Other than calpol is there anything I can do to try and bring down a temperature of 103?

[bodiddly]

I am holding off giving nurofen .. .partly because ds hates it and partly so I can use it tonight if I need to. He is dosed up with calpol ... can anyone think of anything else I can do to try and bring down his temperature?

Strip some clothes off.

Wipe around his face and neck with a cool, wet flannel.

Plenty of water to drink.

thanks .. he is lying on the sofa in a top, socks and pants .... he has just had some water. Poor thing he looks awful!

watching an old episode of diego from last christmas!

yes, sponge him down with warm water-just warm.just do a bit a at a time.strip him down to his vest and nappy or pants. and just gently sponge him.

I'd go for the Nurofen if Calpols not working, you can combine the two safetly, but stagger the doses. I find Nurofen much more effective. So use both every six hours (or whatever is suggested) so you are doing Nurofen, then 3 hours later, Calpol IYSWIM.

Mine struggle with Nurofen too, but it really does work much better for my DCs.

HTH.

Flannel wash. Keep doing it. Cool drinks.

thanks everyone ... he got up this morning feeling rough. He started crying because his head hurt so much and now he says he just feels bleurgh! You just have to look at him to see how lousy he must feel. Sounds like he has the start of the bug that is going round. Looks like dp and I have a week of trying to rearrange work etc.

Ibuprofen first choice for febrile children
Published: 04 September 2008 13:39 Author: Steve Ford More by this Author Last Updated: 04 September 2008 13:40 Reader Responses

Nurses should use ibuprofen as a first choice when trying to treat fever in children, according to researchers from Bristol University.
They investigated whether paracetamol plus ibuprofen were superior to either drug alone in treating 156 children aged between six months and six years with a temperature of between 37.8°C and 41.0°C. They said combined therapy cleared fever 23 minutes faster than paracetamol alone but no faster than ibuprofen alone.

As a result they said ibuprofen should be tried first, said the authors, after which clinicians could consider the relative benefits and risks of using paracetamol plus ibuprofen over 24 hours.

BMJ (2008) 337: a1302

Thought this might help its from the latest issue of nursing times

thank you zoe

Personally I've always found nurofen to work much better than calpol for my children. I would take his socks off too, I always find wearing socks keeps me rather warm! Hope he's feeling better today too!

Nurofen and Calpol together.
Socks and top off.
Avoid sponging with water that's too cool as it can trigger shivering that then causes heat.
Offer ice poles to suck.

I thought he was a bit better this morning but his temperature is back up to 103! Bugger!

just keep him stripped down and hydrated. When we were in hosp with DD they just kept a fan on her to keep cool air circulating around her.
I don't use painkillers with her and hosp were happy not to give either calpol or anything else.
We just kept her cool.

dd1 has a temp of 41, we are giving her parapead and nurofen every 4 hours.

She has been in the bath and has the fan on.

cool bath, no clothes, ice cream, ice pops etc. cold drinks. They do new forhead things now that you can put in the freezer, try those of he would keep them on.

doesn't ice cream make you all phlegmy when you have cold symptoms? He certainly doesn't need any more of that!

I don't know I don't acually like icecream. Ice pops surely wouldn't though?

I haven't got any in the house and can't exactly take him out .. may try a little ice cream later if he is struggling!

couldn't you just freeze some juice in an ice cube tray? takinmg him out in the cold weather with loose clothing on may help cool him you know?

hadnt thought about the frozen juice thing .. thanks!

Alternate Calpol and Nurofen. Big temps are dangerous and its safer to alternate for a few doses in a row than to have a prolonged high temp. Why does he have a temp? What is the cause?

Giving him meds every 2 hours will keep it steady and allow the worst of the illness to pass. Sponge him down if it gets dangerous. Let him play with cold cloths. If he hates the cold you still have to get a big temp down.

Agree with what has been said on this thread. I put a wet cloth on dcs' head and wipe their hands from time to time. Seems to work to draw the heat out.

My ds' temperature can really shoot sky high

Is he still buggy age? If so, I would dress him and take him out for a walk. Warm enough not to get too cold, but not too many clothes to keep the heat in. My daugter seems quite prone to temperatures and has gone up to 105 at one point. The only thing that worked was a trip out in the cold on the way to A&E. Had been trying everything else for hours and nothing had worked but by the time we got to the hospital her temputare was down.

Also wipe the back of his neck with the wet cloth, also helps cool them down. I've had both mine with temps over 40 degrees before, it can be scary but hopefully it'll pass soon. And if he's up to it put him in the bath (not too cold, don't want to shock him either!) I did that the other day when one of mine was 40 degrees, helped cool him quite a bit. Not sure of his age but those things you stick on their forehead I suspect only work with older children, I tried one with my 2 & 3/4 yr old recently, he hated it & ripped it straight off so waste of time & money.
I also do the alternate calpol/nurofen every 4 hrs, only when necessary but does seem to help bring their temps down