Am i the only parent that havent got a thermometer to check DD's temp if ill???

[Biglips]

????

(And my DS2 has always been known to run temperatures, with no other symptoms, for no apparent reason, but very probably related to his tendency towards glue ear.. so not a reliable case of 'look for other symptoms')

Wouldn't be without Calpol either.. it's paracetamol.. it's not going to anything but make a child feel a bit better, used in moderation and within correct dosage. Even a small temp can make a child feel crap... Calpol can alleviate that even if the fever is not high enough to be dangerous. Don't really see how sensible use of Calpol can be seen as controversial.. it's given to newborns who have been yanked out with forceps after all!

My doctor told me not to use one as ds2 temp always goes sky high when he is unwell.
You need to use your instinct, you can tell by using your cheek if they are too hot and then act accordingly. Personally I think I used to get too fixed on the numbers iyswim.

We have a ear one which we hardly ever use.
My Kids tend to be lethargic etc. when they have fever, and I also use the kissing the forhead method, as hands aren't as acurate...if they feel hot they get ibrufen or medised and we see where we go from there!
Only if temp doesn't drop after med or I am seriously worried about them do I use the thermometer!

If I have a fever, I take ibuprofen or paracetomol. But the only time I have had temps I have also had in infection/virus like earache or tonsillitis. So the medicine has helped to relieve the sypmtons. I also can't see what the problem is with sensible use of medicine to relieve symptoms.
Also, when I get a fever I also tend to feel cold - recently had tonsilitis and the idea of sponging down/taking clothes off would have made me completely miserable. Brrrr....

i bought a forehead scanner one fron argos was £20 and it give diff readings everytime u use it! (liek 3 times in a row!!)

oh, a very good way to lower high fever effectively is what can only be translated into compresses or wraps of the lower extremities.
cold water, put small towels in, wrap around the lower legs and wrap another, a dry, towel over the wet towel and repeat whenever the cool towel gets warm.
My mum used to do that with us, and we also used this method in Hospital.....!
Few years back I had extremely high temp, over 41 degree celsius and my head felt as if it was exploding, and meds didn't really touch it at all...my mum was there at the time and she used that method and it really worked a treat!
Also, yes fever is a sigb of the body fighting infection, but high fever can be very dangerous, and to wait till 40 degrees to give something...well...could be dangerous ground if you are unable to lower the temp....at 42 degrees celsius the body can shut down!

just found this link about fever, for anyone interested

would not advocate cold compresses myself - the cold can constrict blood vessels in lower extremities, leading to a higher core body temperature. Strip 'em off, tepid sponging, calpol or ibuprofen if your child can have it.
And use thermometer if that doesn't work, to tell Dr what they're dealing with.

I don;t lower until it goes above 40 because generally below that my children are still up playing and reasonably happy. They run high temps.

I do give calpol for pain- so will give for say toothache. I have no problem at all with giviing paracetamol for pain. That link says the aim is not to remove fever, but to lower it. That's what we do.

If I give calpol both ds1 and ds3 react badly to the sweetners in them (even the non sugar free one has stuff they react to), so I don;t see the point in bringing down a temp of 39 when they're up playing, reasonably well, and having the fever do a bit of infection fighting as well. Why go through the next few days of bloody sweetner withdrawal hell without good reason.

I also limit it - and this is the major reason for me because it has been hypothesised that routine supression of fever may be linked to autism I don;t think its much more than a hypothesis at the moment. However I do know that ds2 and ds3 are over 100 times more likely than Joe Public to develop autism (well ds2 is prob ok now, but ds3 is still at risk), so I only give a potential trigger with good reason. For me a temp of plus 40 is a good reason (and anyway seizures etc are not exactly good if you are at increased autism risk). An up and about child with a low grade fever is not. For me, for my family, with an increased risk of autism.

BTW ds3 had his seizure when he had been receiving regular doses of calpol and nurofen.

