Baby teething and runny nose - temp 38.2

[JalapenoCheeseOnToast]

DD 10months has been teething on and off for weeks (very close to cutting I think) and she has started nursery this week. She is very out of sorts (of course) and now she has a temp of 38.2. It's going up and down (been checking the past 2 hours) and I'm certain it's the cold/teething. How long do I count the temperature for before I need to think about a covid test?

Incidentally I've just gone through the nhs to see about booking one and there are no home kits, no drive through and no walk through appts available...helpful! There is a test site down the road so they are physically there, but not available to me - what do I do in this case? I've just returned to work from maternity so 2 weeks off is not ideal at all.

Thanks!

Sounds like it's just teething to me

Teething doesn’t actually cause fever though. A cold might.

We were in the exact same boat earlier this week with our 10 month old - teething, full of a cold and temp of 38.2oC. We ended up at OOH GP because ds was vomiting lots and he said that although it was likely a cold we should still get a Covid test. Like you we couldn’t book one for ages and ended up going to a walk-through test centre where you didn’t need an appointment. Not ideal with a little one. Fortunately it was negative. Other friends have had the same issue and just checked the website really regularly until they managed to book. I hope your daughter is on the mend soon - it’s horrid when they’re poorly.

She started yesterday off food, extra clingy and then in the night her nose blocked so I'm 99% certain she has a cold, as well as teething. Her first teeth didn't cause anything like this except general grumpiness and a bit more tired than usual.

So how long does she need a raised temp for before I need to press on with the covid test? At 5pm she was 38.0, 5:30pm she was 37.6, 6:00pm she was 38.3 and 6:30pm she was 37.6 (after having a dose of calpol at 6:15pm)

Another question as well (and bump for traffic) - I guess me and DS will need a test now to be able to go back to school and work (I also work in a school)?

There is no defined time, a temp over 37.8c needs to be tested for covid or to self isolate

Thanks @Sunshineandmoonlight! And we will all need tests I suppose?

No, you only test others if they have symptoms. You isolate for 14 days unless your dd gets a negative test

@dementedpixie thank you for clarifying! I'm finding this all quite confusing I'll persevere with a test for DD, still nothing available and checked every hour since I posted

Heres a guide on testing/ isolating etc

That's really helpful thanks @Torvean32!

I definitely don’t mean to be disrespectful here or rude but the guidelines on testing have been the same for quite a long time now. Possibly the only guidelines that actually are easy to understand.

I feel for you having only just returned to work and definitely more likely to be something else. However the guidelines are there to be followed. I do think the government criteria for younger children (under 12s) to have a test should change in light of new research. It seems temperature with vomiting,diarrhoea,tummy pains, sore throat and fatigue are more common.

Hope all goes well

@CKBJ no disrespect taken here - I have been in my own maternity bubble for a while now and having returned to work my head is full of hundreds of different new procedures as well as the guidelines and ever changing laws and in a sleep deprived fog I've been finding it hard to think clearly about what to do.

I have every intention of following the rules and testing - should the government grace me with a test (which after 12 hours of refreshing the booking page, I have still been unable to get as yet). I absolutely would not risk sending DD back to nursery, nor me going to work or DS to school until we knew, I just needed some advice on if we all needed to test last night as I just couldn't get my head straight (DH is also isolating somewhere else while he is waiting to find out if someone he has been exposed to has tested positive so it has been a difficult few days).

There's nothing I can do if I can't get a test except isolate but if this happens frequently enough I'll have to end up quitting my job anyway as paying for nursery when I'm not at work earning money will financially cripple us, so lots of stressful things to think about

If there’s a test site just down the road then I’d simply turn up without an appointment and see if they’ll test her. They may not but as it’s nearby you haven’t lost much by trying.

I genuinely feel you and others in your situation. The government don’t seem to be supporting mothers re extending maternity leave and most likely to be affected workwise due to caring for children. I remember my eldest at nursery years ago and it was constantly in and out and me taking time off. Made the tough decision in the end to remove him and consequently dc2 didn’t go either. The government need to get their act together to help the situation and really consider the evidence of when a child actually needs a test/isolate.

I take exception to the info in the black box as surely if you isolate for the required amount of time in the absence of the test then you can return to school. Where has the flow chart come from?

Just to update - managed to get a test for this afternoon after frantic refreshing of the booking page around 10am. Apparently I'm having a test as well, even though I put myself has having no symptoms. Fingers crossed!