Fevers: How high until you call the pedi or go to ER?

Nicole.

Jake has a fever now.  This is day 12 of being sick.  The vomiting and diarrhea have stopped and how he has a high fever and a terrible cough Poor kid needs to catch a break.  I took him to the pedi today and she checked everything and said just to manage his fever with tylenol. 

Anyway, once I got home, I told DH what she said and he was like, "when do we worry about the fever? What's too high?"

Our pedi always says it's not about the number but more about how they're acting.  Still, though, I'd like to have a number where if we get that high, we'd take him to the ER.  

(I'm not worried that we'll get there tonight, just more wondering for future reference.)  Do you have a number in your head where you'd really worry? Or head to the ER if the pedi was closed?

Jake's highest today was 103.7 but he's been up to 104something when he was roseola over the summer.  TIA!

na24

I would call the pediatrician at 104 and consider the ER at 105, if nothing I tried at home worked to cool him down.  

nicolita14w

James has had fevers as high as 105.7 but I think that anything over 104 I'd call the pedi's answering service and have them page the doc on call.

na24

Also, pay attention to how fast the fever rises.  A fast-rising fever (even if it's not a high number) can cause a febrile seizure, as we found out this weekend.  

tina623

We've gone twice for a fever.  Once Katies temp was only 102 but she wouldn't stop crying so after 3 hours we took her in even though her fever was low.  She had a double ear infection.

Karly had a 103 and we took her because it spiked suddenly and she had blood in her ear.  Ruptured ear drum.

I would say it's not so much the fever but if they have a fever and they just aren't acting okay, I'd call and or taken them to the ER but I try to avoid the ER because I'm afraid they'll just pick up something else.

I'm sorry he's been so sick.  I hope he gets to feeling better soon.

JillRock96

My number to call the pedi is 102.  It's just a comfort thing -- for me, that's the point where I want some back-up.  I would only go to the ER if there were other concerns, like behavior.

Mouseygail

na24:

I would call the pediatrician at 104 and consider the ER at 105, if nothing I tried at home worked to cool him down.  

. This is pretty much what we were told when we called the triage nurse line yesterday. Poor little guy! Sick babies are so sad! Hugs!

schmoodle

na24:

I would call the pediatrician at 104 and consider the ER at 105, if nothing I tried at home worked to cool him down.  

I agree with this. Good luck and I hope the poor little guy feels better soon. You both need a break!

sasa625

I would definitely go by how he's acting vs the number. DD's fever spiked to 104.6 in the pedi's office and they said to just give motrin and keep an eye on it since she was acting ok. It got up to 104.8 the next day but came right down (to 101) within 30 minutes of getting motrin. She was also acting fine so I didn't call or take her in. However, if it hadn't gone down or it had gotten any higher I would have at least called the on-call doctor, and if she had been lethargic or like she was in pain we would have gone.

Poor little guy (and mama)! I hope he's feeling better soon!! It's so sad and scary when they're sick!