At What Temp Do You Give Medicine

A fever is the body's way of fighting off infection. I don't give myself or my children a fever-reducing medicine unless it is 103 or higher. Which is almost never. The high fever also warrants a visit to the medical doctor. I look at it this way; "Do I want the body to stop fighting an infection that is starting? No-way!"

I only give meds if my kids are affected by the temp physically. Otherwise, I let the fever do its job.

I agree, around 101. Sometimes they don't have a temp - they are just overheated. But if they seem uncomfortable @ 100 I will go ahead and give it to them. There are times I don't give it until 102 - again it depends on how they feel.

I say if she is uncomfortable then give her something. Sometimes a kid can feel awful and have a low-grade fever whereas other times they will spike a larger fever and act just fine. Gauging whether she needs medication on just a fever is not enough info sometimes, just use your gut instincts and give when needed to keep her comfortable.

Dear J., I was told by our pedi to give only at 101.3. (38.5 celcius). Less than that the body is fiting on its own, which i understand is a good thing....
nonetheless, if your LO has a fever, I would do everything to make her comfortable even if less than 101.3, such as:
-- cool bath or cool compress
-- lite clothing/cottone clothing
-- airconditioning/fan
-- plenty of liquids

Most importantly, trust your instinct. if after doing the above, the temp does not go down, ....

GL.

Hardly any of us on here have any medical training - please be cautious when taking our advice.

Ask your pediatrician what their thought process is. Yes, a temperature is a sign of infection, but it also depends on what kind of infection (bacterial, fungal, viral) and the body's ability to defend against it because of issues like vaccination, immunity, etc.

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends on their parenting website:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/cond...

Fevers are the body's natural defense over disease. I'm very careful NOT to bring a fever down too quick. Anything over 102 will get medication, other than that, I let them try to fight for themselves a while. Of course, if the fever lingers for a prolonged amount of time, I will give them medication as well.

I usually give medicine between 100 and 101, but it depends on how crumby my son is feeling. When he was little he'd sometimes spike a temp and it was gone on it's own a half hour later and he kept playing like he didn't feel sick. If he feels warm, I use the kiss test first - kiss his forehead and if he feels warm to my lips, then I'll get out the thermometer. If the thermometer says it's between 100 - 101, I'll wait a half hour and test it again. If it hasn't changed or has risen (usually it's risen), I'll give him Tylenol then check in a half hour to see if it's bringing it down (usually it does). Then I'll keep checking around the time it will be when the Tylenol wears off. And repeat until it doesn't come back. If my son is really feeling bad, he'll sleep more then anything else and not want to eat much (even after the Tylenol). If he's playing and sipping water or juice and his appetite seems good, then he's feeling better and he's on the mend.

My thoughts - my opinion...
I find it fascinating that the men - who 99% of the time aren't home with these children - think that they can make silly rules like this. If my husband had ever said "don't give them that" I would have dropped the sick kid in his lap and walked out the door for a LONG afternoon of shopping, lunching, and whatever else I could think up. How dare they!?
You know your child. Why would you not give them a little ibuprofen to make them feel better???
If my child is uncomfortable, hurting, miserable, upset - Tylenol or Motrin will cure it or at least take the edge off. If I put my lips to the foreheads of my (now teen aged) kids, and they are warm, complaining, and don't look well, they get the medicine. More often than not, I don't use the thermometer. I know when they are ill.
I can pick up strep sooner than a strep test.
I can pick up a sinus infection without shoving a tube up a nose.
I can tell you when my kids are just "off".
It's the mommy diagnosis... and until the doc or anyone else for that matter knows my kid better than I do, they will listen to me.
YMMV
LBC

I go by the signs to a certain point , if they are crying and clearly not happy then I give them medicine , along with taking their temp , feeling the back of the neck is also a good way to see if they have a fever...that's my rule of thumb , if the back of the neck is noticeably warm then I give medicine , the only problem with waiting longer (especially when they are young) is that they are more prone to have a seizure if the temp get's too high , and also it takes longer for the medicine to bring the temp back down.

We give it to our kids at 100...but then our daughter has a history of febrile serizures and because that runs in families, we don't play with temperature at all. But that is just our take. I know some people who wait until later, because like you said, sometimes the fever goes away quickly.

