Fevers

ball.and.chain

B got sent home from daycare yesterday with a 101 degree fever. He doesn't feel hot to me now but it's early so his temp should be at its lowest. He woke once an hour all night and has been clingy and sleepy during the day, but he's eating, peeing and pooping normally and is happy after a nap and bottle. He also had a fever last Thursday evening and into Friday but no temp over the weekend. He was clingier and sleepier than usual and his poop was weird - more frequent and runnier, so I guess diarrhea - but that's gone now. We took him to the pedi on Tuesday to have a lingering cough checked out. They checked his ears, gums, etc. No ear infection. Not teething. He has a yeast infection on his bum but otherwise their diagnosis was a series of viruses that just need to run their course.

I'm just confused because he seems to be sick one day, fine the next. There's no obvious trajectory like I would expect with an illness. I'm confused about when to send him to daycare and when to keep him home. I have unlimited sick time but that doesn't mean I can take off all the time. And I never feel like I know when to take him to the pedi. I don't want to waste their time (or mine) with a virus they can't treat. But I also don't want to ignore symptoms and find out he's been rocking a nasty infection. Tell me this will get easier to decode. Any advice?

JGY

I apologize that I can't put your mind at ease about it getting easier to decode (at least not in the next year or so).  We have all of these same questions every time, and it's SO frustrating.

I'm sorry B isn't feeling well, even if it's only in spurts.

My big triggers to take him in these days are:

1. Something different coming out or going in

2. Fever we can't seem to control

3. Difficulty breathing

4. S insists we go

It's so SO hard.  I'm sorry I don't have more advice, but just know I'm walking the same path as you most of the time.  If you ever need to talk it through, you know how to find me.

 

ATXmommas

If it gets easier to decode, I haven't figured it out yet! If I'm not sure if I need to take Ash in, I usually call the dr's office and request that a nurse call me. Sometimes they tell me to bring him in, other times they tell me what to do and look for and at what point I need to take him in. Perhaps that's an option. Sorry B is dealing with a fever, but glad he seems to be bouncing back relatively quickly. Give that boy a squeeze from me.

KH826

First of all, I am so sorry to hear this! It is stressful, and worrisome, and of course means you have to take time off from work again -- booo!!! Anyway, I am thinking of you for all those reasons!

So, here is my thought... a lot of that sounds like what we have experienced with Will when he is in acute teething phases. I know you said he isn't teething, so this is probably not at all helpful, but I am just sharing my experience.... Will has run a low grade to mid-grade fever (101 or less) on a few different occasions when teething. It has been accompanied by clinginess and fussiness, mild diaper rash, some loose stool (more so than usual) and buckets of drool and tender, red gums. The fever always comes down with Tylenol, and usually teething tablets help the fussiness. He will have one day like this, and then be fine the next. Then a few days or a week later, he will have another day like that. So far he has two bottom teeth, and his two front top teeth have been ever so slowly working on coming in. Nothing is poking through the gum yet, but we can tell they are on their way.

Again, teething may not be it at all for B, but this does sound a lot like what we have experienced, so I thought I would chime in with that...

Our rule of thumb has always been to call the pedi if the fever is either a) over 101 or b) doesn't resolve/lessen with Tylenol or c) recurs for more than 24 hours even with Tylenol ...

I will say, that having had a sick baby that required the ER and hospitalization, when our only initial clue was a fever... we can see a difference between that experience and the lesser fevers he has had recently (which we link to teething). I feel a bit more confident now to say "when he is really sick we will know"... but of course there is always gray area there, and every kiddo is different.

Ultimately, you and S have to trust your guts, and if your gut says to call the pedi and/or take him in, that is what you should do. If nothing else, for your own piece of mind.

I hope B feels better!!!  

ball.and.chain

Thanks all, I appreciate all of you weighing in -- even an "I feel the same way!" is helpful right now.

@KH826, I WISH he was teething -- I mean I don't really, but it's better than him being sick all the time -- however, my pediatrician felt his gums on Tuesday and said there's nothing there.  I can't feel anything either.  So I'm guessing that's not a possible cause.  I'll check when he doesn't have a binky in his mouth but I don't think they are red either.  Otherwise the symptoms are exactly the same as Will's teething symptoms.

I got him to sleep in his crib for about 10-15 minutes and then he was awake again so I tried to get him to sleep on the couch next to me.  He's lying there with the binky in his mouth "talking" quietly and kicking his legs.  Not successful.  I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with him -- it's just frustrating to not know how to proceed.  Which probably just means I'm a planner and a control freak who has to get over it.