This is interesting Jenk - do you feel that your LO could develop autism. My youngest has DS and ASD - I thought that if autism was there, it was there, and would show itself eventually to some degree. I'd not thought about anyone being prevented from developing it..... is there any research on this?

Jimjams - not Jenk.

I think there are many routes to autism. Some will have a higher heritability than others. I personally think AS is highly heritable. ASD less so- although will dpend on the individual. I think ASD that responds well to biomedical interventions is probably a case of a predisposition to autism. If a family had no previous history of autism (or undiagnosed AS) but had a family history with various autoimmune conditions, I would be suspicious that the autism had been environmentally triggered in some way.

Environmental factors known to be related to autism would include lack of oxygen at birth and very early rubella infection the mother.

Loads of research on this. Richard Lathes book Autism the brain and the environment goes into it in lots of detail, summarises most of the papers and is recent. Google people like Mary Megson, Rosemary Waring (here in the UK at Birmingham Uni), William Walsh and of course Wakefield. Stella Waterhouses book a positive approach to autism is an easier read, bit broader, more developmental rather than biomedical, but goes into the development.

I don't believe ds1 was born autistic.

I think ds3 (NT so far) in particular had a very narrow shave. I think it's likely that if he had been our first child and we hadn't avoided the things we have he would have been autistic. In biomedical tests he appears identical to ds1. Responds similarly to lots of things as well.

Having said all that when ASD is associated with DS it may be a factor of being learning disabled if you see what I mean. I think many children with learning disabilities will have autistic features, but not all with have enough for a diagnosis.

However, its an interesting point as something that helps a lot of the children who appear to have "developed" autism is a gluten free diet, and apparently that can help a lot of children with DS as well. Could be completely different factors involved though.

Sorry Jimjams! Deliberate name mistake of course
I need to read more around this. My dd3 has Down syndrome, and was diagnosed ASD aged 4, shes now 6.

oh agree with you about cold compress by the way. I cocked up tepid sponging once and did the equivalent of a cold compress and ds1's temp skyrocketed. (he was having calpol as well)

Now the interesting thing about calpol is that when I give it to ds3 (aged 2) for fever I give the 6 plus brand (on hospital orders) which is another reason I lay off it for low grade fevers.

Does your dd have digestive problems? If so might be worth trialing a gluten free diet, apparently it can really work well with DS as well as ASD. I suspect that in the case of having ASD in combination with DS it is less likely to have an environmental factor (unless you obsevred a regression- that's quite common in the cases where something environmental is involved- ds1 for example regressed noticeable following a bad herpes infection- clinicians haven't contradicted that account ever- they seem to accept it).

noticeable?? typo!

I should be working so I must dash. Google marilyn le breton- she knows about guts, autism and DS- she's your woman!

she did regress with her signing, but I feel she always had autistic tendencies. She has bowel problems, she has had a blood test which apparently ruled out coeliac disease. I need to think about dietary changes thought. this is very interesting, thank you xx

If you want to contact me off list feel free to- I can tell you more via a private email than on here....

thank you, will let you work then, but I'll be in touch, have loads of questions! Sorry everyone for hijacking the fever thread

Hm, never experienced any negative sideeffect of doing cold compress on the lower extremeties , and it works by cooling the circulating blood down...

Obviously its OK in some children, but with children who are prone to febrile convulsions, it can shut down those small blood vessels, causing a core body temp rise. I'd definately recommend tepid water rather than cold to be on the safe side

ds1 got shivery when I did it- but he was VERY hot (41 on calpol), once he got shivery up it went. Years ago though. I have seen my mum do it since, and she did it a lot better than me and he was fine, and the temp did go down- I've just never dared do it again

When ds3 was in hospital they were very big on just stripping him down to a nappy - I was worried he would get shivery then (and his temp rise) in a drafty old ward, but he was fine.

Do CAT me headgirl- am off to bed now, but I can give you more details and names.

I certainly will, night night