Help. Been A&E 3x this week, keep getting told everything is fine

[Silversal]

Pls help!! DD had a viral infection and middle ear infection was on antibiotics, finished 2 days ago. Now DD has had low temps of 34.1 at night since Thursday but not during the day. I've taken her A&E 3x since then and they think it's odd but just said it's part of the viral infection. DD is easy to wake, taking a bottle, only had diarrhoea today but I started her on probiotics to counter the antibiotic gut flora stripping. She is wearing a 3.5tog and pj's under and the room is 24c so it is baffling me. I've tried different thermometers and also tested on myself as Dr in A&E questioned my thermometer accuracy. She eventually warms up after a bottle, me putting a coat on her and a duvet when she starts sweating and then cools again. This is only happening at night. Before bed and during the day she is 36.3/4. Only other symptoms currently is a small cough, diarrhoea today and a slightly lower appetite (eating meals not snacks) I'm up all night with her checking her temp.

Hello thank you for all the replies I cannot tell you how much support it is giving me. DD is 2 and a half, temp is 36.4 during the day no issues with eating, drinking, wet nappies and generally nearly back to her usual self just the odd cough and a bit more tired than usual although I'm not helping checking her temp almost every half an hour in the night. So it is only at night her temp is plunging to 34.1 then she wakes up thrashing/stirring as seems to be cold once I put the duvet on her she settles but the temp took over an hour last night to rise to 35.9.
I have a private paediatric appointment today as this was the 4th night her temp has dipped to below 35. I've ordered a new thermometer but my one is reading fine and took both mine and others temp with it to check along with under arm thermometer to compare. I'm so worried and confused. Even though she's 34.1 she isn't freezing cold to touch.

It’s totally normal for a human body to drop 1-2 degrees overnight. It’s part of your circadian rhythm.

Maybe just pop her to bed with the duvet on, and an extra blanket if needs be? Stop disturbing her sleep, if anything is wrong (viral) you won’t be helping her recover!

The dip in temp happens at 1ish every night, before then she is sleeping soundly. After I put the duvet on her and snuggle her in to me she is back in a deep sleep. She doesn't wake just stirs/thrashes which is what wakes me and I take her temp and it shows 34ish. By 3/4am her temp stops dipping and stabilises to 36 and I can lower the room temp from 28 to 24 again. Thanks to the poster who said about not raising the room temp, I did consider this last night but the fear of her not warming quickly is what makes me. I give her a warm bottle and put a hat on her too so the heat doesn't escape her head then take that off when she hits 35ish. Sorry if I'm repeating myself or I haven't answered any questions. I've done 2 nights with calpol and 2 nights without to see and it has made no difference to the dipping in temp.

If she is eating and drinking normally, and acting her usual self in the day, I think you need to step away from the thermometer at night. Ensure she’s well tucked up and let her sleep.

Unless she is unwell, I would just put it down to one of those things and perhaps just part of her recovery from her earlier illness.

My body temp is on the lower side, it’s often around 35, high 34s when I wake up. This just seems normal for me.

I mean this kindly, but are you looking for A&E to do?

So she’s fine? It’s absolutely normal for the temperature to drop! She’s likely just dreaming.

She's a deep sleeper, I take it for 2. 5hrs until it starts to stabilise and she makes up for the sleep by sleeping in and longer lunchtime naps. Sleeping is actually one thing I'm not worried about as she's doing more than usual but not an alarming amount. She normally sleeps 12-13hrs (10. 5 night and 2.5 nap) in a 24 window and is doing about 15.5 at the moment (12. 5 night and 3 nap)

Sorry but 34.1 is not fine or normal. I get I probably sound anxious but my child hardly ever gets fevers, let alone low temps. When A&E are confused about what's going on and can't explain it and 999 told me to get her in ASAP if I can get there quicker than an ambulance it obviously is concerning.
I don't know what I'm expecting A&E to do, I mean qualified Healthcare professionals are the best place for an answer in the middle of the night. Would you prefer I do nothing? What a silly and goady comment.

I’m not really sure what you’re expecting to be told? She’s fine. It’s normal for your temperature to drop overnight.

I was after any other experiences and what the outcome was for others children. Drs are telling me it isn't normal but you are... Okay 👌

Your OP says you’ve been told three times she is fine.

your body temp drops up to 2 degrees a night because of the circadian rhythm.

It’s normal for body temperature to drop 1-2 degrees overnight so if your typical resting waking body temperature is 36.8 (mine is) a middle of night temperature of 34.8 would be normal range. Also overnight air temperature has dropped after months of it being warm for the U.K., I woke up cold on Sunday at 3am and went to fetch a throw. My 10.5 tog duvet is now back on, slept fine.

