My Baby has a fever and I just wanted some opinions.......?

Question

I've called the advice nurse twice already but i just wanted some opinions from experienced mothers (I'm a new mom),

Basically my son is 8 months old and has been running a fever its been going up and down since he woke up this morning, the highest was 103.00 F. Thats when the nurse told me to give him tylenol.

I gave him the tylenol but he puked up afterwords, it didnt look like he thew up the purple tylenol... it looked more like he just spit up some milk.

Anyways though that was 2 hours ago and im not sure if he got enough tylenol but his fever is about 101.4F

SHould i

A. Call the Nurse again (which they told me to call back only if the fever gets to 105.F)

B. Wait till its been 4-6 hours since i give him the medicine and give him more if his fever is up.

C. Just monitor his tempterature make sure it doesnt go to 105F

D. Your Advice.

Thanks much any tips would be nice.

(BTW im not too big on giving my child a bunch of medicine unless he really needs it.)

Another thing one of the nurses i spoke to said that if it was teething then i would be able to feel his teeth literally cutting his gums (which i cant feel any) so she said it wasnt that.

Hes ran a fever like this before when he was 5 months i gave him tylenol for his fever and it went down and never went back up. I figured it was teeth but back then i didnt feel any teeth.

He now does have 2 bottom teeth already in.

Answer 1

Right now give him room temperature bath. That will help also with the fever to go down. I would keep an eye on the fever. if it does go back up middle of the night or during the day then I would call them again. Baby do get fever for anything. My kids didn't get fever with they were teething or anything. My kids at that age got fever for ear infections and my youngest got a lot of virus that he would have fever.

Answer 2

My daughter is right there too! She will be 8 months tomorrow. She too has her bottom 2 teeth in and her top 2 are trying to come in. She was running a fever of 101.6. The doctors told me Motrin or Tylenol. It has worked for her and the fever and alleviates the pain. Keep watching it. I know you are concerned about medicine and so am I; but is best for them sometimes too, this medicine is okay for them. PROMISE! I can't feel her teeth either but you can see the gums are VERY swollen. Her fever went up and down too! Only for a couple of hours. After the 2nd dose she was okay. Make sure you are going by  the weight dosage instead of the age dosage. If you don't give them enough it wont fight the fever!

Answer 3

yes call the nurse if his temp gets higher then 105 or higher. Repeat after me: Fever is my friend unless my baby is under 2 months of age.

He most likely has the fever because his body is trying to fight an infection. Fever is not bad unless it gets really high (105 or higher.) you do not want to medicate him to make his fever go away but rather to just make him more comfortable. And fever can be a symptom of teething but it shouldn't be that high. Although it's possible that he is teething and you cant feel the teeth yet. My advice is to use your common sense and if he has any other symptoms along with the fever then call the nurse or doctor back ASAP. Relax and make him comfy and keep an eye on him.

Answer 4

People are often quick to give the Tylenol for the fever. Now mind you when they fever gets pretty high like 104 and above then yes Tylenol is a good idea. A fever is the bodies way of fighting off the virus.

There is not much they can do as long as it is just a virus. It is a good sign that his fever is coming down. Lay off the milk for a bit. Give him some Pedialite in small doses. 1 oz every hour until you know he can hold it down. Then slowly give him his milk when he can hold it down. Also little ice shaving are wonderful. They help with teething and the fever. A luke warm bath with lavender nightime wash is wonderful. It really calms them down. Lots of love and cuddles and hope it passes as quickly as it came on. Lay off the foods until he is able to handle it.

You can also just give sips of water if need be every so often.

Don't overload his tummy and give it a rest. As long as he isn't vommiting nonstop then he should be alright. If you can't get his vommiting under control as like he is vommiting every 5 minutes until he can't anymore then the Er is the best place. They can give him a suppository that will make him sleepy and stop all the vommiting.

We had to do this with our Daughter. She got a Rotovirus and wouldn't stop. I wish I had a boat load of those things for the future. They are wonderful. For older kids they have a shot that stops it too.  

