My Baby Has a Fever of 102.8 - Sachse,TX

Has he recently been vaccinated? If so watch him closely for any loss of skills. tylenol depletes glutathione which is what the body uses to get rid of the aluminum and mercruy in vaccines (not the MMR - that is live virus). Motrin is a better choice.

Little mini popsicles work wonders in helping to keep them cool and don't fill up their tummies too much. With a fever, even water will sometimes make them vomit.

Also, remove blankets and clothing...let them sleep just in the diaper to help bring fever down.

Doctors (at least mine) don't do anything for fevers anymore. Only if the child gets dehydrated will they ask you to bring them in.

Hang in there.

K.

Did he just have his vaccinations?
Otherwise a fever is okay. It is normal and a way for the body to fight the virus. Its actually a good thing. Next and everytime you vaccinate (if you do) PLEASE use Motrin instead of Tylenol. Tylenol depletes Glutathione in the body and Glutathione is something we need to help detox toxins. And Please consider a safer vaccine schedule. Dr. Sears has a book you can read The Vaccine Book.
L.

M., I know that is so scary! We just went thru a similar thing with our 2 yo. Glad you gave him tylenol, I would definitely check him during the night and don't let him keep heavy blankets on him. My pedi told me to alternate tylenol and infant's motrin every 4-6 hours. That works really well for us. So that way they only get tylenol every 8-12 hours and same with the motrin. And it really keeps the fever under control. Sometimes kids can even spike fevers of 104!! It's scary! Check him during the night and if he gets much higher (like 104 or close to it) I'd call your pedi's emergency line. Good luck! I'm sure he'll be fine. Encourage him to drink ice-cold water when you check his fever tonight.

Ahh, I know that it seems so high, and super nerve racking, but really, unless it gets higher he should be alright. It is not teething though, you have a sick boy on your hands. Could surely be a virus..it is that time of year!! Also, just watch his behavior. I do not even give fever meds until at least 102, the fever is the bodies way of fighting infection. Or, I of course, do give it if they are clearly uncomfortable. Rotating the motrin and tylenol is perfect. I do every 4 hours of one thing, and then the next medicine the next time. And, cool baths will help too. Do not be totally alarmed if he wakes up a big hotter, esp. if you cover him with lots of blankets...he will be hot. So a good temp would be about 20 min after he wakes up. And, great job with the water..another great fever fighter. Other than that, you just watch and wait. I do not check my kids temps at night, they always wake up if there is a problem and I check it then. Otherwise, if they will sleep through it, I will let them. Maybe touch his forhead if you are nervous, but, I would try to let him sleep. Best of luck, sadly this may be the first, but it wont be the last night that you will be up worrying about your little boy!! ~A.~

I agree with the others, I think this is pretty high for teething.

I don't think it's worthy of an ER visit unless he starts having other problems like no wet diapers, etc. Sounds like you are doing okay with the hydration.

I saw that another mom posted about roseola and I think that may be what you have here too. For this particular virus, the fevers are mid to high and last about three days-my daughter was 13 mos when she got it too. No other symptoms besides the fever and while the tylenol/motrin brought it down some, it stayed around 100 ish the whole time. Once the fever breaks you will see a rash that starts on the chest/back and at this point, it's over with.

You've done a good job-I'd go in and check him in the middle of the night and give some motrin and water if he's still running a high temp. Good luck!

Give Tylenol and monitor fever. If you are not okay with dealing with the fever then go to the ER. I would recommend and ER Kids Peditric Center instead of an ER at a hospital. If you can wait to get in w/ your pedi then do that. Just remember to keep baby hydrated and don't keep alot of clothes on him. Try to keep him cool and comfy as much as possible.

I think if it was me I would just let him sleep. The Tylenol should bring it down and sleep is always so good for sick kids. You can always go in and feel of him during the night. If he feels extremely hot and it would make you feel better, you can always wake him up and check his temp. Hope he feels lots better in the morning !

M.-

102.8 seems a little high for teething. Usually when kids get a temp from teething it is very low grade. You are doing the right things by giving Tylenol and keeping hydrated. If the fever persists, I would call the pediatrician. It seems it may be a little more than just teething. Good Luck!

