Ok, I've been a mom for four whole years now, and I should probably know this - but I think I can count on one hand how many times both of my kids have been sick enough to go to the doctor (which, I'm incredibly thankful for, but I panic at the slightest little sign of anything).
SO my two year old just developed a fever today - he felt hot when I woke him up...took his temp (forehead thermometer), and it was hovering around 100.0. I've been checking it all day, and it went to 102.5 right before I put him down for his nap. I gave him some motrin and put him in for his nap. I just looked on the monitor and he's in his bed scribbling on his magna doodle saying WOW every five seconds.
So far today, he's eaten two eggs, some grapes, a burrito, and some cookies. His appetite is fine... his water drinking is fine. He's pretty much acting like normal - playing, running etc. I haven't called the pediatrician yet, because when you look up his symtoms on their 'when to call the pediatrician' chart... it's under the 'wait for more symptoms to develop' category.
Here's the real question......For any of you experienced moms or medical people out there.... is this a precursor to something else coming (cold, etc)... or do kids sometimes get a fever and then it goes away? Of course, I've looked this up on the web which is no help (you get the range of... it's nothing to it could be some life threatening illness).
Please help calm me down!!!!
Thanx in advance
first of all...does he have his 2 yr molars? That could be bugging him....otherwise I would assume that he is probably coming down with something...kids are resilient though so I am sure he will be back to normal soon. my 26month old son woke up a few weeks ago grabbing his ear saying hurts....and crying yep and ear infection I was shocked! Of course we were out of town and had to pay for everything out of pocket so that was the $200 ear infection. Hope he feels better soon.
Thanx for the response.
I think he has the molars on one side... but they are definitely not on the other. The last few days he has been sucking on his fingers constantly. I thought that it might be the teeth, but one of my friends told me that her doctor said that teething fevers never go over 101.
If he talked more I could see if there were other symptoms, but he's a late talker so I can't find anything out that way.
Is this how some things (colds, etc) normally progress? I guess normally I notice if I get a fever, it's only after I have a sore throat or congestion or something else.
He's had one ear infection in his life, and I remember at that time he wasn't really complaining either (not cranky, whereas my older son was inconsolable). I'm just a terrible worry wart.
I wish every kid came with an instruction booklet.
itsmylife: being a parent is nerveracking isnt it? My 2 1/2 yr old was running a fever last month ...it was spiking btwn 101 and 104.5...he didn't have any other symptoms so i took him to the doctor....he had ear infections in both ears. He wasn't complaining or yelling so I didn't know he had them.....you might just want to have a doctor look him over to be sure.
I hope he feels better soon.
I hear you.......with someone who has suffered from anxiety from time to time in my life...I know all about worry... did your doctor give you a fever sheet? when my son was little I got a sheet which explained when fevers were dangerous (way higher than I thought) and that its seldom necessary to put them in cool water etc....I might go see if I can find it and I will scan it in if I can.
I wouldnt worry too much, if you think about it fever is good...it means the immune system is doing what its supposed too. I even had one doc while Drew was sick telling me not to give him tylenol unless he seemed miserable cause it just means his body was working, but then I have had another doc who just said keep the kid comfortable.
I have also heard not to take a kids temp after a nap (or first thing in the morning) as they naturally get warmer while they sleep (since most use covers)......
let me go look for that sheet....
Thank you Melanie & GE.....
I never got a fever sheet (or anything similar). They just have this online symptom checker thing, and my kids have just been sick soooo infrequently, I just don't have much experience with this. Other than that, I try to go online to look things up, but doing that just freaks me out more because of the range of info you get from the internet.
I like our pediatrician, and he is definitely of the 'only give them meds if they really need it' way of thinking... but, I guess I'm just a terrible worrier. Sometimes I think I'm the one that needs to be medicated 
.
I know the temps will vary throughout the day... but 102 definitely means something is going on. Whether he just fights off whatever it is, and it turns to nothing, or something is coming remains to be seen I guess. I need a dang crystal ball or something. 
Denise
My oldest is 28 and my youngest is 14, so it's been awhile since I've had to deal with pediatricians, but what would tick me off is he/they ALWAYS swore that teething did not cause a child to get sick. Oh sure! Find me ONE MOTHER who believes that! When I have a toothache, I get a fever, I have aches and pain, I feel like crap. But when a baby has a "toothache", that doesnt' affect anything? (big sigh!! )
Did you call the dr's office? If the fever hit 102, I'd be on the phone. It could be one of those hidden things .... the beginnings of strep, ear infections, etc. My oldest's favorite disease was strept and my middle child's favorite disease was ear infections. SOmetimes they would have NO symptons at all except for fever and body aches but after testing, it would be ear infection or strep.
Call them.
i would just watch him for the next 24hrs. my pediatrician told me that symptoms will most likely appear within 24-36 hrs after the fever starts. if they don't and he still has the fever at the same time tomorrow, i would call the doctor.
my feeling is that they can't yell at you... its their job. its not like you call them often (from the sounds of things) so, if it will give you peace of mind, definitely call.
the more you experience and learn from what the pediatrician or nurse tells you when you call this time, the better you'll be able to troubleshoot the next time a fever comes.
good luck and i hope the little guy feels better soon!
