My 23 month-old son has been running a 102/103 fever all day today (it reduces to 100 with Tylenol), he's complaining of a tummy ache and just wants to sleep. He's sleeping peacefully now but I'm concerned about the fever. Should I wake him overnight to check his temp? I gave him the prescribed dose of Tylenol before bed, at 7 p.m. but now it's 4 hours later and I'm not sure what to do. My gut says let the poor kid sleep and that he'll wake up crying if his fever gets out of control, but I don't want a high fever to cause any harm.
Even when sick, he's not the kind of sleeper where I can "sneak" into his room and check him without waking him up. What would you do? Suffer through the awakening to know for certain or take the risk and let him sleep?
Thank you SO MUCH for the swift responses. I have a baby monitor on full volume so I can hear him breathing just fine. I did some additional online searching and found that my gut feeling and your good advice is correct! Specifically, at his age I can let him sleep and only wake him if his sleep is restless/uncomfortable, if he has a chronic illness, or if his fever has been showing a specific pattern of spikes over time. Here's the link: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/05_fever_...
Thanks again, I'm off to sleep. Although I'll probably listen to the monitor all night. We never stop worrying, do we? ;-)
I would let him sleep! Waking him up could make it worse. I know it is a hard decision but don't wake him up. If you do, you might not get any sleep, and the fever may go away with sleep, which it won't if you wake him.~ L.
Let him rest. The body truly will almost never allow you to go above 105 degrees. Most children will never see a temp over 104. Fevers are fighting off infections and doctors have placed unnecessary fear into parents about fevers. The temperature has no indication as to how sick your child really is. A child could have a serious, life-threatening illness and a low grade temperature, or a harmless cold that brings on a high fever. You just never know. The key is to know if your child has gotten into anything - if they are poisoned, their temperature can skyrocket and hospitalization is necessary. Otherwise, if your child is fine, let their fever do it's work. They will recover faster if it's untreated and will develop stronger immune systems too! A great book is: How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor.
With the tummy ache, I would skip the Tylenol if he can sleep with the fever. Otherwise, the Tylenol to get him to sleep and then let him rest as long as possible. When awake get him to drink fluids as he can dehydrate from the fever.
No, do not wake a sleeping child. IF he's sleeping peacefully, he's doing fine. When any of my children have a fever during the night, I don't need a thermometer to tell: they "hallucinate" in their sleep, at least that is what I call it because they constantly move, make noises, almost like talking in their sleep. In other words, it's a restless sleep and it's easy to wake them for a temp reading since they are not sleeping well anyway. But if they are quiet and look peaceful, leave them alone.
I would suggest that you alternate acetaminophen and ibuprofen. You can give them together but follow the dosage and time schedule as acetaminophen wears off sooner than ibuprofen. Most moms will agree that ibuprofen is better at reducing fever and I have found that this is not only very true, but it also works very quickly when combined with acetaminophen.
I would let him sleep. But if you are worried about the fact that Tylenol only fights off a fever for 4 hrs you could switch to advil on the nights that you are giving him neds to fight a fever. Childrens advil fights a fever for up to 8 hrs.
Good Luck
Usually when your body is resting that's when your white blood cells can fight the sickness the most... like when they tell ya to rest when your sick. I don't know stats on fevers getting worse while sleeping but I bet he'll be fine. Is there a way to go in his room and just see his breathing? His breathing will be different if his fever is too high I would believe.
I had the flu yesterday and when I woke up this morning all I had was a stuffy nose :)
Let him sleep! We got a temperal thermometer - the kind the drs office uses to just scan their foreheads. It's not 100% as accurate as oral/rectal, but it does the job.
Since fevers are the body's way of cooking off the bad germs your son's body is doing just what it should. We only use motrin if they're really uncomfortable. Otherwise you're preventing their bodies from doing a good job.
Best wishes
His body is fighting off a bug or maybe he's teething. Not sure what would cause a tummy ache in a 2 yr old, perhaps lactose? Are you certain a child this young would really know what's hurting exactly. Regardless, the fever is the issue and indicates his body is working to burn off the bug. I say, let him sleep. If his fever worsens, likely he'd wake up crying and you'll KNOW and can give water to drink and fever reducer if needed. It's always safest to call your doctor's nurse line to get specific advice. Doesn't cost a thing for expert advice.
They make temple thermometers that can help you too, when checking a 2 year olds temputature. It shouldnt wake the baby...mearly place against the temple to read the temp. (against the 2 year old, that is)
Good Luck with your 2 year old...I know how hard it can be at the two year range.
:)
If you take his temp. with one of those thermometers that scan his forehead, the chance of a child waking up is slim (and if there is a fever at that point, you can wake him up to take motrin, which lasts longer than tylenol).
I would definitely not wake a child to check on a fever. Fevers are not really anything to worry about, unless they get very high (like 105 or above). They are just the body's way of fighting off a virus or bacteria. If you constantly lower the fever, you are in fact just extending the child's illness. Parents tend to way over-react to fevers. In fact, my mom just sent me an article from her newspaper (The Phila. Inquirer) saying exactly that. I'll copy it below just in case you might find it helpful. Take care :-)
Parents need to cool it on fevers: Below 100.4, it's not even a fever, report says
Fever phobia is rampant among parents of young children, concluded an American Academy of Pediatrics report that advises against treatment each time a kid's temperature inches up. "There's a lot of parental anxiety about fever. It's one of the most common reasons people bring their child to the doctor," said Henry Farrar, coauthor of the report and an emergency room pediatrician at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
Most often, kid's fevers are caused by viruses and will go away without medicine and without causing any damage. Parents tend to overtreat fevers, even waking sleeping kids to give them fever-reducing medicine, Farrar said.
Temperatures below 100,4 degrees are not considered a fever. There's no harm in treating a true fever with over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen. And it makes sense to do so when the child is obviously ill.
But the No.1 reason to use fever-reducing medicine is to make a sick child feel more comfortable, the authors said.
It emphasizes that a fever is not an illness but rather a mechanism that helps fight infection. Fevers can slow the growth of vieruses and immune-system cells.
The report doesn't recommend any temperature cutoffs for when to treat or call the doctor.
Many physicians recommend calling the doctor if a child's temperature hits 104 or 105 degrees, but Farrar said it's just as important to assess the child's behavior. "What we're trying to do is get people to look at the whole picture."
Parents should pay attention to other symptoms of illness, such as whether the child is unusually cranky or lethargic, or not drinking liquids and avoiding food. Those are often better measures of how sick a child is and whether medical attention should be sought, the aurthors said.
I would let him sleep, he's fighting a cold and he's probably exhausted and with my experience, kids won't sleep if their temp gets too high. He will wake crying if he needs to and then you'll know.
