Need quick advice please

[PeppaH]

Hi if anyone is online atm, my DS has a temp (he never has had one before) its up at 38 and we have no nerofen to give him. Any advice on how to get it down without drugs?

[codswallop]

lose some clothing, towel him down, and a tepid bath

[Lastcenturymum]

<self moderated due to incorrect information>

Hope he's ok :fingerscrossed:

[PeppaH]

Thanks I was sponging him before :thumbsup:
What with a tepid bath?

[kts]

I agree with the other replies, but I have an odd answer too.
Egg whites. I've never used it personally, but the theory is to put them on their feet and it draws the heat down from the head. Google it and I'm sure a few things will come up.
Hope he cools down soon, sick bubs are no good

[IndigoJ]

Remove clothes and sponge with water (not too cool) especially his "hot" areas such as forehead, back of neck and underarms and back of knees. Give him lots of water to drink. Be careful with the bath though because you have to bring his temperature down slowly. Tepid is like tap water, not cold water.

ETA: i hope he gets better soon, fingers crossed for you. :)

[Nowhere]

PLEASE DO NOT put him in a tepid bath this is really not recomended by the childrens hospital as it can cause the temp to drop to quickly and cause febrile convulsion.

try to cool him gradualy by takein of the layers of clothing, if he gets any hotter I would be going to get some panadol but generaly they say not to give panadol just for fever only if they are symtamatic as well, But if you are woried then get some panadol

if you are woried call health direct or take him to the ED if he gets to hot

hope he is ok

[c38]

:hugs::hugs:

There is no need to give Nuofen or Panodol for a temp under 38.5.
A lot of Paed even say under 39 or advice not for just a temp alone..just give it if they are really miserable.

I am going to go against what the others have adviced. Please don't sponge him or put cool fans on him. Reason being is that this makes his body think that he is in a cold environment so it actually trys to heat up more by closing the sweat pores, constricting the blood vessels and turning up the internal heat mechanisms. You can actually hinder his temp going down and potentially make his temp go up further by doing this.
A damp facewasher (room temp water not cold) on the face, back of neck, under arms may make him feel more comfy..
You can have a fan going in the room if its warm where you are (is there anywhere that is still warm this time of year??)...but not directly on him



Dress him in light or minimal clothing so that he can cool off himself, but if you notice he is shivering then add a light layer or wrap him in a light blanket, but uncover him again if he looks hot.
Encourage fluids
Remember a temperature is one of the body's ways of killing off bacteria and viruses so its actually a healthy thing... even though it's a scary thing as a parent.

Theres some good info here from the Royal Children's In Melbourne.

http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/factsheets.cfm?doc_id=5200

[IndigoJ]

:hugs::hugs:

There is no need to give Nuofen or Panodol for a temp under 38.5.

I am going to go against what the others have adviced. Please don't sponge him or put cool fans on him. Reason being is that this makes his body think that he is in a cold environment so actually trys to heat up more...closing the sweat pores, constriting the blood vessels and turning up the internal heat mechanisms... so you can actually make his temp go up further by doing this.



Dress him in light or minimal clothing so that he can cool off himself, but if you notice he is shivering then add a light layer or wrap him in a light blanket.
Encourage fluids
Remember a temperature is one of the body's ways of killing off bacteria and viruses so its actually a healthy thing... even though it's a scary thing as a parent.

Theres some good info here from the Royal Children's In Melbourne.

http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/factsheets.cfm?doc_id=5200

I never thought of it that way, i recently did my Purple Heart and they recomended the sponging and stuff. I wonder why everybody is given different information:detective: My son recently had a temp of 39.8 and i did all the things above to bring his temp down and it worked.

[c38]

I never thought of it that way, i recently did my Purple Heart and they recomended the sponging and stuff. I wonder why everybody is given different information:detective: My son recently had a temp of 39.8 and i did all the things above to bring his temp down and it worked.


I don't know why some places are still advicing tepid baths and sponging. The current research that we teach parents in hospital (I'm a Paeds Nurse) is definatly NOT to use fans or cool baths,or excessive sponging. A tepid sponge is ok ONLY if they have had Panadol or Nurofen (wait half an hour for it to start working) as the medication is modifying the bodys response, bringing the temp down and helps prevent the body trying to heat itself up in response.
We generaly advice.. stripping the child down to minimal clothing (so that they are exposed but not shivering) and offering fluids.


As you can see this is backed up by the info sheet from the RCH in Melb. The fact sheet provided by Westmeade doesn't mention not sponging/baths etc..just talks about stripping them down and giving fluids.

Heres another childrens hospital fact sheet from the USA. It also advises against sponging down unless the temp is over 41 or if they are having a febrile convulsion.. (though thats NOT something we advice parents to do either...just lay them on thier side and call an ambo if it lasts longer then 3-5 minutes)

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_fever_hhg.htm

[IndigoJ]

I don't know why some places are still advicing tepid baths and sponging. The current research that we teach parents in hospital (I'm a Paeds Nurse) is definatly NOT to use fans or cool baths,or excessive sponging. A tepid sponge is
ok ONLY if they have had Panadol or Nurofen as the medication is modifying the bodys response and bringing the temp down and helps prevent the body trying to heat itself up in response.