My oldest DD who is 8 has constantly gotten strange out-of-nowhere fevers since she was a baby. The last one she had was about 4 months ago. All she had was a fever. At that point she wasn't getting any teeth in so I know it wasn't that. Not to mention if she had any more symptoms she's old enough to tell me about them. I also go through "the list" with her. "Do you have a tummy ache?, Does your ears hurt? Do you have a headache?, Is your throat sore?, etc..." Just to make sure. Basically what I usually do is watch her fever to make sure it doesn't get too high. The last one her fever went to 104.2! Scary!! Anyways I just give her ibuprofen to get it down and it always goes away within a couple of days. I only take her to the Dr if her fever doesn't go away within a couple of days or she has other symptoms. More then likely the problem with your little one is teething. It also could be a bug or something going around. Just keep an eye on him and see how it goes.
My DD gets fevers all the time. She gets them when she's tired, if she has bug bites - anything. They usually don't affect her behavior at all. I don't take her to the doctor unless her behavior changes and I can't get it to go down with ibuprofen. Last time she had a really bad fever that knocked her out, she didn't have any other symptoms at all. Just sleeping, which she never does. I took her to urgent care, because she was at 102, and it wouldn't go down with ibuprofen or cool baths, or anything. The Dr. said it was bronchitis. He gave her antibiotics, and she felt better right away. I say watch him. If he gets worse, take him in.
My 2.5 yr old is having similar symptoms. She acts normal but her temp seems to spike towards the evening. She was at 104 last night but was acting like nothing was wrong. This time of year is popular for the coxsackie virus. It usually has a fever and sometimes loss of appetite. If it is you would see small spots in his mouth and maybe on his fingers, hands, feet, legs, arms and/or bottom in about 2 or 3 days. You still may want to call the dr. and see. Do they have an advice line you can call? I think my daughter probably has it since it is real common in the little ones in the summer and she came down with the fever five days after being at our pediatricians office for a well check for my son. I think the incubation period for it is about 4-7 days. It sounds scary but it is really common. It could be ears though too. Your best bet is to trust your "mommy instincts".
Good luck! Hope he feels better soon.
104 is waaayyy to high! Id be in the ER right away!
Well... after reading all of your responses I decided to call. They, of course, could only guess at what might be wrong. So, since they do have after hours care I took him in.
Basically she checked his ears, his throat, and his lungs and everything looked normal. She said that this week she has seen a lot of kids coming in with just a fever (102-103) with no symptoms, and/or just a fever with sores in and around the mouth. Apparently there is some viral infection going around that is producing these symptoms, and she said that most of the kids are better by the third day from the onset of the fever.
So, she said to watch him for the next 2-3 days, and if there is still a fever on Monday to call and bring him back.
I wish I was a drinker... I could use a shot of whiskey right now 
Thank you all for the help...... it helps to hear about others experiences. I have 3 friends with kids, and I couldn't get a hold of any of them today to see what they thought. I love the internet, but sometimes it just scares the bejeebees out of you 
!
I'll post back when we get past the weekend.
(((((((hugs to you all)))))))
Denise
my girls get fevers that just appear one day and then they're gone the next. that's it. no other symptoms. and it's normal for them to run high fevers, too. my oldest dd usually runs them around 103.8 to 104.3 or so. that's normal for her. same for my youngest. but i've learned not to freak out when they get fevers. i don't even give them meds unless they're uncomfortable. sometimes i'll give them tylenol before bedtime or a nap so they can sleep better. now if there are other symptoms, i'll call the dr., but just for a fever? nope. i let it run it's course and do what it's supposed to do - get rid of infection! hasn't failed yet! oh, i push liquids too... anything i can get in them... usually lots of juice, water and popscicles! That's my experience... but like calla74 said - trust your mommy instincts! God gave them to you for a reason! 
Just skimmed through this buy my kid's pediatrician always says to go by their attitude. If they have a fever but are acting fine chances are it is nothing. This has worked like a charm for me. My kids gets fevers now and then but ususally act just fine and within a few days it goes away. What I don't think will ever go away is the worrying that comes with motherhood
You poor thing, I hope he's feeling better.
Whenever my kids spike a temperature, I am almost always right about it being tonsillitis. We just seem prone to it. They have big tonsils like me (from all the talking I guess! lol) and we always catch it nice and early before they have any other symptoms.
Sometimes they don't get a sore throat for a little while, but it could be a virus, they are going around a lot this winter.
Don't forget to take care of yourself too!
We went through this virus a couple of weeks ago. It was the strangest thing. The kids had temps between 100-103 for two days, some had sore throats, some had headaches, and then it was gone. I care for eleven children including my own four and luckily only five contracted it, because I guess it's very contagious.
