5 Year Olds Get Headaches?

Updated on March 04, 2012
A.M. asks from Oskaloosa, KS
12 answers

Hey moms, i know i have been full of questions lately. and this one actually relates to motherhood!

my 5 year old has a headache, accompanied by a mild fever (99.7) and he is feeling generally crappy. doesn't want to eat much just laying around the house. mostly he is complaining of the headache, nothing else.

something similar happened a couple/few weeks ago....i am sure it's just a bug but i just thought that 5 was pretty young to have headaches. is this normal? what do you guys think?

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So What Happened?

thanks ladies, very insightful! i don't know why, i just never thought about small kids getting headaches. he is feeling better, his fever did "spike" at 101 last night, but almost immediately started going down. "Bug" it is. i caught it too fwiw...but thanks just the same.

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

Have him drink some water or pedelyte. My kid gets servere headaches and 99% of the time, she's dehydrated. It is quite common in kids. They play so hard and do not remember to drink water.
Hope he feels better soon.

1 mom found this helpful

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S.B.

answers from Redding on

My son began getting migraines really young. It was awful. His little head hurt so bad that he would cry and cry so I would have to darken the room, no sound, and put cool rags on his head and neck and convince him that crying so hard made his head hurt even worse. I used relaxation techniques to calm him down and he would just crash afterwards.
He's 16 now, so he can feel one coming on and he knows what to do to head it off.
Headaches can be caused by different triggers such as certain foods or not eating enough at regular intervals.

For my son, we began journalling what he ate, what time, what time of day the headaches seemed to come on.
We were able to alleviate 90% of them.
It might seem strange, but when he was really little and had a migraine, I gave him small amounts of very strong coffee. Believe it or not, caffeine can help. It's one of the ingredients in Excedrin. It didn't make him hyper, it actually took the pain away enough for him to sleep through the headache.

There are different types of headaches, so I think you should run it by his pediatrician to rule out sinus infection, ear infection, etc. My little boy had legitimate and debilitating migraines.
As a side note, he's 6'2" and 200 pounds so the caffeine didn't stunt his growth any.

If this continues, it wouldn't hurt to get a work up. My son now knows how to manage his headaches.
Keep an eye on him.

Best wishes.

2 moms found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

My son gets headaches fairly often for a little one, I would notify the doc of all symptoms and cut nitrates all together or drastically from the diet - they are known causers of headaches in general esp in kids.

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K.M.

answers from Washington DC on

Like Amanda I began getting Migraines at 5. I still get them to this day and have finally found medication that works for me to prevent a lot of them. I tend to get a slight fever w/ mine as well as light sensitivity, nausea and as I've gotten older my bones actually ache with them. Some foods to watch out for hot dogs, they contain nitrates. Soda esp those containing caffeine. I'm also sensitive to dyes in some foods. Hopefully, he is not developing them, but be on the look out. Good Luck mama

1 mom found this helpful
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S.M.

answers from Redding on

Have you started using any type of new product in your house? like cleaner, hairspray, shampoo,air freshner sprays etc....I know for me I always got headaches while cleaning, but never linked the two and two together until i switched over to Melaleuca cleaning products that were all natural, no chemicals. My son can actually smell better than me... maybe there is something in the air that could be triggering it?

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L.M.

answers from Dover on

My son started with migranes prior to his 5th birthday. With a fever it most likely isn't a migrane though. It could be a sinus infection which would explain the fever and the headache. It could be strep throat (I do get a headache, feel crappy, and have a fever when I get it). It could be something else.

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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

Anyone can get a headache! There are tons of reasons as to why. If he's not sick in any other way, then check into allergies, sinus issues and vision problems if they're frequent.

1 mom found this helpful

~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

I started getting headaches about that age. They developed into migraines and cluster headaches as I got older. If he continues to get them, keep track of what he is doing and/or eating when he starts complaining of them. Once you figure out his trigger, you can hopefully decrease the number of headaches. I still get at least a couple of headaches a week, but I can tell when they are coming and stop them from getting too bad.

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I.G.

answers from Seattle on

Yeah, young kids get headaches too. Rarely they can even suffer from migraines, but mostly it's the kind of just not feeling well headache or pressure when they have a cold.
Though 99.7 is technically not a fever, you could give him some Tylenol or ibuprofen to help him with the pain...and keep him well hydrated, dehydration is a very common cause for headaches.

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S.K.

answers from Denver on

kids of any age can get headaches. Mine will get them after being outside all day during the summer if they dont drink enough water. Dehydration is a major key in headaches. Or viruses some of them come with whopping headaches. He could have a sinus infection with the fever and headache. A lot of things can contribute and no 5 is not too young.

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H.G.

answers from Dallas on

Well sure, anyone can get a headache. My son has chronic allergies that most meds barely touch and its caused swollen lymphs, mild fevers and headaches since he was 2. When he started to hit puberty those sinus headaches turned in to sinus induced migraines that would leave him vomiting and weak. It caused a few ER visits!! In my family, migraines are hereditary and my mom and older sister were put on preventive meds due to headaches as young as 3! It can happen and it could just be a virus but in the case of my son, its caused by allergies. If it lasts more than 2 days or if your mom instinct is telling you something get him in to the doc for a check. Ease your mind mama!

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S.W.

answers from Minneapolis on

Yes, kids of all ages can get headaches. It could be from sinus pressure, or dehydration, or from a virus (also causing the low grade fever), or even a migraine.

My daughter started getting migraines in 2nd grade. We've figured out some of her triggers by now (in 4th grade) so she can head them off. But the first few we were caught unawares and she went through the pain, and throwing up, then a nap, then she'd be better.

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