My husband and I have the same argument whenver our girl (19m) gets sick and he's home (he works out of town, so usually it's all my decision). Like the other moms, I also go more by symptoms. My cut-off when I will almost always give meds (alternate between Tylenol & Motrin) is 102. Or, if she's feeling especially crummy (when the cool bath, cuddling, or sleeping don't help) or can't sleep, I will give her a dose.
He tends to take meds for "every little thing" himself, and his reason for the fever meds is that he once had a siezure when he was little and his fever was 103. I'm not entirely sure that the story is entirely accurate... :)

I don't think it has as much to do with the number as it does how uncomfortable they are. If my kids have a fever of 101, but they are not complaining and are acting fairly normal, then I would just let it run it's course. Usually, if it's around 102, they are feeling pretty miserable and I'll give them something then or even if it's lower and they are in pain or feeling bad, I'll treat it.

Have him paw through How To Raise A Healthy Child In Spite Of Your Doctor - a very up front, factual book about children and illness. In it he talks about the usefulness of fever, and allowing the body to WORK! You are right, he is wrong. Surprised? If he's around when your dd gets sick, and needs to be in charge of administering meds, I guess you have 2 choices, to allow or to fight. You will have to decide for yourself, unless you can convince him of the over-arching issue - that the body can and does fight off illness by itself tremendously well w/out meds a LOT of the time. When you need it, it's there, and it's probably important that you have chosen a very reasonable threshold of 101 to administer meds, I really think you are being very sensible. If you can convince him, all well and good. But if not, try to be the go-to for sick baby, and allow him to just be back up. Hope it works out alright for you!

Hi J.---I agree that it is best to wait and let the body do what it knows how to do. If we interfere too much, the immune system will get lazy. The same thing goes for cold meds as well.

My understanding is that a fever does not become dangerous until it reaches 104 degrees. That sounds really high but this info came from a healthcare professional. I would likely wait until at least 102 before intervening. It does put a little more pressure on you to help keep your daughter comfortable, but it really is healthier in the long run.

Good luck. D.

Hospitals medicate for temps that are greater than or equal too 100 degrees. It maters on the child in my opinion. My one sone gets feverial seizures so as soon as his temp starts to rize I medicate him. Also I run very low I am normally at 95.6 degrees so a 100 temp for mee is exctreemly high so I medicate for myself early too. It is up to you.

I normally give it to them when I see their temperature reach 100 unless they seem to be cranky or comfortable.

I usually wait until 101 also. The temp is a sign that the body is fighting a germ. Let the body handle the lower temp.

Like the others have said, I don't go so much by the temp as by how the child feels. My oldest will get a fever of 103 and act like nothing's wrong at all. My youngest, on the other hand, gets a fever of 101 and she's just totally miserable. I was told, by our pediatrician, to not give medicine until the fever is over 101, unless the child is acting different.

I don't know if have received any answers from nurses yet, but our docs don't usually worry about temps until they are at 100 to 101. And out philosophy is that a low grade temp is just doing its job to get rib of whatever is wrong, so it's oka
y for a child to have a fever up to 100 to 101 without really worrying about

I am pretty much with you and usually only medicate if the temperature is consistently over 100 to 100.5 degrees (I take the temp every half hour to hour if it is hovering around 100 and under 100.5). But I will give medicine if I see other symptoms (like a low fever with teething) and at bedtime or naptime if they are restless. Fevers over 103 I call or see the doctor. I have caught many ear infections by noticing fevers in the 100 to 103 range. My pediatrician said anything over 104 (especially if not brought down by medication) should been seen by a doctor or ER if after hours.

i go by how cranky the child is. if they seem uncomfortable i will give tylenol.

it depends. if they're miserable then 101. if not i wait until 102. the thing with my kids is their fever starts from normal to 103. rarely have i dealt with a fever that went up gradually.
also, their body temp rises during the day, peaks in the evening. so they may be running a fever that is serious in the morning but won't be as high as for example midday. so play it by ear.
also, it is important to allow the body to fight off the infection. so less fever reducers the better. but if the fever does not go down then i have to rotate between tylenol and motrin (granted now, the store brand thanks to mcneil)

Hi, My 22 month old boy just had fever 103.9. Its been 3/4 days....my doctor always suggests 100.4 and up, give either tylenol every 4 hours or motrin ever 6. Check before you give on next cycle if temp is down, do not give meds. Hope this helps.

J.

I usually give it at the high 100 mark (100.7 for example). 99 isn't considered a real temperature anymore.