My 3 yr old daughter has had a fever for the last 5 hrs. She has been so congested all day today, runny nose, bad cough and now fever. She is asleep now, but I just went to check on her, because she was coughing pretty bad, and her fever is back, I gave her medicine 5 hrs ago. Also, I can hear her from my room, she is in hers, weezing! My question is...Should I wake her up and take her to the ER?
Thank you all for your responses! I was told by someone to check to see if when she breathed her stomach sucked in under her ribcage. I also finally got a hold of my doctor and he said the same thing. I looked and that was normal. I was only giving her the motrin because I had no tylenol , but a neighbor had some and let me use it. So i gave her the tylenol brought her to my bed and propped her up. She woke up this morning doing much better, no fever. She is still congested but otherwise back to herself! The doctor told me to bring her in on Monday! Again, thank you all soo much!
Breathing issues can get bad pretty quickly, so here are the things to look for. Blue lips. Look at her chest while she's breathing, does her chest go in around where her ribs meet? If so, these are signs that she's working really hard to breathe and yes, you should take her in. If she sounds bad, but seems to be pretty much ok...still eats, smiles, plays when awake, then she's probably OK until tomorrow to go se the Dr.
Go to Urgent Care. Maybe she has whooping cough (pertusses). Very contagious. Dangerous. Does her cough sound like a bit of a barking cough? Could be pneumonia. (I like Carenow places better than others if you have the choice) You can sign in on-line and do your waiting at home. They'll call you when to come in so your reception time is very little. Remember -- don't expose her to others and protect yourself too. (Has she been around other kids who might have pneumonia or whooping cough?)
As others have said, a fever of up to 103 is OK, even though scary for a young child. The weezing would convince me to take her in, though.
Wheezing is not good. If our 3 yr old is wheezing and over 40 breaths/minute we take him in.
YES!! ER
My daughter just had those symptoms and it was the flu - type A - which turned into pneumonia (her doctor didn't take us seriously and sent us home with nothing! - so a few days later we found a new doctor - but by then the flu was also pneumonia).
Hi,
I would take her to the ER....just due to the weezing. Does she get bad coughs usually? Does she have asthma? This is a pretty bad respiratory season and because of that, I probably would. Does your pediatrician have an emergency line? I would not freak out, yet they will probably give her a nebulizer treatment and she will feel much better. Good luck.
Wheezing isn't a good sign. I'd be headed to the ER. Good luck!
Take her to ER ASAP. You should not be hearing her breath clear into another room. My son did that at 15 months and I took him to ER, he was admitted with pneumonia.
Wheezing is bad. It means her lungs have the infection in them and she's not able to breathe well. Unchecked, wheezing can quickly go from brochiolitis to pneumonia. You dont want to mess around with that. Take her into the ER.
I wouldn't be concerned about the fever, but I would be cautious about about the weezing. I always error on the side of caution. I would rather pay the money and know my baby is safe than regret it later. I would take her in if it was me. Good luck.
Call your doctor's answering service and ask the doctor to call back. They can tell you if it can wait until morning or if an ER visit is needed. Take her to the doctor in the morning if you don't wake her up and go tonight. Our pediatrician said a fever of 104 or higher (especially that doesn't come down with medication) needs an ER visit. With a fever over 100/101 I will check every 4 hours and if the fever is coming back up wake the child up for more medicine. You can alternate motrin and tylenol every 4 hours(motrin, then tylenol 4 hrs later, more motrin 4 hrs after that, etc).
You don't mention how long she's had the fever...did you give her anything for her nose/cough?
most drs. suggest watching her at home for at least the first 24 hours. However there are certain times when that is too long. Last week my daughter had been congested. Then at daycare woke up with a fever and screaming from ear pain. Turns out she had a double ear infection.
Rotate the tylenol/ibuprofin. Also, don't foget the humidifier and to 'prop' her up when sleeping so that she's not laying flat. Watch her sleep for a few minutes. Yes she sounds bad, but is she stressing? If she is stressing or breathing quickly, then call the drs. service for advice. You may even be able to have the dr. listen to her over the phone and decide. As a loving mom, you ALWAYS have the right to take her to the ER for an evaluation. I'm one of those that would rather go and be told their okay, then not go and be wrong...
