!!!HELP!!! 9month old son sick - temperature.. any advice?

[rodgershawk]

Ds is 9months old, has generally been very healthy, only had one cold, but that was just before his first two teeth popped through, so maybe teething?!?!

Was moany yesterday - again v unusual as normally laughing all day.. today was ok, had lunch then only had short nap, about half hour, when he normally sleeps for 3 hours.. woke up and did not eat his dinner, just went red and kept moaning..

Took temp and was 103.4.. gave Calpol, and after an hour seemed to go down to 98, can it reduce that quickly????
Very snotty and chesty cough..

Any advice welcome, now asleep, snoring more loudly than DH!

These winter bugs are a well - bugger. Can here my dd coughing and hacking away in her sleep from here. Has eaten 2 chips and some tinned spaghetti since Friday. Were currently on calpol only, pending a result - may move to calpol and nurofen if no improvement.
Have got in your ear type themometer - can recomend. Quick reading and dc's don't seem to mind them too much.

Medised is not suitable for a 9m old.

You can give ibuprofen every 6hrs (max 3 times a day though so none overnight)

You can give paracetamol every 4hrs (max 4 doses)

So if you give them alternately every 3 hrs you will not exceed the closest dose for ibuprofen and you will not exceed the maxmimum number of doses in 24hrs.

Ibuprofen is more effective at reducing temp. Paracetamol helps keep it low.

So I recommend the following:

8am (or waking time) IBUPROFEN - get teh temp down
11am Paracematol
2pm Ibuprofen
5pm Paracetamol
8pm Ibuprofen - perfect to have the stronger one at bedtime

She can have up to 2 doses of paracetamol overnight at 11pm/12pm and 3/4am if necessary but no Ibuprofen overnight.

Obviously if she wakes at 7am adjust everything by an hour. But I always do Ibuprofen first thing and last thing if I can.

OK definitive advice now, summing up what everyone else has said, and adding some more tips. I am pretty confident that NHS Direct would agree with what follows:

Ignore Medised for now until you've spoken to a pharmacist.

Give Calpol at four hourly intervals, being careful to follow the recommended does on the label. You can only give a maximum of four doses in 24 hours.

As he has already responded to Calpol, this is likely to be enough. The only other thing he needs for the time being is sleep and fluids. Check his temperature every hour or so until you go to bed youself. Reduce the number of layers on him to a minimum.

However if his temperature still doesn't come down, you can give a dose of Ibuprofen two hours later. Just like Calpol, you can only give four doses of this medicine in 24 hours.

If you are doing this, alternate Calpol and Ibuprofen at two hourly intervals until his temperature stabilises. However also use tepid baths to help if possible. If he sits in the bath OK and plays a little bit, this is a very good sign.

There is also a technique known as rapid sponging that parents use - get a sponge dipped in tepid water and sweep this down his arms, legs and trunk, then let the water evaporate.

If you are at all worried, if your baby's temperature just keeps on rising, if he has a rash, or if he turns his head away from the light, get the GP out.

However it sounds like he will be OK because you have already managed to control his temperature with Calpol, which is a good sign.

Hope that helps.

Please do not strip her down.

Initially the bare skin will cause her body to retain heat and increase body temperature by overcompensating for the cold environment. Same is true of cool baths. This used to be recommended but this advice has been superceded.

Strip down to a vest OR a sheet but do not strip naked.

Thats the one we are using, got a soother type one while in Candada last month, but he cant breathe while sucking it! so sticking to the ear one.. went from 103.4 to 98 ish in an hour.. normal??
Im always getting throat infections and colds.. took my temp earlier and was 102, not looking good for DS..

Sorry do not strip him down.

I think that rapid sponging advice has also been withdrawn.

Sorry.

Blimey thats a worry!

They stripped mine down in June in hospital. Fans, bath and sleet - odd weather for the time of year! Mind you she was about to become febrile. Boot camp

They tell me to do vest and nappy when we are at home and 'sitting' on a temp until I loose my nerve.

PS Cross posts, but check medicine labels very carefully as Xmasshopping and I have stated different maximum doses for ibuprofen and I am not sure which is correct.

