waiting on ambulance for 17 month old. Handhold please.

[whiskersonkittenss]

baby woke screaming and red hot, wouldn't settle or take a drink. Doesn't like the light being on. Called 111 and they went through the symptoms and have requested an ambulance attend but it could take another hour from now
Currently keeping him cool with the electric fan. I'm shitting myself so scared.

Open*

I’m a bit confused. Infant woke up unwell with a temperature, didn’t settle, want the light on or anything to drink... the next step is to take their temperature, medicate appropriately and see if they settle. Why was an ambulance called? The op didn’t mention anything unusual that I missed?

@whiskersonkittenss how is your baby this morning? X

Fieldofstars A few years ago son was in hospital with a high temperature and to cool him down they put a fan on which blew over some ice cubes. Medical advice is To remove clothes and try and Cool them down that way

Thanks all. He is fine! The paramedics came and did their tests on him and were happy to leave him here (he woke up happy a while before this) . This morning he has done a few loose poos so I'm thinking it was a bug. I called 111 because he wasn't right at all

Great. I'm glad he is OK. Babies go downhill so quickly, but bounce back just as quickly.

What a relief.
I hope things improve quickly

@Franklyfrost

I’m a bit confused. Infant woke up unwell with a temperature, didn’t settle, want the light on or anything to drink... the next step is to take their temperature, medicate appropriately and see if they settle. Why was an ambulance called? The op didn’t mention anything unusual that I missed?

Those.l can be symptoms of meningitis. I’m amazed you can’t see that calling for medical advice was absolutely the right thug to do.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis/symptoms/

You did the right thing OP.

You followed your gut and advise from emergency services. I know two people who have long term damage from meningitis, which this could have been. So pleased your baby is OK.

Next time I’d just hold him down and squirt ibuprofen into his mouth. It won’t be enjoyable but his temperature will be down in half an hour or so, and then he’ll almost certainly be fine. If you squirt it in far enough into one side of the mouth they can’t spit it out.

@ThornAmongstRoses

ThornAmongstRoses NICE guidelines: do not treat fevers with paracetamol/ibuprofen if the child is comfortable.

Screaming, red hot, photophobia and refusing fluids?

Of the above symptoms, which are the ones you consider to clinically indicate the baby is ‘comfortable?’

Don’t be ridiculous - of course those aren’t signs of a comfortable baby and very obviously would warrant paracetamol.

Me and the other nurse were clearly talking in reference to when the OP was saying her infant was much better, to the point where she was asking if she should cancel the ambulance. To be fair - I don’t think we were even talking about it in relation to OP’s child specifically, just what the medical guidelines are in terms of whether paracetamol/ibuprofen should routinely be given to a child with a temperature.

I assume the other medically trained poster bought it up because another poster had said giving paracetamol was important (following the original poster saying the infant was much better).

Either way - nobody, medically trained or otherwise, would be telling a parent of a screaming, feverish, possibly dehydrated and photophobia baby, not to give paracetamol.

And I’m pretty sure you well know that so there was no need for your deliberately argumentative, passive aggressive post.

I won’t embarrass you by telling you what I do for a job. Or by asking you how long you’ve been qualified for.

You very clearly suggested that anti pyretics were not indicated. The OPs baby is likely to develop further spikes in temperature if this is a viral or bacterial infection. Given that he was so distressed that the OP was waiting for an ambulance your advice to her was potentially harmful and dangerous.
There really is no need for the ‘don’t be ridiculous’ crap

OP I hope he’s ok.

We did think about that but he was wheezing, being sick and panicking because he couldn't get a breath when he first woke up screaming. I think it would have made the situation worse in our case

Glad he is ok @whiskersonkittenss you must be so relieved. I'm glad you got some good advice here, and just ignored those who were not so helpful.

You very clearly suggested that anti pyretics were not indicated.

Please copy and paste where I wrote that in the OPs case antipyretics weren’t needed.

The only response I ever gave was in response another medically trained poster querying the practice she doesn’t at work, and I said that we do the same where I work. I then included a screenshot of the NICE guidelines that we follow regarding comfortable children not needing antipyretics.

But you copy and paste where I replied specifically to the OP and where I said, “OP, although your child is screaming, hot, refusing fluids and photophobic, you shouldn’t give him paracetamol” and then we can put it to rest.

And I don’t care what you do for a job - where I work we follow the NICE guidelines regarding temperature management and so unless your job involves you demanding a change in the NICE guidelines because you know better, then your job makes absolutely no difference to what I posted.

that is a relief op

There is often a lot of quite poor advice on mumsnet about fevers. They are quite normal. I tend to go by this with mine: www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng143/resources/support-for-education-and-learning-educational-resource-traffic-light-table-pdf-6960664333

The only time I’ve seen staff seem worried about the temp itself (as opposed to other symptoms) was when my 1yo was spiking at 41.5 even after paracetamol. 111 said to just go straight to A&E as would be quicker than ambulance and we were seen immediately and focus was first on reducing the fever.

It’s a symptom but there are various symptoms and having one doesn’t mean you have meningitis.

There were multiple potential symptoms mentioned by the op.

The advice is to seek advice from a medical professional if you have even the slightest suspicion of meningitis.

Even suggesting that the op was wrong to call 111 is totally out of order and incredibly irresponsible. The op could have called 999 according to the nhs child fever advice below.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/fever-in-children/

Glad he is ok. You did the right thing. It’s hard when they are ill. I had to pick up my 3 year old from nursery test we day. He was laid on the floor, on his front, completely dazed and roasting hot. It really worried me after his pneumonia but after a second sleepless night, he looks better today

You did the right thing op and it wasnt your desision to call a ambulance. With four kids I have been sent to hospital loads of times from the gp. My eldest was slightly early and very small at birth so got loads of bugs under 4. A few times he had very worrying symptoms. Not once ever did anyone say I had wasted NHS time. They was all in agreement with the referring gp.

It happens and it's fine. Better to be fine than serious. I only called 999 once as my child was two minutes into choking. We removed the obstruction with help from the call handler. No ambulance would have saved his life. He was minutes from death as he could not breath at all.

Bottom.line is your right. You follow tour gut and with 111 the expert decides on the ambulance

Glad he is okay OP, all that matters. 💗

Glad he's well, OP. Take it easy, that must have been scary!

Thank you all. You know when your kids aren't right. It was so scary to see how quickly he went from ok at bedtime to like he was within an hour of that

@whiskersonkittenss

Thank you all. You know when your kids aren't right. It was so scary to see how quickly he went from ok at bedtime to like he was within an hour of that

I rang 999 after my child had chin to chest neck pain after a nasty couple of days of a virus. He woke up very poorly with a high fever.

25 minutes it took for the ambulance to get there by which time he was quite literally jumping up and down on the bed when they were trying to check his stats.

They go downhill very quick, and uphill very quick. You need to make sure if they have any red flag symptoms you do as you're told, as the road downhill can just keep going if you are unlucky. You did exactly the right thing!

Ring and tell someone exactly what the situation is and they can make the best judgement on what needs to happen next Hope you can all rest today.