I need some advice please about poorly dd

[TigerFeet]

dd (3.1) doesn't look too well at all

Temp won't stay down despite maximum doses of both infant brufen and paracetemol - currently 38.5

Horrid hacking chesty cough

No appetite

Hard work to get her to drink anything

Should I be ringing the docs or am I getting worried uneccesarily?

How long has she been like this?

You could call NHS Direct.

Do you have an out-of-hours GP service? I have generally found ours to be better than NHS Direct. They will get a GP to ring back and speak to you, and they will decide from that whether she needs to see someone.

Hope she feels better soon.

have you sponged her down, with tepid water?
she is spiking a temperature,

Agree, out of hours GP service will chat to you over the phone, ours are pretty good. In the meantime, have you tried cudding her in a steamy bathroom? I find this works wonders for my ds. Even (and this is probably not advisable if you think she'll knock the bowl) have her lean over a bowl of hot water with a towel over her shoulders and head. If she blows on the water the steam will really help her cough up whatever is on her chest.

Also, if temp is staying high, you could try alternating this with a tepid bath over the course of the evening. Just an idea, do hope she feels better soon.

I agree ring your GP

Ifs she isnt drinking she could dehydrate and this can happen quite quickly.
offer her an icelolly or a slushy (ice cubes crushed up with a little juice) or an ice pop or a little drink with a straw if may encourage her to take sips

You should ring NHS direct or your local GP service if you are worried. How long has it been since she had her brufen and paracetamol? You need at least a couple of hours for a reasonable effect. Try not to give them together but stagger - ie give the maximum of each with minimum frequency but stagger them. so if you're giving paracetamol at 8, give brufen at 10 and paracetamol again at 12 then brufen at 2 etc etc. Obviuosly follow the instructions.

Sorry if I'm stating the obvious but have you taken off any warm clothes. I'm sure 1 layer or even just vest and pants will be ok tonight. You're doing the right thing by pushing the fluids even if it is something you would normally rather she didn't have (like Ribena for eg).

oh I usually sit mine in yhe bath with bubbles and toys in it. Make sure you cover her head with water and just let it dry on its own, it often helps to cool them down.

One more thing, I know your instinct is to cuddle her, but try not to. The heat from your body won't help her temp. Just sit and stroke. Hope she feels better soon.

Thanks all

I've persuaded her to have a drink, she came round a bit and then asked to go to bed so that's where she is now

I will ring the GP if she goes downhill again.

She hasn't really wanted cuddles anyway (unlike her) and she stripped herself off completely when she got home - I was called at work mid morning to collect her from nursery. She was coughing all last night (hence lack of sensible thought from me) but the temp has only started today.

I second the iced drinks - very soothing to a cough and cooling. Little sips from a spoon is worth a try if she doesn't want to drink from a cup.

Check that she is truly on the max dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Paracetamol max: 15 milligrams per kilogram weight each dose

Ibuprofen max: 5 milligrams per kilogram weight each dose.

Thanks again

I will keep an eye on her through the night and unless she gets significantly worse I'll get her to our gp tomorrow morning

if all else fails get a clean sponge, dip it in water and let her suck that.

Its so hard when its actually you, isnt it?

I often encourage mine to go upstairs to bed as its usually cooler!

Hope she feels better soon.

Oh if she is resting try to get some sleep yourself incase she is up again tonight.

LaDiDaDi - that's handy to know, thanks, but I have no idea how much she weighs . She's asleep now so if she wakes I will weigh her. I will write that down and stick it in the first aid box, cheers.

Ok has she any so called "alarm symtoms" - almost non rousable, RASH (use glass test), vomitng not keeping fluids down - if not ...a high temp and being miserable is not unusual in viral infections...all the advice above is excellent (max doses calpol and brufen staggered, tepid sponging, cold drinks etc)....the temp may take a few days to come down....and I would give it a few days before seeing GP unless ypu have reason to be concerned or if she suffers recurrent ear/chest infections etc....good luck horrid when LO are ill just put my 5 year old to bed with temp telling me she feels "fizzy"

i would call the docs anyway to be safe

Sponge her down with cool water, darken the room, light cotton vest - the fever will make her feel cold as the body tries to bring it down. Don't put her in the bath I think it's gone beyond that point. It is Imperative that she drinks fluids as this will flush out the infection and bring the fever down. Keep going with the meds but to be honest if they are not working you should be calling the docs right now.

Just make sure that once you've calculated the dose in milligrams that you check the concentration of the medicine and correctly work out the volume to give.

Eg if concentration described as 120mg in 5ml then do

[Dose required X 5]divided by 120 to give you the volume needed.

Sorry if this is patronising in the extreme but would hate anyone to accidentally od their child!

TBh the doses given on the bottle is a low estimate based on smallest child....the max dose of calpol is 20mg/kg per dose every 6 hours (max 90mg/kg/day)..you will be surprised how much it works out to.....call the dr if you are worried that there is something nasty going on but you should be able to control the temp with correct doses of anti pyretics and sponging etc...there is not much they can do from that point of view...most GP's will be happy to see LO to reassure and exclude underlying cause needing further treatment (but also word of warning can be very difficult to diagnose meningitis etc in early stages as may just appear as viral infection etc)..not easy call to make just go with your instinct parents are usually right

And to reiterate Ladida - check calpol concentration the baby one is 120mg/5ml and the over 6 is 250mg/kg so a big difference....

Poor DD, hopes she feels better tomorrow.

I heard a doctor on the radio the other day who said that if you give Piriton as well as ibuprofen/calpol, then it doubles the effects! You could try that

Cough not unusual with upper resp infection (pneumonia uncommon in LOs) but agree if stuggling to breath or wheezy call dr straight away...if have decent GP out of hours will be quicker and easier than A+E but depends where you are...

Medised has antihistamine as well as paracetamol in it - helps because like piriton is antihistamine and helps unblock stuffy noses also mildly sedative so LOs less distressed ...