Well I'm up late working on a cake for a friends son's birthday tomorrow because my whole day got out of whack worrying about my son.
Thanx AGAIN for all of the help & kindness.
One of my best friends has two kids who are sick with something pretty much every month. I know she worries, but she is so used to it, it's like nothing new when it happens. My kids have been sick so few times that when it happens, I get so nervous and can't eat or think about anything else.
Like I said before.....I think the internet is great (especially for this sort of instantaneous support that you all have give me today)...BUT there is just TOO much out there, and that's what gets me frazzled.
He didn't each much dinner tonite, and didn't want hardly any ice cream for dessert... but since he ate well enough the rest of the day, and has been drinking plenty of water, I guess that's still ok. His fever was back to 102.0 right before bed, so I gave him another dose of motrin.
I watched him on the monitor for about a half hour, and he was playing with his toys in bed until he finally conked out. He was plenty playful after the doc visit up until bedtime.
I'm just staring at my unfinished cake on the counter thinking how unimportant it is to me right now.
Gaaaa... off to work! Thanx for listening and helping my nerves!!!!
Denise
****just saw your post maryjsgirl as I was about to post this. I wish he could talk enough to tell me if there was anything else hurting. The doctor said the same thing about it being a 'strange' virus. She said that some kids were getting sores in and around their mouths and/or sore throats, but that the only other symptoms were fevers... but by the 3rd day the fevers were gone and the symptoms started to go away.
Oh...I know I'm too late and that you've already taken him to the doctor, but I'll give my advice anyways. I've got three kids, ages 5, 4 and 1. We spend a lot of time in the doctors office. My kids have food allergies, environmental allergies, and two of the three have asthma. I'm one of those moms who is always on the alert. We have had all of them at different times run a fever with no other symptoms and it's always gone away after a couple of days. I just give them tylenol (it doens't seem like mortin works as well for us...seems to wear off too soon) and do my best to keep them comfy. If they are acting okay don't take them in, but once things go beyond a couple of days, they start to show other symptons, or they aren't acting like themselves I call the dr and take them in. Often times the Dr just tells us to keep doing what we are doing and it will pass. I think as moms we instinctivly (sp?) know what to do but don't always trust ourselves. It's hard when you are responsible for those precious little lives!! So if you are ever in doubt, it never hurts to take them in. Peditricians understand we don't have all the answers and sometimes just need a little reasurrance! Besides..it's better to be safe than sorry...Jodie
I feel for you, my kids got fevers VERY easily when they were little. Neither of them gets sick very often, but the slightest little thing would cause a fever. It's kind of funny, my neice vomits whenever she gets sick. She's the only child I've ever seen who threw up the entire time she had chicken pox.
Back to the topic, though, if I see a fever with no symptoms at all, I will usually give it a day or so and see what happens. Obviously if it gets higher or persists, it's time to call the doctor. I don't like to run to the doctor right away. It gets easier as they get older and can tell you exactly how they feel. Luckily, my kids outgrew their fever thing. If your pediatrician isn't concerned about it, I would try not to worry. Maybe that fever is fighting off an illness that he won't get. I try to consider fevers a good thing...burning off all those bad little bugs!
I am completely with you on this one...my daughter is 2 and had a fever of 102 on Sunday. I brought her to the doctor on Monday and the fever was gone and she was acting better, but she has had diahrea (sp?) for awhile and threw up a couple of times and won't eat anything or even drink her treasured milk bottles the past couple of days so i called the doctor on call last night and he said that its normal for a stomach virus and just to keep an eye on her diapers and make sure she has a wet diaper at least every 6 hours. I feel so bad for her. She is so mooshy and weak and not feeling well. She woke up this morning saying she was thirsty and I gave her a little water and she threw up (just a little fluid). My poor baby...its so hard when they re sick. The summer always brings on more sickness and germs...I hope she feels better soon and I hope the same for your son.
Ohh Blue0877... I hope your daughter is feeling better soon too. Doesn't it just kill you to see her like that? It's like with Alex.....I keep thinking that there should be something else that I should be doing for him.
It seeeems like Alex is doing better this morning. His temp was 99.2 and that was 12 hours after his last dose of Motrin. He's a bit cranky, but he drank a ton of water already this morning and ate a waffle and some grapes. So (knock on wood), maybe we're on the downside of this.
Thanx shelbur and Jodie for your stories too. It helps to hear from the more 'experienced' mommies how you handled the things you've gone through.
On the upside, I finished the cake I was doing last nite at 4am. At least I got something accomplished!
Blue0877... I hope your daughter gets to feeling better really soon...when my niece got Rotavirus (sp) it was scary...everything she tried to drink came right back up....my sister took her to the childrens hospital cause she looked sooo soo sick but they sent her home with instructions to give my neice a teaspoon of water every 5-10 minutes if that was tolerated after a bit increase it to 2 teaspoons.... it seemed to work for her, she could keep down a teaspoon but it was sad cause she wanted more! Hang in there!
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