High Fever

My DD who is 3 spiked a high fever last night around 1am. I gave her Motrin and when that did nothing I gave her Tylenol. Her fever stayed around 103.0-103.5. Gave her a cool bath, ice packs on her head, her fever stayed. We ended up taking her to the ER at around 5am. They ran some test(chest X-ray, urine, and flu test) they gave her higher doses of Motrin and Tylenol and her fever slowly came down. She napped when we got home and now her fever is spiking again. I have never not been able to control her fever and she is pretty out of it too. Not like herself. We are bringing her back to the dr but I was just curious if anyone is dealing/dealt with a persistent high fever like this (one that didn't come down with meds) and what the outcome was.

High Fever

Just a word of advise.
Try not to treat fevers with extreme cold treatments. The extreme opposite can cause seizures. It's not such a great idea. Warm/cool baths Cool air but ice baths and ice applications should be avoided.

I had high fevers with her only once. I stayed up and with her I hate the 72hr hour fever rule. But I stayed vigilant. Give them lots of fluids, watch them carefully, keep an eye on the temps and be ready to rush to the doctors if the docs sent you home.

Sorry your baby is ill.

Re: High Fever

Did they test for Strep? When DD had that this fall she was like that. Motrin would work for an hour or so. Drove me nuts. Almost 3 days on antibiotics before it broke. Hope they figure it out soon, poor baby.

Re: High Fever

DD had this 2 weeks ago, but she's only 7 months old. Her fever was 104+ and was breaking through Tylenol and Motrin (alternating every 4 hours). Because she's so young, the dr wanted me to bring her in every day (though it was around Xmas, so we skipped that day). They tested her for flu (negative), strep, etc, and her CBC count wasn't elevated so they believed it was viral. If it continued, they were going to test for a UTI. At day 4 her fever went down to 99-100, and day 5 it finally broke. It was a virus and it just had to run it's course.

If it's spiking high, you can give lukewarm baths, but nothing cold. Your goal is to bring the fever down slowly - about 1 degree an hour. Otherwise, it can cause seizures, as another poster said.

High Fever

DS went through this, this past spring. I called his ped frantic after I saw another of in the practice and his fevers were only going up and not down. Here's what she told me. Give him a tepid bath for about 10 minutes. Not ice cold and not warm. He wasn't drinking so I gave him a few ice pops. She said its still liquid and you want to keep him hydrated. Keep him in underwear or diaper and a shirt. Let him sleep with me and alternate with the Tylenol and Motrin as needed. His fevers would not go below 103.5 and once I did this it worked. I repeated the process when his fever went back up.

High Fever

My dd had some high fevers but no other symptoms I had to continue to piggy back the motrin and tylenol every 3 hours. I also had to adjust dosage because I hadnt since she ganied weight since a previous visit with the dr. If I missed a dose her fever spiked back up. It stayed for 4 days I was freaked the whole time turned out to be viral. Nothing else could be done.

I put a cool rag not freezing, on the back of neck. Dressed her accordingly not overly warm but not in t shirts. Def stay hydrated lots of water.

obviously you know your child best bring her back to the dr 100 times if you need to to make sure everything is ok. Its always better to be safe than sorry. Especially if in your gut you think something else is going on.

Re: High Fever

Thanks so much for the replies. Took her to the dr today and she said she has an ear infection... Which is strange since the ER dr checked her ears at around 5:30 this morning and said they were clear..I increased the dosage for the Motrin and Tylenol since she was only a pound less than the next dosage range. Also started an anti-biotic. Seems to be making the difference. It was very scary to not be able to break that fever. Thanks again for the tips.

Re: High Fever