How often do your children get fevers?

[WideFootWelly]

I'd like to start by saying I'm not looking for actual medical advice, as we have a doctors appointment tonight. I generally avoid posting anything about my children on mumsnet for fear of being called a bad parent, but I wanted to gauge opinions on what is normal as I keep doubting myself either way.

My youngest (4.5yrs), born at the start of lockdown often has temperatures. Not for the first year, as contact with the outside world was limited. I was concerned enough at one point to gather all my data (aided by her nursery who were also concerned - they collated all the dates she'd been ill) and push for a referral. Doctors have always told me it's because she's a lockdown baby and didn't build any immunity. That it'd ease off.

By the time the referral came through, nearly a year later, the frequent temperatures had eased off, and I thought the doctors must be right (they are the experts after all), and when the hospital asked if the referral was still necessary I said I thought it'd eased off and she was fine. Shortly after, the temperatures ramped up in frequency again. I do feel like a bad parent for this, and I would appreciate it if people refrained from making me feel worse about it.

Now, I think she has a temperature around every 4-6 weeks. Usually just one day/night, mostly overnight or starting in the evening, then bounces back the next day as if nothing happened. Sometimes lasting 3-5 days, usually accompanied by a cough (worse at night) and occasional vomiting (because of the cough). Sometimes more often than 4-6 weeks.

This weekend, Fri and Sat night, she had a cough in the night. Horrible barking cough, no temperature and absolutely no sign of the cough during the day. Last night, no cough (weird) but woke at 2am with a temp of 39.8 and uncontrollable shivering and saying she was freezing. I've only felt this once in my life, when I had mastitis and did need medical intervention. So I called 111 and they advised (at 8am when they called back) to see a GP today, so we have booked an appointment for today.

Whenever I see the GP with her I feel like I'm wasting their time. But after all that rambling, what I'm asking is, is this a normal amount of fevers? Should I be concerned? Is there anything I should be pushing for or highlighting to the doctor?
Or am I just being neurotic?

Just to add, the assumption is these are viral infections, but none of the rest of us in the house pick these up - including the 7yo.

The things that would flag concerns to doctors would be:

Fevers that persist for 5 days or longer.
Illnesses where the child ends up unwell enough to go to hospital, especially if unusual bacteria are then detected.
Growth problems or other persistent symptoms in between episodes, or general deterioration across the board.
Specific features that flag a specific diagnosis such as inflammatory bowel disorder, other autoimmune conditions, blood disorders (nothing like this in your description).

Absent any of these it's reasonable to conclude they are viral infections, especially with a source to point to (eg cough) but even if not, if they resolve within 3-5 days.

There is no "right/wrong" number of these you can get on the whole, or any clear reason why in otherwise entirely well children, some seem to get them lots and some only rarely.

DD1, almost never and rarely went over about 38.5.
DD2 up to age 5 about 3-4 times a year, hit 41 on more than one occasion. Rarely since then.
Ds even at 17yo if he is at all under the weather, spikes a fever and then vomits. Until age 9-10yo he'd have had a temperature roughly every 3-4 weeks through around October through to May. He started at 10 weeks old.

As a family it's rare for us to noticeably pass things between each other.

Thank you. The doctor wasn't worried about the frequency as long as she's recovering normally in between.

It's hard to know sometimes. You don't want to over react, but when it's your responsibility to advocate for them you don't want to be potentially neglectful!