Answer 5

i FREAKED out the 1st time my daughtes fever didnt go right away.

you need to alternate MOTRIN AND TYLENOL. for some reason that seems to work better..also KEEP him COOL. if you HAVE Too..give him a bath-or-two or-three..its a home remedy that doesnt involve medicane..and usually once the body is cooled down the temp will also go down..just because your baby has a fever doesnt mean the baby is sick also..a fever is the bodys way of "fighting infections"..he COULD be teething but they might have not come thru yet..DO what you CAN to keep him cool..no clothes on..just a diaper...Monitor him closely but dont keep checkin him every 5 mins ya know..i hope everything goes ok.. the worst thing in the world is for your baby to be ill...or not feeling well..

i hope this helps you dear!!

Answer 6

You could give another dose of tylenol now, double dosing the first dose is considered acceptable.

On the other hand a fever less than 102 shouldn't really be treated.

As for the "what" is causing the fever I tend to think that trying to figure that out isn't usually worth the trouble.  Fever means the immune system is fighting something, which it often will eliminate without any further symptoms or will turn out to be something obvious like a cold.  

http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=21&a...

A fever does not necessarily need to be treated. If a child is playful and comfortable, drinking plenty of fluids, and able to sleep, fever treatment is not likely to be helpful. Steps should be taken to lower a fever if the child is uncomfortable, vomiting, dehydrated, or having difficulty sleeping. The goal is to bring the temperature between about 100 and 102 degrees F -- not to eliminate the fever.

http://askdrsears.com/html/8/t082100.asp

WHEN TO PAGE YOUR DOCTOR

    * Remember, fevers are your body's natural response to infection, and not necessarily a sign that something serious is taking place.

    * Low-grade fevers are generally not serious, are easily treated, and can wait until the morning to be evaluated by your doctor.

    * Fevers of 101 to 103 (38.4 to 39.5 Celcius) are also generally not serious and can wait until morning to be evaluated, except as indicated below.

    * High fevers of 104 (40 Celcius) or higher that quickly come down to 100 or 101 (37.8 to 38.3 Celcius) with the treatment measures below are also generally not serious and can wait until morning, except as indicated below.

So for now, don’t rush to page your doctor. Read through this section, and call your doctor during office hours, or page your doctor according to the following guidelines:

Here are the situations that usually warrant an urgent call to your doctor. If none of these fit your current situation, then you probably don’t need to page your doctor. Follow our treatment advice below and call your doctor during office hours.

    * If your infant is 6 weeks or younger, and has a fever of 101 or higher, this is considered a medical emergency. Your doctor should evaluate your infant right away, either during business hours, or in an emergency room after hours. Do not give any fever-reducing medications in this situation (you don't want to hide the fever until after a doctor has evaluated your baby). Be sure to confirm any fevers with a rectal thermometer (if available) before contacting your doctor.

    * Infants age 7 weeks to three months with a fever over 101 warrant an appointment with your doctor within the next several hours. You generally don’t need to page your doctor in the middle of the night in this situation if the office opens within the next few hours. Simply follow our recommendations on treating fever below and call your doctor in the morning. If it is the early evening you should probably page your doctor, since the office won’t be open until the following day. Be sure to confirm any fevers with a rectal thermometer (if available) before contacting your doctor.

    * If your child of any age has one or more of the following symptoms, you should probably call your doctor right away:

          o High fevers of 104 (40 Celcius) or higher that don't come down to 101 or 102 (38.3 to 38.9 Celcius) with the treatment measures below.

          o Lethargy – this means more than your child just isn't acting right or laying quietly in your arms. Lethargy actually refers to your child being limp, lifeless, unresponsive, or won't make eye contact.

          o Irritability - this means more than just fussiness. A truly irritable child will cry for hours with minimal verbal interaction, and is almost impossible to console.

          o Meningitis – symptoms are high fever, stiff neck or pain in the back of the neck, vomiting, headache, bright light hurts the eyes. Before paging your doctor, you should also look up any other symptoms your child has, such as cough, vomiting, rash, etc and read those guidelines to determine your best course of action.

http://askdrsears.com/html/8/t089101.asp

A study in 2001 has shown that giving an initial double dose of acetaminophen for high fevers is both safe and more effective to bring down that high fever fast. Only give a double dose if the fever is high. You can only give a double dose once every few days if needed. Any other doses should be the regular dose.