Told she is fine as in she has a viral infection but 34 isn't a normal temp and is dangerously low and perhaps that's her body fighting it still.
I was also told to take her home when she was vomiting months ago, I didn't and when she was seen by a consultant they said she wasn't dealt with properly and kept in overnight on a drip.

The Drs are sending you home, so they can’t be that concerned. If she was showing signs of being unwell they’d admit her. I’m glad you are getting a second opinion and I hope that’s reassuring for you.

Of course if she shows signs of illness beyond the temperature then do take her back. It sounds as if you are keeping a close and careful eye on her and would notice anything concerning.

My DD also used to have low body temps sometimes when she was younger, as do I, I think it just runs in our family.

A low temperature at night that rights itself in the day, without other medically concerning signs and when the child is otherwise well, is not likely to need any significant medical intervention.

It isn’t dangerously low in the context of the normal nightly drop. She needs a thicker duvet on, for you to stop monitoring her all night, and for you both to relax.

If she seems well enough in herself the she's probably doing ok. . It's normal for children's temperature to drop whilst asleep and when the are getting over an illness. Mine used to go to 34.5 regularly even as an adult when I was unwell. I wonder if that incident when you were sent home when she was vomiting previously but then readmitted has knocked your confidence a bit. If you can, stop taking her temp and monitoring her sleep for a bit and just look at whether she is eating and drinking ok, moving around ok, and doing her usual stuff during the day.

So so like my son, he would dip like your daughter too, and his base temperature when healthy was always 36.-

it would happen only when ill, I don’t really check anymore as he’s 10 now. He used to sweat ferociously and his heart would beat incredibly fast from very mild exertion with the vein on his neck becoming very prominent. For every doctor that would spot it, comment, and put him forward for some sort of querying, the next doctor would dismiss it. I never became any wiser. He was in hospital regularly because of a dodgy thyroid and he also has brittle asthma.

I even had a heart consultant (in england) tell me that maybe because we are Irish and “notoriously pale skinned”, his vein can look more alarming than on another white child. (I am not notoriously pale skinned nor is my son).

my son thyroid issues and brittle asthma are his two issues, apart from those two things, he’s a regular, high energy boy!

your DD probably is fighting off infection and regulating, but don’t ever not follow your instinct - better to pursue than have regret.

The Drs are sending you home, so they can’t be that concerned. If she was showing signs of being unwell they’d admit her.

Unfortunately, signs (occasionally really obvious ones) are sometimes missed, even by doctors. There have been numerous cases documented, where the signs of sepsis, for example, have not been picked up.

I do think that if OP’s daughter had sepsis, it would be obvious by now!

But she quite clearly doesn’t have sepsis.

Before she was ill would you have been aware of she’d regular been “thrashing around” at 1am? Are you sure this is new? My kids generally had a low temp as did their dad/aunts/uncle as youngsters

My toddler has had this happen a few times following a viral illness, particularly after a fever. It was very worrying the first couple of times but it seems that it’s his body overcompensating and trying to regulate his temperature.

Just to blow your mind OP, I never had a thermometer in the house. I think you can get too hung up on absolute temps. Go by what your DC is eating, drinking, sleeping, playing etc

What I am reading is that you are heating the house up (!) to a high temp, 18-21 is normal, and bed sharing under a duvet, and putting extra clothes on, a hat and coat, at this time of year. Madness. That is not healthy, and will mess with your DD's natural temperature regulation.

Step away from the thermometer, put DD in her own bed, in a cool room, with appropriate bedding.

I wasn’t speculating that the op’s dd might have sepsis. I was giving that as an example of doctors not always picking up on the signs that something is amiss, even something as high profile as sepsis. I was taking issue with the ‘the doctors say so, so it must be right’ attitude, which doesn’t always apply, hence Martha’s Law.

Happily, the op’s dd’s health isn’t deteriorating, but something feels ‘off’ to the op, which isn’t being addressed at the moment. Sometimes it takes a persistent parent to shift the dynamic from ‘well, we’re not sure, but they seem ok…’ to ‘yes, this is unusual, we’ll do some more investigations…’

Do you know what your DDs temperature is normally day and night?

If she runs cold during the day - which at 36 is on the low side, it is normal to drop at night.

Heating a room to 28 degrees is madness! Even 24 is too hot for nighttime. I suspect you are just confusing your DDs natural body temperature.

Is all this termometering helping anyone?

I managed to get 2 DC to adulthood wihtout ever owning one, as did my mother. You know if they're ill, as OP does, and she's had appropriate treatment and advice.