As you can see this is backed up by the info sheet from the RCH in Melb. The fact sheet provided by Westmeade doesnt mention not sponging/baths etc..just talks about stripping them down and giving fluids

ETA: i just read on that link that teething doesnt cause fever is that right??? that is what the nurse put my sone 39.8deg temp down to.

Heres another childrens hospital fact sheet from the USA. It also advises against sponging down unless the temp is over 40 or if they are having a febrile convulsion.. (though thats NOT something we advice parents to do either...just lay them on thier side and call an ambo if it lasts longer then 3-5 minutes)

http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/pa/pa_fever_hhg.htm

It makes perfect sense :yes:
Maybe they forgot to mention the bolded bit, when recommending sponging (i was never taught the bath part)

The page you mentioned said febrile convultions happen after 42deg, im not sure if i would believe that, its very different from waht i was taught (not the temp but how fast it rises) i have heard of kids convulsing at 40deg, what do you think??

to the OP i hope your bub is doing better and sorry for derailing the thread :o

[Lastcenturymum]

Thanks C38. it's always good to be aware of new thoughts in treatment and the reasons why! Sometimes we just have heard stuff or done it ourselves (and survived!) but it can be so different to what our parents did. I should have checked the child's age first and should have clarified not to put a fan on the child.

Reminds me some of the things that were acceptable once and now how that thinking has changed - 'flat lemonade' for upset tummies we were given is a no no now and one of my mums favs ' let a wound dry out, get the air to it':rolleyes:

Thanks for the links too - they are great :thumbsup:

[c38]

It makes perfect sense :yes:
Maybe they forgot to mention the bolded bit, when recommending sponging (i was never taught the bath part)

The page you mentioned said febrile convultions happen after 42deg, im not sure if i would believe that, its very different from waht i was taught (not the temp but how fast it rises) i have heard of kids convulsing at 40deg, what do you think??

to the OP i hope your bub is doing better and sorry for derailing the thread :o


Yes OP I hope your bubs is feeling better and and you are both sleeping.

I didnt see where it said that. It says only 4% of kids with fever have convulsions and mostly these convulsions are shortlived and harmless... which I agree with

I have seen kids have convulsions at 37.8 (temp on the way up).

Convulsions tend to be more associated with the speed of the change in temp and the suceptability of the child, rather then related to the height of the temp or the seriousness of the illness.

[c38]

Thanks C38. it's always good to be aware of new thoughts in treatment and the reasons why! Sometimes we just have heard stuff or done it ourselves (and survived!) but it can be so different to what our parents did. I should have checked the child's age first and should have clarified not to put a fan on the child.

Reminds me some of the things that were acceptable once and now how that thinking has changed - 'flat lemonade' for upset tummies we were given is a no no now and one of my mums favs ' let a wound dry out, get the air to it':rolleyes:

Thanks for the links too - they are great :thumbsup:

No problem. If you click around on the RCH link nit will ge you to the main index. Theres heaps of good up to date info there.

LOL dont start me on the lemonaide...


I will say as a newish parent whos child (touching wood) has only had one temp so far.. I appreciate how hard and scary it is as a parent to not do anything much. Your instinct is to want to make it all go away. Even with my experience and knowledge etc I had to sit on my hands not to reach for the Panodol straight away, as soon as he got hot and a bit clingy.

SO I feel for the OP and again...hope your DS is feeling better and you are all getting some sleep:hugs:

[pegasus]

Yes OP I hope your bubs is feeling better and and you are both sleeping.

I didnt see where it said that. It says only 4% of kids with fever have convulsions and mostly these convulsions are shortlived and harmless... which I agree with

I have seen kids have convulsions at 37.8 (temp on the way up).

Convulsions tend to be more associated with the speed of the change in temp and the suceptability of the child, rather then related to the height of the temp or the seriousness of the illness.


Yep - I agree with the above - having a child that had about 20 convulsions from about 9months till about 32months - they always said it was about the speed of the temp rise rather than the actual temp he hit.

If you don't have panadol or nurofen, loosen clothing, take blankets off but don't start too much in the way of sponging head. I was told you can sponge stomach and back - to do a more gradual temp change - just don't do it where the brain is as this is where the seizures start.

There seems to be a fair bit of conflicting advice here,but it probably fits with my experience where when my son had his first convulsion, we were told - it's common (apparently 4% of all bubs do), then second - it's common (half of those 4% have a second), then the third...(a third of those half have a third...etc...)

Fact - majority of all children never have convulsions, but if there is a sudden change in temp - it may happen.

Advice - get nurofen or panadol asap in the morning, meanwhile keep bub's temp down without doing it too quickly.....

Goodluck:fingerscrossed:

[PeppaH]

Well thank you for all the responses. He slept well last night...Though I didnt because he was in bed with us and is a bed hog :laughing: I had him near the wall and near the window so he was getting cool air from their. Not much clothes to take off he only had a long sleeved onesie on. He seemed to get hotter but seeing as he was still sleeping I left him and this morning he seems to be fine.

Im just guessing he might of caught what his cusins have at the moment, but not showing the same symptoms??

Thanks again for the replies! :thumbsup: