When to call doctor for fever

[Caty]

Nate started running a fever Sunday afternoon. He's been getting chills but he's not acting that sick. His nose is runny although it's not bad and it's clear, secretions are clear. Temp is running 100-104; 104 only at night. We're alternating ibuprofen and acetaminophen and if I ask what hurts, I get a different answer every time.

I'm assuming regular kid gunk because his sats are 99-100. HR is up but not too extreme and seems true to form with his temp spikes (I mean, I never know what my typical son's HR is when he runs a fever-why freak out about Nate's if it's not hitting the limit on the pulseox?). Nurse wants to call the doctor but they're closed today because North Alabama shuts down at the slightest hint of snow and we have 8 inches. I'm not interested in talking to the ped on call because they won't have Nate's chart.

Of course, if the fever is still sticking around tomorrow I'll call but I hate having someone here to second guess my decision. I'm confident we don't need the doctor right now and they would just tell me to do what we're doing. So why am I writing this?! Our nurse is lovely but tends to over react. Plus, Nate is her preshus bahby which is usually great but when it comes to stuff like this, it makes me crazy. It doesn't help that my good friend said she doesn't understand how I can be so calm when his temp is so high, that she'd be freaking out. And my husband likes to freak out about these things as well so I'm on the defensive for when he gets home. It's like I have to talk everyone off the cliff and can't put my energy in to petting my baby.

That said, please validate me. Obviously if I felt it were something serious, I would call or take him to the hospital. In the almost 3 years he's had the trach, I've done pretty well in making sure he has the care he needs. I've gotten good at doing triage and reacting accordingly. (And if I need to take him to the hospital tonight I will edit this to redact it. )

[RylanDakota]

You just described what my non-trach baby had!!!

She had a temp up to 103 @ night and during the day it stayed in under 101. Lasted 3 days, no other symptoms. Pedi said to just give her tylenol/motrin.

Rylan is starting to get the same thing, just not as high of a fever. For me if they got to 103-104 I would probably take them to the ER, but your guy is older than mine.

That being said, I would just wait and if it lasts more than 4-5 maybe then call and see!

Sorry for my rambles

[Jordansmommy]

I would say if his sats are staying normal and hes not in pain or upset then he is fine. Is the fever coming down with the tylenol and ibuprofen? If the fever is not going away with the meds or if he is not peeing normally I would take him in...if not, they probably wont do anything different for you in the hospital! Go with your gut momma knows best

[LKN]

I agree--just do what you are doing and make sure he is hydrated and going to the bathroom. I'd only call the doctor if the temp shot up to 105-106 and stayed there. It sounds like a virus.

[kadiera]

Generally, 105 is my cut-off for calling, or anything less that doesn't at least dip a bit with tylenol or motrin. Or if they're obviously miserable (Alexander had a fever earlier this year that ran 103 for 3-4 days; it'd come down with meds and then pop back up, we called day 3 because he didn't seem perky enough even when it was down)

That said, I'm less likely than most to medicate a fever - I'd rather let it do its job and burn off all the germs

[jamie]

Evan gets a fever we have to rotate the tylonol and ibuprofen for it to really work. if the fever stays down i would say you are ok. and probably safer than going out in the snow