104.1 temp - wwyd?

[amatahrain]

My three year old daughter has a temp of 104.1. She's been taking acetaminophen every 6 hours. How long do I wait to take her to the ER? Is this normal for the flu? I'm running a cool bath right now but trying to figure out what else I should do. She's miserable.

[lil_acorn]

I would switch to Motrin - acetametaphine never worked great for my kids. What you can do is alternate between bothto help with fever relief.

BTW, motrin is every 6 hours, but you should be able to do acet. every 4 hours.

[Multimama]

I would call in to your ped and see what the nurse on call advises. I think it's normal for the flu, the fever can last up to three days, but I would probably see if you can give something else to bring it down. At our ER they advised us to alternate tylenol and ibuprofen to bring down a fever (because if you alternate you can dose more frequently), but I would call to be sure that would be okay to do on your own.

[flashy09]

Advil works fantastic for my fevers and pain. I don't feel right offering kid advice as a clueless FTM, but for myself I would try to the Advil and if fever still that high 1 hr later then call my Dr's after hours number or go to the ER. I do know kids can run fevers that high and it's not as serious as when an adult does.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I never freak out about the number. I pay a lot more attention to how they are doing. Lethargic or really out of sorts would prompt me to call. Otherwise, I'd use Ibuprofen instead of Tylenol (Tylenol isn't great for the liver); it lasts longer and works better on fevers, imo. Ds2 just runs really high fevers when sick (I've seen over 105- it broke shortly after that; 103-104 isn't rare when sick).
eta- if it's the flu, a high fever for a few days is par for the course. Many other viruses also can cause high fevers as can ear infections, strep. ER would be my last resort but call if you are worried.

[Tondi G]

YUP! Time to start going back and forth between ibuprofen and Tylenol. I always find that Ibuprofen handles fevers better for my kids.

[Jen841]

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YUP! Time to start going back and forth between ibuprofen and Tylenol.

Ditto not worrying about the number. I may be the freak, but high fever = burning off something bad in my opinion.

Alternate every 4 and if lethargic then call ped and/or go to ER.

[wellyes]

I agree with the PPs. Medicate, keep an eye on, don't panic.
So sorry she's so sick.

[marie]

agree with the above and I'll add - make sure she's getting fluids and staying hydrated. Diluted juice, popsicles, whatever she'll take.

hope she's better soon!

[Smillow]

My 3 yo had a 3 day fever a few weeks ago. I gave him ibuprofen when it went over 102. By the end of day 3, no more fever, but 3 days later he had his first ear infection. That I took him in for. With abx, he was back on track in 24 hours.

[JBaxter]

Ibuprofen then 2 hrs give the tylonel. You can use a cool rag on her head or back of her neck.

[crl]

I would call if you have a nurse advice line or a ped on call. When ds was about that age, he woke up in the middle of the night with a fever of 104. Our ped's advice nurse said to give him ibuprofen, put him in a tepid bath and call back if it didn't come down in an hour. It did come down.

Catherine

[ncat]

DS (4 yo) went through this last week.

I called his pediatrician - they advised Ibuprofin to alternate with Tylenol, and NOT to bring him in (unless he did not improve). Nothing budged his 103 fever all day, but it broke on its own around dinner time.

Hope your little one feels better soon!

[o_mom]

Since she is miserable, then ibuprofen and tylenol alternated every 3 hours. If she was not miserable, then I would let it go. Even if the fever stays up (and the meds are really only meant to bring it down a degree or two), I would not go to the ER just for fever. If you are really concerned (in the absences of other symptoms), then call your ped on call, but nothing you have said would send me to the ER.

[edurnemk]

Ibuprofen works waaaay better than Acetaminophen with fevers, IME. The effect also lasts longer (6-8 hours). You can also alternate them.

When DS had a fever of almost 105 at 14 months I gave him Motrin and put him in a lukewarm bath. The water brought his temp down really quickly. When I took him out it shot up again, I called the Ped before running out to the ER and he said that if I could control it via a lukewarm bath, to keep doing that and stay home.

[amatahrain]

Thanks for all the responses. My hubby asked what I was doing on the laptop while he had DD in the tub. I told him getting advice of course! The nurses line ended up calling me back and pretty much said what all of you said :applause:

My sister brought over some ibuprofen for DD. Her fever did come down to 101.5 and she was moving around a little more but is now back to just laying and staring into space. I'm going to give her a dose of the ibuprofen here shortly.

My mom lives with us and is running a fever of 103.5 so I'm sure it just needs to run it's course. I hope it goes quickly!

[Melbel]

We also have had better luck with ibuprofen for fevers, but have alternated with Tylenol for stubborn, high fevers.

If you think it might be the flu, Tamiflu really helps to shorten the duration if administered within 48 hours of illness. The pediatrician swabbed my son and had an answer within 15 minutes.

[amatahrain]

Thanks Melbel but I think were on the backend of 48 hours. She started getting lazy and not her usual self on Thursday night. That was pretty much the same time I started researching flu shots which are unavailable at 6 pharmacies I called. I was planning on going to a flu clinic on Monday (tomorrow) but I guess we're a little late for that.