DS's temperature 39.5 in one ear and 38.4 in the other??

[Twiglett]

DS (3.8) just vomited (about 1/2 hour ago) we cleared him up .. says he feels well but was shivering and felt hot .. his temp was around 38.6 so I gave him 5ml nurofen

now gone in to check on him after about 20 mins and the ear thermometer (braun) has different readings each ear ..

on the lowest his temp hasn't gone down, on the highest (39.5) its gone up a degree

what does that mean? would you worry? would you do anything?

Might be an ear infection?

I would keep a very close eye on him if it's gone up since giving 5ml nurofen. We usually find removing some clothes and doing some tepid sponging is quite effective.

Is he asleep now? Does his temp often go up this high when he's ill? 39.5 is pretty high I think. If it goes any higher I'd ring emergency doc or NHS Direct for advice.

sorry - does nurofen contain paracetamol?

paracetamol reduces temp

take 3 readings and go for the average thats waht i do

i think 37 is ok for children i would be worried at 38.6

have you called nhs 24? i have dealt with then twice before and i cant tell you how brilliant they were, really really fantastic

hth

contact nhs direct twiglett if you havent already, they are really good about little ones.

Is his temp. higher in the ear he has been sleeping on, twigs?

You can give Calpol in conjunction with Nurofen (keep a note of what you have given when as it's easy to get muddled in the wee small hours and Calpol is 4 hourly and Nurofen is 6).

Keep checking his temp. strip him off and sponge him down if necessary. If it doesn't come down (or goes up any more) ring NHS Direct. HTH.

sorry - its called nhs 24 up here but i mean the same thing

again, they really are brilliant, i would call them

Hi, we have the braun ear thermometer too, but can't say we've ever tested in both ears, so don't know if there's been a difference between the two. Only things I can think of is poss the angle is slightly different, and a different part of the skin got tested (does this make any sense??) as I think the beam has to hit the ear drum (?), also, is it poss he has an ear infection, so one ear might actually be hotter iyswim. Do you have any other kind of thermometer?

nurofen can take an hour or so to kick in. Has he been lying on the hot side?

Depends on your child as to whether to worry. Both my boys run high temps- ds1's always goes above 41 when he's poorly and I don't even count 38.5 as a temp for him. My friend's children however have never gone above 39, but her son has seizures so anything above 38 is a worry for her.

aah great minds think aloke marthamoo

Sure that nhs direct will be keen to know if his temperature is not responding to drugs. You can give nurofen and calpol at the same time. Nurofen better for pain relief, but calpol better for high temp.
Agree that different temperatures might be sign of ear infection - or possibly that you just got slightly dodgy angle when you took temp in one ear and didn't direct it perfectly at ear drum.
Good luck for the night.

medised also v.good, but cant mix with certain other medicines so check first as it has antihistemine in.

And I agree with jimjams (we have a mutual fanclub, it seems!) that it does depend on your child. Highest ds1's has ever been was 40.1 and I was very worried then, but 38/39 is quite common with my kids when they're poorly.

How is he in himself? Does he seem not to know where he is?

Medised has paracetemol on it, but AFAIK it can be given with Nurofen (though I would want to check with a pharmacist first). And it's supposed to help with sickness. Though not a lot of use unless you have some in twigs - have you got Calpol as well as Nurofen, btw?

thanks guys

god I'm a dope .. the higher one was the side he was leaning on .. but it's still rising in the other ear .. around 38.8 now

he's never really ill TBH so no basis to check

he seems fine in himself .. chatting and everything but says he feels a little hot now

bugger .. just bought tickets for the circus tomorrow at 11am too (I'm as excited as he is, cos I've never been)

hope temp breaks overnight

Wary of offering too strong an opinion online - but he sounds OK to me. Just keep checking his temperature, and try sponging his forehead. Is he wearing light pj's and just covered with a sheet? Trust your instincts - if you feel worried, call the emergency GP out.

strip him down to nappy/pj bottoms and put cool flannel on forhead...plenty of water incase degydrated...do you know what, i would nt think of anyof this if it were me...id me asking you guys..good luck twiglett

He could well be fine by the morning - they often bounce back pretty fast (though he might be too washed out for the circus )

if ok in himself tomorrow would still take to circus as fresh air will be better than stuck ion with heating on and will take his mind off it, just make sure in layers so can remove if uncomfortable

thanks .. I actually think he'll be fine to be honest .. I was using you all as a sounding board and was slightly taken aback by the different temps

BTW I always thought that calpol(paracetomal) stabilises a temp and nurofen (ibuprofen) brings it down .. but agree that nurofen is better for longer term pain relief

How is your ds today, Twiglett? Was thinking of you this morning... wondered if you got to the circus okay

he didn't go to sleep till gone midnight .. but was up bouncing like tigger at 7.30 with no sign of a temp .. kids eh? .. they're just amazing

yes we went to the circus .. first time ever for me .. we all loved it

thanks for thinking of us

Oh excellent, I am glad

Oh that is good news - I was hoping he'd be better today but this is the first chance I've had to log on.

glad hes okay twiglett

Another thing that could cause different temps is if there is wax (or other obstruction?!) in one ear drum for future reference!