Santhy

My toddler hates medication of any sort. When she gets a fever I am not sure how to deal with it. I prefer to avoid medicines unless absolutely essential. The information available on fever medication is confusing. The conventional wisdom around here is that high fevers are dangerous and may cause brain damage. My understanding is that fever can actually aid in fighting an illness and that normally the body will not allow the temperature to go beyond a certain level. But there is conflicting information on this and when I am hit with stories of fever-induced retardation, I don't know what to do. I don't want to force it down her throat but I am told I am foolish to endanger the health of my child. I'd be grateful for your perspectives.

Santhy

michael gire

To my knowledge, they're both right. The body raises the temp to kill off the invading bug, but a fever that is too high can be harmful. What worked for my little ones is a natural cure. Smelly, but worth trying :). I know this might sound a little strange, but slicing an onion and placing the onion cut side against your child's foot, and then putting the sock over to hold it in place can help lower a child's fever.  It's an old folk remedy, and everyone is different, but worth a shot. Good luck!  

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Meredith

There's an article on fevers in young children here:

http://www.mindspring.com/~drwarren/fever.htm

The short answer is - below 104 degrees F (40 C): don't worry, beyond that, things get iffy.

Here's a second article, shorter, with a list of additional danger signs to consider and a nice finale about trusting your instincts:

http://tinyurl.com/ch7u2b9

>>I don't want to force it down her throat but I am told I am foolish to endanger the health of my child.
***************

If it's that high, then it may be better to go to the medical professional of your choice anyway and see what options he or she suggests for medication etc. If you're scared enough to consider force, that may be a good indicator you're getting out of your depth!

Sometimes even little kids will take medication given the power to decide How and When and How Much to take - so maybe a dozen sips over a few hours to get through a dose, maybe ignore the little cup for an hour and then swig it down all at once. If the fever is lower but your child can't sleep, that might be a better option than agonizing over Yes or No.

---Meredith

Lovelyjessie82

 Here are the guidelines I've always followed:

http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/childhood-illnesses/fever

Lukewarm baths have always worked well for us, or even holding them and snuggling them in the shower. 

Sent from my Samsung Epic™ 4G Touch


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cathymorgan25

If you're open to Homeopathy then "Belladonna" is a great remedy at the onset of a fever.
Cathy

Debra Rossing

My rule of thumb has always been (a) above 102, start considering treating (yes, before it gets to the "danger" 104 zone) (b) if DS wants medication, then definitely. The thing is, he's almost always (as far back as he remembers) had full choice in the subject of things like OTC meds. We'll check his temp and talk. If it's 101 and he feels awful, he might opt for something then again he might just curl up and go to sleep for a while. If there are other symptoms, that's another part of the discussion too - he won't take a multi symptom med that covers more than what he has (if he has fever and nasal congestion, that's all he wants meds for, none of the fever, cough, congestion stuff). Sometimes he'll have more cool beverage, sleep a bit, and a couple hours later we reasses. Generally speaking, if it hasn't dropped in several hours/checks, he'll likely be wanting something so I check the options ahead of time - do we have a plain fever reducer that he prefers, do we have a couple multi symptom meds, are there other symptoms appearing and what do we have for that, etc.



One of the issues with DS is taste - medicine tastes mediciney after all LOL. When he was a toddler, using the infant type dropper and squirting it in was helpful in bypassing the tastebuds mostly. Now that he's older (still can't handle swallowing pills like DH), I pour the dose of medication and a BIG glass of water or juice. He downs the med with one hand then takes a big gulp of the other to wash away the taste.



--Deb R

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Stacey

I agree with everything said here. I will add advice from my good friend who head of the Children's hospital emerg up here in Canada (which is in alignment with the Dr. Sears link offered) that fever is a symptom/reaction and not a tool. The body is fighting regardless of whether you manage the fever. Note Dr. Sears does not recommend put your child in a tepid bath without resetting the internal thermastat with medication first. The shivering raises their temp and can be dangerous. I have personally worked with mentally disabled youth that are now brain damaged due to a febrile seizure (seizures caused by fever) however not all febrile seizures cause brain damage and not all fevers will cause seizures. Nor do all fevers require intervention. If your child is sleeping and the fever is below the temp noted in another post. Then watch and wait. Concern is when it is not disappearing in a couple of days or shivering is occuring causing a rise in temp. You need to monitor and determine if your child needs intervention. Trust your mother's intuition - that little voice that says "this is wrong". As far as a child adverse to medication administration, this is can be hidden. Get a dye free/flavourless liquid and mix it in pudding or jello or applesauce. I tell my 3 boys I'm hiding it - so there isn't sneaking going on. "I know the taste and texture is yucky, but how can we sneak it past your mouth?" They have great ideas! However I have had a REALLY sick child during H1N1 scare that I put it in a syringe and squirted it in the back of his throat without asking or making a big deal. He was so sick and barely conscious that he didn`t fight me. That`s how I knew he NEEDED to get that fever down!
Good luck - this is a tough area to navigate.
Stacey

Bun

There are two books that I love to refer to for my children's health related things - and yes, they cover the topic of fevers:

1. How To Raise a Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor by Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn

About 7 bucks on amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_23/185-9905055-3102214?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=how+to+raise+a+healthy+child+in+spite+of+your+doctor+by+dr+robert+mendelsohn&sprefix=how+to+raise+a+healthy+

2. Smart Medicine for a Healthier Child (by Zand and others) - has chapters about various ailments

About 17 bucks on amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_36?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=smart+medicine+for+a+healthier+child+2nd+edition&sprefix=smart+medicine+for+a+healthier+child

Laurie

Meredith

"Stacey" <sibach@...> wrote:
> shivering is occuring causing a rise in temp.

Or possibly indicating one - there are differences in viewpoint on that matter, like so much on this topic. But shivering is a good indication that you should check the temp again, at any rate!

>Trust your mother's intuition - that little voice that says "this is wrong".
************

And your child's assessment can be valuable, too. A good friend of mine just had a very scary example of this and was glad she listened to her son's suggestion they see a doctor, even though the fever wasn't high and they're not inclined to go to doctors in general. Turns out he was very, very ill indeed!

---Meredith

Claire Darbaud

I too love the "raise a healthy child in spite of your doctor" book. It's
very empowering. It gives clear explanations and potentially dangerous
things to watch out for. And it's not newagey nor anti doctor...

Carolyn

Not sure how old your child is, but when my older daughter (now 9.5) was a baby and a toddler, the few times we needed to give her liquid medicine, she absolutely refused it.

We ended up doing suppositories for fever reduction once or twice (it helped to have them in the fridge beforehand so they stayed solid when inserting them), and as soon as she was old enough to swallow a pill (she also hated the flavor of chewy meds) she took Advil Jr and/or an adult pill cut in half (following dosage recommendations). She also was always fine with homeopathic meds.

HTH, Carolyn Winkler

Anita

I have a child who refuses all medication. I vividly
recall holding him down to squirt medicine in his mouth and he vomited it
straight back up. He's had 2 febrile convulsions and at the hospital they
put in suppositories so I got them to give me some and used this method at
home if I really had to. He's now 10 and still refuses liquids and tablets
(I can hide vitamins in his juice) but if he's really ill will agree to a
suppository.



Anita





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suprisha

Thank you for all your responses, links and suggestions, they were very helpful.

Santhy

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