Strep throat symptoms in toddler?
SeaSoul
member
What are the symptoms and how do they typically present themselves?
Cal felt warm when I picked him up from daycare last night, then quickly went downhill...didn't eat dinner, definite fever, pale, goosebumps, slight dry-sounding cough, went to bed early and fell asleep immediately.
Today, fever continued (102+), went down with meds but always back after med wore off...random cough continued with a little bit of audible phlegm, but no other cold symptoms. Didn't eat much. Took 2 short naps instead of 1 long one...after the 2nd one, he woke up crying and clingy and doing a weird cough/gag thing. I got the distinct feeling his throat was bothering him, and he did say it hurt when I asked (but I never know when to trust his answers). He also a couple of times today pointed in his mouth and made a face like it was bothering him. Also, just not acting like himself.
Called the pedi late in the day and the on-call nurse asked if he'd been exposed to strep...he hasn't that I know of. She said it could just be the start of a cold (typical sore throat/post-nasal drip), which I did consider, but he's had so many and always acts pretty much himself. I can almost always tell when it's something more serious and my gut tells me it is. She also said it could be HFM, as it is going around, and apparently there are different strains, so the fact that he had it last year doesn't mean anything. I'm thinking it's either strep or HFM again (no sign of anything on feet & hands, but he didn't last time either, just mouth).
Anyway, just curious what others' experience was. They are open tomorrow morning so we'll probably bring him in unless he's markedly better. I realize there's no treatment for HFM but I'd just like to know, especially if it's strep... you know?
ETA: He just woke up crying and just seems SO miserable, like he can't sleep b/c he feels so crappy. His cough seems a little worse, and his voice sounds hoarse, but still no other cold symptoms. I know sometimes when I have a sore throat I tend to cough more...
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Re: Strep throat symptoms in toddler?
Matt has had it twice. The first time we figured he was just teething. He was drooling a lot, putting his fingers in his mouth, not eating, and just more clingy. That progressed to him sleeping a lot, then waking up like a rag doll and a temp of 105. That's when we took him in, and he was diagnosed with strep. They had to give him a shot of Rocephin and put him on an oral antibiotic.
He was diagnosed again just a couple of weeks ago, and this time we caught it super early. He came home from daycare, was laying around a lot (not like him at all), he wouldn't eat anything, and anytime he'd take a drink he would throw his cup. He was also drooling a lot again. He had a low grade fever. He only had to get oral antibiotics this time around because we caught is so early. It took about 2 days of antibiotics until he had his appetite back and was back to his normal self.
He didn't cough at all with strep.