Talk me down please. Feverish child.

[Tvquizhelp]

3 year old daughter. Had high temp all day despite calpol. Fallen asleep so I’ve just taken her to bed (very very unusual for her). Say next to her and she’s breathing fast. Please talk me down

No sponging for fever.

Only remove excess covers and clothes.

Sponging causing shivering which can make internal temperature rise

Alternate calpol/calprofen. Ice pops to suck when she’s awake. Strip her down to pants, she will feel freezing but you need to be aggressive with a temperature once it gets going.

Bearing in mind all 111 will tell you is to isolate and treat the fever I personally wouldn’t bother calling them. They will just tell you to do exactly the things people on here have, and to call if she gets worse.

I just don’t know how we’re supposed to know the difference 😭

Essentially, it doesn’t really matter. You treat the symptoms regardless of what is causing them.
If she doesn’t improve with calpol/worsens then call 111, as you would whatever was causing the illness.

Check tonsils xx

I’ve found this really useful in the past, written by a doctor who is a parent: www.rockmyfamily.co.uk/child-high-temperature/

Nurofen better than Calpol I was told at our last visit to paediatric A&E and if isn’t coming down with either 111.

Either way, with a temperature it means you will need to self isolate her for 7 days at home, the government guidelines are clear: if you have a cough or temperature, however mild, then self isolate for 7 days. We too had our youngest DD with a temp over 38 and she's in isolation at the moment. It's annoying but that's how this will spread.

Children get poorly all the time, they are also most likely to survive cv.

I’m not going to “talk you down” because to be honest, if I thought my child was seriously in danger, social media is not where I’d be, I find the drama queens seem to like to announce their illness.
Enjoy your time in the spotlight, if you really thought your child was poorly, you wouldn’t be wasting time on mumsnet, you’d be calling 111 or your GP.

I would give nurofen if your daughter is okay with it. Also, wake her up and give her a cool drink. If you're concerned about her breathing you should be able to count it and check online what the rate per minute should be for her age. It may not be as fast as you think but trust your instinct if you're concerned.

Hopefully you'll get through to 111 soon

Coronavirus generally bounces off children

Tell that to 13 yo DS. Poor kid was so so ill. Absolutely brutal.

There has been some bogus and now dams credited advice that unfortunately got a long way on twitter to avoid ibuprofen (particularly for COVID 19). The source it was claimed to be from has discredited it and ibuprofen is safe and good to use.

Was he diagnosed DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou? Hope he’s ok now.

You poor thing. Thankfully I don't have little ones in today's times or I'd be freaking out too. As you asked - how do we know what it is?
You've done the right thing ringing 111.

Be reassured that little ones are bound to catch a bug in their early years causing a temperature. I'd take usual precautions. Is there a rash? Is there a reaction to light? All the stuff you knew before Coronavirus - apply that now.
I hope it's just a nasty bug and your little trooper is right as rain tomorrow.

My niece is the same age and had a temp and was sleepy. Turned out it was tonsillitis.

Hello OP!
Hopefully I can provide reassurance/advice.

DS, 18 months, care down with a temp of 40 Wednesday evening. By Thursday evening it was still high and he was sounding breathless so we called 111. They advised that we were not to go to any doctors or hospital, and they would send an ambulance to assess us. Ambulance team assessed DS and said although he was clearly unwell, whilst his symptoms were manageable with ibuprofen and paracetamol, we were simply to look after him at home, but to call 111 again if at any point he became worse. Were advised no other family members needed to isolate unless they showed symptoms. It’s now Sunday and his temperature is still spiking very high if he doesn’t have medicine every 4 hours, but for the first time in 5 days he has eaten something other than milk so I hope with everything I have that he is on the mend.

No idea whether it’s the virus, or just a bad case of being unwell or teething.

They would not test for the virus unless he was admitted to hospital.

Ibuprofen is not recommended in asthmatics. It's right there on the back of the packet - it's that important. CV affects lungs, so it would be logical to assume that taking ibuprofen wouldn't be the wisest decision when displaying symptoms of corona which affects lungs.

We probably wont know difference in kids hence isolation with symptoms. I would keep her down on sofa with you so you can keep checking. Hope 111 can help.

@HoffiCoffi13 we were in hospital yesterday, and they weren't testing unless patients were admitted so no.
But they said corona or flu.

I think given the symptoms and where we live it's pretty obvious it's corona.

I bloody hope it is, because now it's over and done with.

Time will tell I guess.

Don't take advice on a WEBSITE!! You are in the fortunate position of having a phone number to ring for advice. What have they said?

Jeepers that is a wrong assumption, ibuprofen is recommended for this unless it is contra indicated for another reason. If a child has a high temperature that paracetamol alone isn't reducing then you should give ibuprofen too

@recededpronunciation so the French Health Minister has withdrawn this advice?

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/14/anti-inflammatory-drugs-may-aggravate-coronavirus-infection

I should imagine op is still on hold

@JeepersC

Some asthmatics can tolerate ibuprofen- mine being one. If the child has successfully had it before, it’s unlikely to cause a problem now.

When ds had bronchiolitis (another respiratory illness which he caught at 18m and was hospitalised did a week with) the thing that raised the red flag for the dr was his muscles/tummy below his ribs sucking in with each breath. If you are worried call 111 did advice.

I would ring 111 to be sure.
Try to stay calm, it could be another virus rather than Coronavirus. Hope everything is ok.