DS's temp has dropped to 35.6

[karen99]

DS (8mo) has been unsettled the last three nights. After being put down to bed fine (albiet very tired) he has woken with shrill crying after about 2hrs. I get him out of the cot and find that the back of his neck is very cool, plus cheeks & forehead, and a slight sweat. His temp showed up as 36.6 Thurs night, 36.3 last night and now 35.6 tonight. I cuddle him back to sleep for about 45mins with a fleece blanket wrapped round him and then a med. hot water bottle on the outside, plus I put his fleece outdoor hat on. His temp then rises and he settles for the rest of the night.

He had a 'chill' at the end of Nov when his temp dropped to 35.7 for about 4hrs in the middle of the night and I put it down to not dressing him well enough during a shopping outing. But I've learnt that lesson and he has been dressed well in the day and is in a long-sleeved sleepsuit and 2.5 tog grobag. The room temp is about 23deg when he goes to bed and I put the fleece blanket on when the heating goes off around 10pm, room drops to about 18 overnight. However, since Thurs night I have put the fleece blanket on v. shortly after he drops off to sleep at 7:30pm.

Do you think this is this just a 'chill' or something more (eg. virus)?

Should I be putting him in more clothes to go to sleep, eg. a short-sleeved body suit on under the sleepsuit?

Any advice would be appreciated as we're a bit concerned it's gone on for so many nights. Currently waiting for NHS to ring us back (30mins and still waiting..)

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karen - do you know what your DS's normal temperature is when completely healthy? Sorry if it's an obvious point, but when we got our ear thermometer I made a point of getting some readings from our ds while he was healthy so I knew what was "normal". I found his normal temperature was right down the bottom end of what the "normal" range in a young child is supposed to be.

(It's actually come in handy, because sometimes he's had what's supposed to be a "low" fever, but I've known it's been quite a large discrepancy for him and taken appropriate precautions).

I hope NHS Direct get in contact with you soon and that you get some reassurance.

Just checked ours - my son's normal temperature is around 36.1, but fluctuates by a few tenths of a degree either side of that. Normal range is from 35.8 to 38.0 - I wouldn't say that 35.6 is way out of "normality", but then I'm not a doctor, so best to be sure with the NHS direct people anyway

Thanks Twiglett and GeorginaA. Just got off the phone with NHSD. They asked questions about a knock on the head, blue lips, rash, irritability, not recognising us etc. and he's not shown any of these. His normal temp is around 36.7, so middle of the road I guess.

She said it might be related to the drop in temp outside and he should be in atleast a vest and long-sleeve suit. But his temp drops when his room is still very warm and he sleeps fine in the middle of the night!?

Now I feel terrible that I've most likely been under dressing him... Is a vest one of the short sleeve babygros or are they like a little t-shirt? (I have the former but not the latter)

Just checked his temp again and it's 36.1, so we're on the up

A vest is the kind that fastens under the nappy and has no legs either with short or no sleeves

HTH

Thanks fairydust. Will put one of those on him tonight aswell as the long sleepsuit.

We got up four times in the night to check his temp and it was always around 36.0-36.1, but he slept ok until 5am. However, when I checked on him then he was much warmer. Have been playing with him since 6ish, so hopefully he'll want to go back to sleep shortly! (wishful thinking! )

Thanks for your help last night. We'll just have to wait and see what happens tonight..

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Vest, sleepsuit and 2.5 grobag are all ae. baby needs at night if the temp is 18 or more. If you put a blanket on top of the grobag your baby will get to hot!
Our body temps go down at night and as long as their body feels warm they're fine.
It is normal for their hands and face to feel cool. I would have thought the room temp being at 23 would if anything be too warm as is should be between 18-21.
Babies this age need no more covers or layers than us.
I'll find you a link for the grobag and what they should wear.
BTW what's a chill?

grobag info

scroll down the page to clothing
hth

Thanks for the extra info. DS is already in a 2.5 grobag and sleepsuit - had him in a vest & sleepsuit last night and he didn't wake like he had the previous few nights.

The room drops to 18/19 overnight once the heating goes off at 9:30pm. So his 'core' sleeping temp is in line with what it should be. DS has a bf just before going to bed so I know he's filling up with something warm. I always check the back of his neck or down the front on his chest and it was in both of those places that he felt very cool. All other 'bits' that weren't covered were cold.

Have you heard of the expression - "you'll catch a chill if you go out with too few clothes on" ? I think it's just when you don't feel warm and nothing seems to warm you up except for maybe a hot soak in the bath or hot drink.

Hopefully he's either come through the 'virus' or I'm now dressing him properly (which is the most likely). Thanks for the help, it's been very reassuring.