M.,
I am also of the opinion that 102.8 is too high for teething. I wouldn't wake my child in middle of the night but would certainly go and feel him and check him. He will probably wake up anyway if he isn't feeling well. I usually took my kids to the doctor if their fever was that high. Good luck. Try not to worry.
C.

I agree that Motrin works better than Tylenol. It is the only thing that has ever brought my 8 year olds fever down. We visited the ER once when he was about a year with 103.5 and they gave him Motrin and sent us home! High fever in babies is not as bad as in adults although it is scary to us moms. Check out webmd.com. Hopefully you have talked to your doctor by now.

I second the reco to check out How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor. FWIW, I only give my kiddos medicine if it seems necessary to help them get more comfortable for sleep (i.e. I never wake up a sleeping child to give him medicine). Also FWIW, I don't think febrile seizures are from a high temperature per se, but rather from a rapid spike in temperature. There's usually no problem to be concerned about regarding a temp below 106 unless it lasts for more than a couple of days.
I DO, however, give my children doses of sodium ascorbate at *any* sign that their bodies are fighting off an infection of any sort. I get it at Central Market, online (Amazon.com), Whole Foods, or health food stores. It's a buffered, more bioavailable form of vitamin C suitable for therapeutic dosing.

HTH & your little one is back to his normal smiling soon!

Hi! How wonderful your baby has made it to 13 months with no illness, but I do hope you have called the dr. With the fever over 102, something else is going on besides just teething. He may just be fighting off a mild infection, so the fever isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just indicates the body is battling something, and with a baby, it's worth it to give the dr. a call. I'm sure he'll be fine, but it will give you peace of mind to check.

102.8 is kinda high to be caused by teething. He probably has one of the many viruses going around. Tylenol and extra water are good. If he were my son and his first fever, I would definitely recheck his temp later in the night. Maybe you won't get a good night's sleep, but you'L. have peace of mind until you can talk to his pedi in the A.M. Good luck.

Alternate between Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours until fever is gone completely.

Don't waste time posting here, call your pediatrician immediately! High fever in a young child is nothing to mess with. Your pediatrician should have an after hours service that forwards calls to a doctor on call. If they do not...find another pediatrician.

D.
SAHM of two;18 and 5. Home Baker and Candy Maker, married to the same wonderful man for almost 12 years.

I would trust your inner mom. Do what your gut tells you.
I would recommend Motrin over Tylenol. Also, if he seems uncomfortable try giving him a sponge bath with room temp water. Rub down one body part at a time. You don't want to bring down his temp to quickly. Hope this is helpful. Good Luck!

It sounds like you've got a good plan of action calling the pedi tomorrow. I just wanted to add that 102.8 is not from teething. That would be under 100 usually.

Teething alone would not cause a 102.8 fever! That's pretty high! With no other symptoms, it could just be a virus, but I would take him to the pedi asap to have them check for ear infection or strep throat. Keep up the fluids and give him the tylonol to keep the fever under control. Fever in and of itself is just the body's way of fighting something. It could be a virus or a bacterial infection, but that is the way the body fights it. If he's laughing, playing, and not bothered, I'd just keep an eye on him, but if he's fussy, lathargic, or pulling at his ears or not eating/drinking as well, I'd take him in as soon as you can.

102.8 is a bonified temp so I would call the doctor so he can be checked out...

A fever of 102.8 seems a little high for a fever due just to teething. If the fever persist like that for more than 24 hours I would go ahead and make him an appt.
As far as what to do in the middle of the night... When my kids were little and they had a fever I would always go check on them in the middle of the night and if they felt really hot I would wake them up and give them some more Tylenol or Motrin or whatever your using. I didn't like to have to wake them up but I was always afraid their fever would spike too high and they could have a seizure from it. I personally always liked Motrin just because it last a little longer so I always used it just before bed so they would hopefully get more rest before the medication wore off. Hopefully the fever is just from teething but could also be the onset of a virus. You just never know. Good Luck and I hope your little one starts to feel better soon.

