My poor little boy has a fever

[PavlovtheCat]

i just want sympathy really. Poor little thing. He is normally so chilled and calm and not a cryer at all. Now he is properly baby wailing, not crying, but that 'wwaaah' sound . He has a bunged up eye, and not much else, but calpol only reduced his fever down to 38.8. I had not taken it before i gave him calpol new it was high so gave it, and its at 38.8 with it. He is hot and bothered, is not sleeping.

I hate seeing him like this, it makes my heart break (he is 11wks). I have shed some tears already, and DH told me to pull myself together!

Oh, Pavlov, sympathy - it's so difficult when they're poorly and so small. How long is it since you gave the calpol? Has he settled any more at all?

Oh no its awful when theyre ill let alone when theyre that little. I would prob take a trip to GP but am paranoid!

i will see if fever goes down anu more after next loy of calpol then i will go to gp. i am paranoid too! almost 4 hours since last given. He has finally settled and sleeping on me although restless, i cant put him down else he cries.

i have him in nappy an short body to keep him cool. he has been suckling lots so getting plenty of fluids and has wet nappies.

grr, i am meant to be preparing for a court hearing against my builder tomorrow. think i will be mostly laying here typing one handed!

i still get upset when dd is poorly aged 3.5! not that she is ill very often at all

ooh green nose and green eye, guess i will call the gp now.

2nd lot of calpol and some sleep/cuddles has reduced it now. fingers x it will stay down.

Fever is still up, afternoon calpol reduced it, then it went back up again and calpol has stopped helping, have one more left before max dose in 24hrs so saving it for if/when it gets really high. He is tired and won't sleep more than snatches of 10 mins or so, and only then on me. He is fighting sleep for some reason, keeps waking up with flaying arms and then cries a sharp cry, then a cry for mama! DH has been relegated to the sofa for the night so i can have DS fidgeting in bed with me where i might be able to get him down for a good sleep with lots of cuddles.

Called gp earlier who said eye is most likely a blocked tearduct, and at the time his fever was down so not concerned but might need to call them back as not able to give more than one more dose of calpol before 10:00am.

I can't give him baby nurofen can i? (it says 6 months on the box/bottle).

Pav, it's not normal for a baby of this age to have a fever, under 12 weeks they are protected by the mum's antibodies. I really do think that you should take him to a paeds A&E (if you have one, a normal A&E if you don't) and get him seen ASAP. I trained as a paeds nurse, I have seen a little baby (8weeks) with a high temp before, there were no other symptoms, they did blood tests and a lumbar puncture, turned out that the little one had meningitis so the GP was on the ball sending them to A&E. I have answered a thread on here before and it turned out her baby had a UTI and needed treatment in hospital and further tests once the little one was better.
I really do think you should take him to be checked over, especially as the fever's not going down. If it's nothing then this is good, I'd rather this then it was something.

Its awful when they're ill. Check with NHS direct but, in your position, I'd give a small dose of baby ibuprofen to make sure the fever comes down. It's really not good for it to stay up near 39C for long.

It is constantly at around 38.7, and without calpol it is up as high as 39.1.

I think i will call our out of ours gp, they are pretty good and feel a bit more personal than NHS direct.

Pav, take him straight to A&E, seriously, I don't mean to stress you out but he needs to be seen by a paediatrician. I wouldn't leave it. Don't bother with NHS direct.

I second what Belle said.
Definitely A&E.
Blocked tear duct is nothing dangerous in itself and should not be causing high fever.
When baby is under 3 months, doctors take it very seriously- when dd was 3 weeks she had a temp of 38 degrees, so just on the cusp, not even a real fever and I was told by her paed to take her to A&E, where she was rushed through and kept in observation for a day and a half to make sure it wasn't meningitis.
She was fine, but as the docs said: it is NOT normal for a little baby to have a fever ie ther's an infection going on and as they can progress very quickly in babies, it's best to make sure it's nothing serious.
I'm surprised at your GP, frankly, and I'm not paranoid. I would take a liberty of waiting and watching with an older baby, also because you can see more danger signs iyswim ie inhabitual behaviour, drowsiness etc.
39 degrees in a 11 weeks old that doesn't go down with paracetamol- I would urge you to go and have him checked out, even if most likely it's just a bug.

whinny did not explain well about blocked tear duct, he said it is likely a cold or bug causing blocked tear duct, not that it the blockage causing the fever. Ie, it was not likely conjunctivitis as I thought it might be. He said keep it clean and keep an eye for blood shot white of the eye. He was not phased by the fact he had a fever, i guessed as it had gone down then?

I am talking to an out of hours gp in a moment, one is calling me back.

My DH thinks I am a fussing mother and he has a bug, as children get sometimes. I remember going through this type of thing with him and DD, mainly as he hates hospitals, he was always right, but i always insisted on going anyway and did not mind being proven wrong. I don't want it to be serious do i?!! . He is out with the car so i will call him and tell him to come on home.

I don't like the sound of the sharp cry, and IMO he's been too ill for too long to be laid back about it. If he was mine I would be off to A and E like a shot (and I have had four of the buggers and seen most minor childhood illnesses).

Really he's very little to have these symptoms, and on that basis I would just bypass NHS Direct and the Out of Hours Service on this occasion.

Is he sneezing? Blocked up nose? It really doesn't sound like a cold to me, he's wailing because he's really not feeling well. He shouldn't have a temp like this, he needs to see a paediatrician.

Of course, most of the time it turns out just to be a nasty bug, but still such high fever in a 11 weeks old cannot be treated the same way as in a 15 month old iyswim.
Don't like the sound of the shrill cry, either, as it's one of the symptoms of meningitis.
Better take him in, you should be seen quickly and at least then you can relax.

spoke to gp at out of hours and he said go up to the hosp and they will see him at paed outpatients at the hospital now.

As always you are right! Thanks for your help ladies.

Ok, good.
Hope everything is fine.

I really do hope he's given the all clear. It's best to get him checked though. He doesn't sound well to me. Try not to panic, he'll get seen quickly, you are doing the right thing for him.

Let us know how things go so I can sleep tonight

www.meningitis.org/symptoms/babies

"Irritable when picked up, with a high pitch or moaning cry"

That's what would get me to A and E, because yyou don't have long to act. One of those occasions when it's better safe than sorry.

Cross post.
Hope things go well - post when you're back.

OMG just saw the most miserable rude fucking dr i have ever seen. He has just made me feel fucking stupid, a paranoid time wasting neurotic mother who cannot parent well.

However, on the plus side he is fine. Apparantly. There were 6 people before me, all with babies, and i was seen within 15 mins, with 2 drs - they were all in and out, all went in worried and came out looking sheepish.

NO reassurances that i did the right thing, just made it clear i was wasting their time stopping him playing bejewelled.

Dubious about his advice re fever. (nothing apart from nappy, sponge down in cool water. I thought those things increased fever as the body artificially thought it was cold so heated up more? oh clearly i know shit).

I am to have him 'reassessed' if his fever does not go down, or if he does not sleep . Er...he is not sleeping! He said, give him the calpol you are late giving him and he will be fine! what happens when he has had that lot as it is the 4th lot - he said 'you will just have to wait til he can have it again won't you?'

But the main thing is i can now sleep knowing that while i have a poorly baby, he is ok.

Oh and he did not say what was actually wrong, or could b wrong, just that 'its not unheard of for a baby to get a fever' like i was stupid.

And it was not a paed he saw, it was an on-call Dr in the outpatients section, not A&E.