwiw- in my experience they always say if runny nose / cough it’s not strep A…however with my 2 each time they’ve had strep A they’ve also had a cough or snotty nose.

Not having a cough is one of the criteria for antibiotics as far as I remember. Lots of pain relief, you can also get difflam spray from the pharmacy to help numb her throat, and ice lollies work well.

We use 'feverpain' or 'centor' to predict likelihood but it's not 100% - a lot comes from clinical judgement too. Often people fall in the middle, and in the absence of throat swabs (which in most setting take time to get results from) it's far from an exact science.
In additon, it's unwise to overuse antibiotics both for the individual and society/the world as a whole, so we have to bear that in mind.

The overwhelming majority of tonsilitis in a 2 year old is viral in nature. Pain relief and fluids are normally all that is needed and will settle within 5-7 days. Throat swabs are not helpful for Strep A as at least 20% kids carry it normally in their throats without symptoms.

Thanks everyone - I’ll keep my eye on her. Currently on day 2 of sleeping all day and very upset when she is awake so will see how we go!

I've had bacterial tonsillitis multiple times and im pretty sure it was caught from my kids every time. They always recovered without antibiotics and it's usually a non-event for them.

Doctors have always said even for bacterial tonsillitis, ABs only speed up recovery by a couple of days so best avoided (as you're then stuck taking the full course even if you're feeling better, and can mess up with gut bacteria).

It's very individual though as I never recover without them (I've tried powering through for weeks before and it only got worse, never better). I've always needed ABs.

With kids, I'd probably give it 2-3 days and then you'll know if they're getting better or not. If not, go for ABs.

My 19 month old had it last month. Got antibiotics from the dr. The fever broke after a day or two of them. He only managed custard and milk for 5 days. But he perked up! Like you I suffered horribly with it in my teens and worry he’s in for the same x

Lots of fluids, I know some people prefer ice lollies but I find warm stuff more soothing
Whatever works for liquids - ice lollies, soup, warm milk, anything really

Just an update - fever still there and this morning she’s woken up and the area behind one ear is red, massively swollen and sore to the touch so back to the GP we go!

My daughter had tonsillitis as a toddler. We went to the drs on day 4 of 41deg fever. We didn't realise it was actually that high as our thermometer was malfunctioning and read 2 Deg lower.
She was only having and Oz or 2 of water and a few grapes a day so that was the main driver.

As she was on day 4 and her fever was 40.8oC she was given a course of antibiotics and given 2h for her fever to come below 40 with paracetamol to avoid a trip to the paeds assessment unit. It did come down below 40 with Calpol using a thermometer

We now always measure our temperature at the same time as hers to make sure we are getting a reliable reading

Thanks everyone - currently being blue lighted to hospital, they think maybe sepsis. I’m trying to hold it together

Deep breaths! You are going to the right place. You have got her medical help and you can turn around quite quickly.
You might be in for a scary 24h but just take it minute by minute

My sister had sepsis as a teenager and my mum was admitted to hospital with peritonitis and query sepsis a few weeks ago. Antibiotics are wonderful things and once they kick in a person can go from being quite poorly to on the path to being well again in a day or two.

Deep breaths. You've got this

I hope she’s ok soon and makes a speedy recovery. My son has also been sent to hospital with suspected sepsis a few times with strep/tonsillitis. It’s really nasty 😢

Thank you everyone, what a day that was. It turned out to be mastoiditis, she’s on IV antibiotics and is peacefully sleeping, we’re being kept in for a couple of days. Turns out it was an ear infection gone bad.