My daughter has been running a fever for almost 2 days now. The fever has gone down some, but twice today she has had diarrhea. She is 17 months old and at the low end of the charts on weight to begin with.
Probably a little premature on my part, but I took her in to see the dr. on call yesterday, as her pediatrician is off on Wednesdays. The dr. on call did all of the usual, weight, temp, looked in ears, eyes, breathing, etc... He asked how she's acting - which by the way is completely normal. You wouldn't even know she had a fever by just watching her play. He asked about vomiting and diarrhea. At the time she hadn't done either. So, i got the keep an eye on her speech - get her to drink as much as possible. Be aware that she may not want to eat, but try to keep her hydrated. He told me whatever she has it's viral and said the temp is not from teething (she's getting the top - 1st yr molars in). Said she may have diarrhea as it works it's way through her system. I've been trying to get her drink as much as possible, but she is fighting it a bit. So, i've been cutting up popsicles for her on top of getting her to drink.
Her diapers have not been as wet as they usually are, but they are not dry. My question is...when should i start to be concerned?
She is my first and only. She hasn't been sick much at all (knock on wood) and I am not concerned with paying a co-pay for piece of mind. One of my friends was even surprised that the dr. would see her since she had the fever for only 17 hours. When i asked why, she said her pediatrician doesn't see the kids unless they have been running a fever for at least 3 days if there aren't any other symptoms.
just~me
Hi there! Well you are not
Hi there! Well you are not alone when you worry it is a natural response I think. Try not to let your worries run wild and get the best of you though. Your Dr. should have some sort of online site for common questions and answers and a nurse line if you are ever not sure. They will let you know when you need to bring the little one in. Try and do some research on common childhood illnesses and get informed, that might help when it comes to decide whether or not to take your little one to the Dr. Sounds like you are doing a great job with your first little one!!
Don't Hate!
When my son runs a fever,
When my son runs a fever, it's never less than 4 days...
"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein
You know the diarrhea can
You know the diarrhea can also be from her teething.
Sounds like you are doing what you need to do. You didn't mention if she is eating. If you are giving her fruit for hydrating, that can cause diarrhea too.
Hang in there and try not to worry (we all do anyway). You state that you wouldn't even know she was sick is a good indication that all is well. If she doesn't feel well, but motrin or whatever you use for fever gets her spring back in her, she will be fine. I would worry if the medicine did not bring down her fever and she was lethargic.
KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.
I experienced this with my
I experienced this with my 17 month old when he had strep. I think my mom said it takes about 2 days to see improvement after being on antibotics. I know my son was still having high fever and my mom said to place cold cloths and give Tylenol every 4 hours, so I would wake up in the middle of the night and place cold cloths on his head because he was on fire and this was 1 or 2 days after antibotics. We thought it was his molars too until the pedi told us that molars do not cause high temp.
As long as the temp is under 102 and she is improving daily.
When my son had a viral infection, we did everything you are doing. My mom is a RN and she told me not to even give milk when the baby has fever. I guess it just boils inside their tummy. So you are doing everything right. If she don't get better tomorrow, I would call and ask the doctors office. It probably depends on how high the fever is too. I know one time I called my pedi and I told them my son had fever and they said unless its 102, he's probably fine. I felt like they weren't concerned that he was running 101 and I assumed he was ok. I kept giving Tylenol and he was so fussy, so by the time my son's fever reached 102, he was very sick with strep. Use your own gut feeling. Some people in the doctors office will make you think its nothing, and it really could be serious.
I made my son suffer because how the office sounded, he was fine unless it reached 102 or above.
One Happy Mom in Arizona.
Trust your instincts. Keep
Trust your instincts. Keep an eye on her, and if you see any new concerns, call your doctor. Don't be too alarmed by a fever, especially if it's not too high. Fevers are healthy. That's our bodies natural way of killing off the bad stuff! Her healthy little body will probably take care of any viruses without any need for medication, etc. But don't feel bad, worrying is a natural part of being a mommy!
Hobbymommy, 38, is a discussion leader from Mesa. She is a happy stay-at-home mommy to a 3-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.
My daughter is 17 months old
My daughter is 17 months old as well. You can give her Pedialyte, and if she doesn't like that then just give her water or gatorade. My daughter hates pedalyte, but loves gatorade you can mix it with water also so that it dilutes it. Remember is she is on a liquid diet since she is sick that she will only have liquid come out. You can feed her banannas, applesauce, rice stuff like that helps to stop diarhea. When they are sick don't be too picky about what they eat just as long as she is having wet diapers you know she is hydrated. Also slab on the original desitin since it's the best at sticking to baby so it helps with diaper rash. Sorry your little one is sick. Mine is teething right now and has diarhea so that's how I'm handling it. I was also told to cut off the milk cause it can also cause diarhea. Your doing a good job so don't worry. It's scary when they are sick. Oh yeah you can do tylenol and motrin. If the tylenol doesn't work you can administer motrin after about an hour cause it works different systems. That helps get fevers down. So do lukewarm baths which my daughter loves to spash around make her feel fresh, and cold cloths too. Fever is probably a virus which can't use medicine for anyway. Just encourage naps, hugs and liquids. Good luck!!
Lisa - Mom to her spunky little Scarlette