Go to the E.R. if it does not go down with Tylenol.

I agree.......teething is not going to be the culprit of that kind of temperature. Give him plenty of fluids along with something to keep his temp. down. I would bring him in just to get him checked. It probably is just a virus but sometimes there are ear infections that come on w/o other symptoms. Better to be safe......

Their fever tends to go up in the middle of the night, so I would check him (he may wake up anyway if he is uncomfortable). Rotating the tylenol and motrin is a good way to bring fever down. Motrin on its own seems to work better than tylenol as a fever reducer. If he doesn't have any other symptoms, he could have an earache or something else. My 16 month old had a fever for three days right after Thanksgiving. It kept going up a little more each day, but was a lot higher at night. It reached 103.5. We took her to the pedi and it was roseola infatum. She broke out in a lacy rash after the fever broke. With the roseola, she also had reduced appetite and was cranky. We gave her lots of pedialyte to keep her hydrated.

I would take him to the doc today, but in the mean time, it's best to switch back and forth between tylonol and mortin to manage the fever. That said, if he is not uncomfortable, then you might let the fever run a bit BECAUSE it means his body is fighting whatever germs it needs to. Lowering the temp takes away this natural process in the body.

P.S I'm a mom to 2 (ages 3 and 4.5 months). DD was the same age when she had her first HIGH fever.

Just FYI, there are some after hours pediatric doctor offices . Google -pediatric after hours or acute care kids or acute kids. They are open late with just copay charge.

Be careful taking medical advice from readers even with best of intentions they have. Just call your doctor's afterhours line and speak with a nurse or the doctor. He/She will be able to reassure you on the best course. That's what pedi after hour lines are for - they expect lots of after hr calls especially from a first time mom. Could be a virus, could be an ear infection, could be a bacterial infection, but they won't know until they see him. Sounds like you are going the right route with fluids and rest. Keep eye on fever, but I wouldn't wake him and just call your doctor.

Welcome to the next couple years of illness with little ones until their immune systems get stronger. Their fevers tend to go higher than ours would. I like Motrin over Tylenol and be careful with the alternating both unless he's really really feeling bad in addition to the fever as that is hard on their little systems (livers, kidneys). I've only done that once with both my girls. Motrin last longer than Tylenol and I think works better. He will be over this before you know it - just give your pedi a call. They recover quicker than us too luckily!!

Keep tabs on it. A lot of doctors will tell you now to worry about unless they have had a fever of 100.1 for 3 days. I hate that answer. The reason for it though is that if it is a virus the fever should be gone within 3 days. You can alternate motrin and Tylenol so that you can keep his temp down. Although 102.8 is high it is not "bad" until 106 and I would encourage you to do everything you can to keep it down. Our rule of thumb is medicate 100.1 and higher let anything lower run its coarse for a few days.

Check him during the night, about 6 hours after the dose of Tylenol he may need another. For a fever with no symptoms I would call the peri bc there may be some infection (ear) that you can't see. Good luck!

Just a couple of rules of thumb I use as a mom of 3 and a nurse. If you use a fever reducing medication, it should drop the temp at least one degree to be considered "working". If it doesn't drop the degree, definitely call.

Don't be surprised if it is lower when he wakes up than in the evening or night. That's just how everyone's temperature cycles.

The 3rd rule I use is 3 days of a temperature of any kind, I take them in no matter what else is going on. I don't necessarily wait 3 days but sometimes that is the only symptom for a bit that you can see so I hold off. Many doctors say "it isn't a fever until it is 100.4" but my personal opinion is "baloney". I have had kiddos with temps under 100 for a few days only to find out they had ear infections or sinus infections. And I have had the opposite of temps over 103 and vomiting where I didn't take them right away in because it was a stomach bug and dehydration was not an issue.

You got some other great advice on making your little guy more comfortable. I hope your night wasn't too bad!

You can also put a cool washcloth on his head, back and neck. It helps the body cool down. I did that a lot with my children when they were younger, now their teenagers and thankfully are healthy. The cool washcloth will also give you a peace of mind.