How to not drive myself mad over DS temp? Very worried FTM

[Charlotteap]

DS 2 next week woke from his nap yesterday very whiny, bad cough, sniffle, very lethargic, urinating less. Temp at 39 last night but nurofen took it right down but today it got to 40.6 and didn’t drop so went to hospital. They saw him very fast and couldn’t get him to not spit out the calpol so gave him a suppository and after 4 hours sent us home and told us to come back if we can’t get it down again.

He seemed a little more perky when we got home and for the first time today didn’t just sit on the sofa but now he’s in my bed he’s gone straight back to 39 and that is with nurofen. Would you take him straight back or monitor more? They wouldn’t prescribe us suppository’s and he’s really good no matter how forceful we are at spitting it back or causing him to vomit so never sure how much he’s taken. Anything else I can do to help?

he’s in his sleepsuit which I realised maybe too much under my quilt and may be better in pjs or maybe even just a pj top? Earlier he was literally burning up it was very scary how hot he was head to toe. But he feels cool to touch so surprised he’s still got a temperature.

hes never been ill really or had a temperature so getting abit worked up. Don’t want to drag him back to hospital for it just to drop again.

thanks in advance.

You can get paracetamol suppositories from the pharmacist if the GP writes a private prescription for you. They cost about £18 a box, but it's well worth it to have some in the cupboard if you have a child who struggles with calpol.

When my DS had covid, his temperature spiked to 40C and at that point he couldn't cope with calpol. I gave him a damp towel to sponge himself down all over and after an hour he was cool enough to take paracetamol again. He's a teenager though, so that might be different.

I think 111 always say to come to the hospital and it can be really difficult because often it's bed rest and sleep that helps. Making the judgement call can be so difficult.

Good luck there. Sorry it's so hard.

Alternate calpol and nurofen. Every four hours. Nurofen should be 8 hourly Calpol is 4-6 hourly.

Have a fan in the room. Oscillating though. Not directly pointed at him, nappy and vest and a thin blanket.

A temp is bodies way of fighting infections so a temp is some degree is useful in a horrible way!

Do not bathe him! Don't cool him down too quickly :)

I hope he's better soon

@mikado1 its because if you cool the skin too much its sets off the shiver mechanism which is then designed to increase temperature. Hence why you shiver with a fever

(Should have said I'm a paeds nurse!)

You can buy suppositories they don’t have to be prescribed. Definitely strip him down and get rid of the duvet, that’s the first thing I do when mine have a temp. Stay in the same bed with him, it’s the easiest way to check his temperature regularly overnight with your hand and then thermometer if he isn’t cooling down, and it’s the easiest way to keep an ear/eye out for breathing changes too.

When I did my nurse training I was always taught - treat the child, not the fever. (I have never owned a thermometer). The fever is the clever body doing its thing to fight the infection. If he is settled I would let him rest but keep him cool with a thin cover. If he wakes you can see how agitated he is.

Mine get fevers all the time with viruses. Our routine is put them in very light clothing (or just a nappy), remove duvet and add a sheet only. If fever is a high, stubborn one, we then alternate calpol and neurofen. So give calpol dose and then 2 or 3 hours later give neurofen dose, then carry on like that. In my experience it is much easier to keep on top of a fever like this than it is to bring a super high one down after meds have run out.

Found the summer cool sheet out and after 15 mins he went from 39-38 the first time the thermometer hasn’t been red! He’s fast asleep and can have some more nurofen at 12, would you leave him to sleep at 38 degrees? And wait to see if he wakes. Much better night so far last night he was constantly waking saying mama and shivering. Seems a lot more peaceful in his sleep but sounds a lot more bunged up / noisy breathing. Thanks everyone appreciate all your advice and tips.

Will deffo look into getting suppositories seems such an ordeal giving the syringe whereas he cried for maybe 2 seconds while the dr popped it in then that was it. Definitely think would be easier. He screams ‘ no medicine’ then has trust issues for the rest of the day thinks every drink or food is medicine.

is these illnesses rife where everyone else is? I’m from yorkshire and basically everyone I know has been ill with a couple things. We just seem to be getting things back to back!

Now 37.6?! It’s now green 🙏

Brilliant!
Lots of nasty bugs around this year.

I hope he gets better soon - we don’t sponge or put fans on children (on our wards) anymore - as it only reduces the skin temp and can provide false assurance that the temperature has reduced.

Loose clothing, a sheet and a cooler room (so turning the heating down slightly) can all help with comfort.

Ice lollies are good for hydration and keep fluids up.

Just popping on to say I think a sleep suit under a quilt is likely always going to be too much for a young child.

Hope DS recovers soon!

Actually I thought you meant sleeping bag. If you just mean a onesie then ignore me.

Woohoo! Re thermometers - under arm is easier to get a good reading on. Have it so that it sticks straight out in front of his armpit with his arm down and then folded across the front of his body to keep it close to him. It will read 0.5C lower than their core temp so just add tuat on. Ear thermometers are easy to get a false low temp as you can accidently scan the back of the ear flap rather than centrally with little ears. But from your readings it sounds like you've got the ear thermometer technique.

Hold on - it’s a maximum of 4 doses of Calpol in a 24 hour period and 3 of Nurofen. How does that work if you’re doing every 2 hours?

I’ve alternated when DC has a high temperature but you need to be very careful not to overdose OP, I think that’s why it’s not officially advice.

I’ve kept a careful note of when painkillers were given over each 24 period so the maximum of 4 doses of paracetamol/3 doses of ibuprofen was not exceeded.

Yeah I remember worrying about this when advised to overlap by GP. We alternate only when fever is very high and they're clearly getting warm and uncomfortable within the usual 4-6 hour period of one dose. I keep a close eye on my phone. Generally there are periods in the day I can stretch out e.g. first thing in the morning when temp naturally lower, I can usually avoid an overlap here. Similarly overnight isn't usually overlapped every two hours, which allows for a gap of several hours.

Thanks everyone we had a long night where he just constantly woke wanting cuddles and his fever did spike during the night a couple times. But it’s not gone over 38 today so hoping he’s on the mend! I do feel absolutely lousy today and I now have a fever, so we are both feeling sorry for ourselves!

Last few comments talking about the nurofen overlap , the same thing had me quite worried

@Greentomatoes21 that makes a lot of sense. He’s 36.6 ish all morning but still acting very fed up and crying a lot would you perhaps not give nurofen now so we can give it more tonight when he seems to run a fever more at night?

Have a look at this oage about nurofen for children. https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/ibuprofen-for-children/how-and-when-to-give-ibuprofen-for-children/
If it was me I’d give him some a couple of times in the day and keep one dose for bedtime and also give him paracetamol in between if needed
its ex-pained on this NHs page https://www.ruh.nhs.uk/patients/patient_information/PAE097_Pain_relief_for_Children.pdf

hope that helps and glad he is improving x

Poor mite sounds like he had influenza - SO much around right now. Shame they didn't test in A&E for you - my local hospital does RSV/flu/COVID for any kids with fever.

We're North Yorkshire. DD was so ill the second week of December. Literally slept all day. Suspected adhd so absolutely unheard of in our house. She's had pneumonia, scarlett fever and numerous bouts of tonsillitis in the past but never seen her like that. She did get diagnosed with a chest infection which thankfully cleared up with antibiotics but suspect it was probably RSV by symptoms.

Thanks everyone for your advice you all really helped me get through the worse of it. He’s a different child today, playing on his balance beam and not clinging to us for once.

only issue we’re having is he’s not fully eating / drinking! He keeps saying ‘ nooo medicine ’ when we offer him a drink. Really worried this morning as he was dry in the morning till 11am but has had a few wet nappies since. He’s eaten some cucumber and a couple jellies so hoping that helps with the fluid intake

Does he or has he had smoothies? Could be worth offering whilst he's under the weather.