I got shouted at by a Dr cos I had stripped mine down to a nappy...apparently they over compensate.

Beg to differ with Xmas, so I think it's best to ring NHS Direct now, because you're getting conflicting advice on this thread. You've also got too much information here to guide you definitively. I think for your own peace of mind, you now need a professional view rather than lots of different views from mums at this stage.

Thank you everyone for the advice. Will get the ibuprofen tomorrow in case..

He seems to have settled now, so going to try to sleep myself. Taken on board the cooling town advice too.

thanks again... will see how it goes overnight. He has been quiet for a bit now, fingers crossed..

Actually IIRC we have had this debate before. The dosing guidlines are different depending on whether you buy ibuprofen in teh form of nurofen or calprofen or ANother brand.

My dosing guidlines are from teh Nurofen box. Calprofen/cuprofen advises a smaller dose at more frequent intervals IIRC - and therefore more doses in 24hrs - but overall the total amount of drug in 24hrs is the same. The nurofen dosing works for me so that is what I stick to whichever brand I use.

His temps going in the right direction - and truly they do get these temps and they go again as quick as they land.

Again - nhs direct. Just a phone call, they are up anyway - not like your waking anyone up and being a mad burden - and will have the latest advice adn can comment on your boy individually.

Hi hun
You poor thing - I sympathise entirely as I dashed off to A nd E last night with a very hot 40.3 degree 1 year old who was very lethargic and listless. Apparently a nasty virus about and sounds like your DS has exactly the same - cough, snotty, high temp and generally miserable.

I was relieved to have her checked as I think we tend to panic about all sorts of potential nasties that it could be. There were 2 other babies in there with the same fever so is def on its way about the UK.

We've been doing Calpol and Neurofen which seems to be working. If he's having trouble breathing Medised has a decongestant in it which works really well for my DD.

Her room is 20 degrees and I have a fan in there - not blowing on her but just circulating the air and keeping it cool. She's much happier today but she's been off colour for about 4 days so far, hopefully it peaked last night and we are now on the mend.

Hope he feels better soon - and you as well, I know its really hard not to worry when they are poorly

Quiet right, treedelivery.

I'll have to find out myself about the stripping off thing - it's been our routine for 4 years. Always thought we had it taped!!

Yay parenting, just when you get really confident and sorted in a system, it changes!!

Also advised the same at hospital about just leavign a loose pj top and nappy on - no cold water, tepid baths etc etc - tho she liked having a cool flannel on her little head when she was burning up.

I think the medised panic was due to overdosing - i still use it when she has a bad cold as it helps her to breathe. However I try and use all these things as little as possible. And doesn't 5ml look huge in one of those dosing syringes??

yup treedelivery - it all changes as soon as you have it nailed

I am just trying to find t on google.

It was a v v v good out of hours GP and he explained why...I can't remember it all. I know that her skin had gone mottled - but that was a sign that her blood flow to her skin had changed to compensate for the comparatively cold environment. I think it draws the blood away from teh skin which a) prevents cooling as it is blook flowing close to eth skin which cools it and b) was taking hte hot blood to the organs which can cause minor problems.

Makes sense what you are saying, but so many of us have had brilliant success with the old tepid water regime that I think OP needs to get a definitive verdict from NHS Direct now.

Makes sense what you are saying, but so many of us have had brilliant success with the old tepid water regime that I think OP needs to get a definitive verdict from NHS Direct now.

Yeah I think you are right - we had lacey mottled skin last night, coupled with heat rash in the usual places.

Its not nice when they are ill and I tend to go into panic overdrive - hoping i'll get less stressed as time goes on and I get more experienced with each illness session!

Here is a link to some useful advice which confirms that tepid sponging is no longer advised.
My best advice is to use your instincts.
fever

In my life the panic just became more controlled as we got more used to 'in the dead of night out of hours GP' runs.

Anyway I read a poster in A and E waiting room, 'there is no such thing as an over anxious parent, just a parent that hasn't had their anxieties addressed' Such a friendly notion.

Thanks neverenough.