During the “sick season” I see 20 – 30 patients a day with a fever. Every parent is concerned about the fever and why their child is running a fever. Fever is one of the most common symptoms of childhood. Younger children run fevers quite frequently when they are sick. As we have talked about before, that may be four to eight times during the fall and winter season.
“Fever is our friend” has been one of my mantras for years. It is comforting for parents to understand that fever is a symptom that the body is fighting an infection. That is usually a viral infection that only lasts a few days, and lo and behold the fever is gone. The biggest myth is that fever, in and of itself, causes brain damage. Remember again, fever is simply a symptom. The height of a fever does not correlate with severity of illness. Once again, higher fever does not necessarily mean you are sicker. Your child may feel awful with a fever of 101 or 104 degrees. Typically, once given either acetaminophen or ibuprofen for their fever, the temperature comes down a little and they symptomatically feel better for a while. Once the anti-pyretic (fever reducing) medications wear off, the fever will often return. Children typically have more fever in the night, seems like darkness brings out the fever monster (that is the mother in me, but it was always true at my house) and those nights of fitful sleep, and hot little bodies seem very long. The other thing I have noticed, why do children who have had little sleep due to fever, coughs etc get up in the morning and do not long for a nap like their parents?
The other thing you need to keep in mind is that the higher the fever, the faster your child’s heart will beat and the higher respiratory rate they will have. It is easy to climb into bed with your “hot” two year old and feel their heart pounding away, and know they have a high fever, even before the thermometer is out. This is the body’s natural way of expending heat. Once the fever comes down you will notice that they are breathing less rapidly and their heart rate has come down too.
Remember to offer plenty of fluids to a child with a fever, as they need extra fluids. They can eat too, but if not interested, a Popsicle or jell may be a good alternative. Just keep chanting, “fever is our friend.” We still have a long winter ahead.
That’s your daily dose, we’ll chat again tomorrow.