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DD, 9 months old, came down with a fever on Wednesday. I left work and picked her up at daycare. Her temperature was 101 at that time. I called her doctor, who told me to give her BabyTylenol every 4 hours if her temperature gets higher, but that 101 is not a dangerous fever for a baby. So about 10PM her temperature was 102.9. We, of course, called the doctor again. He asked lots of questions about if she was congested, any specific pain, are her teeth coming in, does she pull at her ears or pull up her knees. No to everything. He told us to give her BabyTylenol every four hours. That seemed to keep her temp down, so DH stayed home the next day and I went to work. She slept most of the day but was taking fluids just fine. Thursday night her temp went up again, 103.9. Called the doctor, who told us to add Motrin every 4 hours - 2 hours offset from the Tylenol and to give her cool baths. And he wanted to see her right away on Friday, unless we couldn't get her temp controlled, in which case he wanted to see her right away. Overnight her temp responded to meds/baths, but she started to get congestion in her sinuses and chest. The doctor noted that and immediately took a swab for the lab to see if she had RSV. Yikes! Her ears looked fine, no teeth, no specific pain anywhere.
I know the RSV stuff about the 2 strains and the confusion between it and certain bacterial infections and all of that. I'm kind of unsettled over the whole thing. I got the "call me any time day or night" speech from her doctor, which didn't make me feel at all better. So now what do I do? DH stayed up with her last night, and I'm going to again tonight. But all we're doing is treating symptoms.
Anybody deal with this before?
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I'm jumping boards here because my Eric had severe RSV a few months ago. It's scary with the fever and congestion. Keep the fever down with Tylenol / Motrin and keep her hydrated with Pedialyte (don't give milk - it causes more congestion). If she stops drinking, her fever stays high, she has fast respiration or starts wheezing, take her to the hospital. I was told that babies with RSV get progressively sicker until day 5 or 6, then they suddenly get better. So keep a close watch on her the next few days. Hope she is better soon, and feel free to PM me.
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Sorry, Lovebug, I meant cool as opposed to hot. We are actually having a water temp just slightly cooler than her body temp. I bet you had visions of a nasty experience for DD.
I want to thank you both for the advice.
DD was sleeping soundly on my shoulder for quite a while an hour or so ago, and I could feel her start getting warm. Until then it had not really occurred to me that by cuddling her like that I was helping to raise her temp. Geez. The other thing was that it had been about 5 hours since her Tylenol. She was sleeping so well that I didn't want to wake her. I hate it when I'm stupid. From now on I'm just going to stick to the schedule.
JP, So sorry. Hope your babe feels better soon and that it is not RSV.
I know all about high fevers - and with no other treatment given. My dd, now three, has had very high fever every time she has been sick, 7 times, with the only other symptom being standard viral infection and one flu. Her temperature tends to run between 104 and 106. I set the alarm if I sleep at all and alternate giving her Tylenol or Motrin every 3 hours (last time we struggled with getting her temp below 103 at all) and always always wake her to do so, because I know the result if I do not. It is a scary 5 to 7 days for me when she is sick.
I know that you are on an alternating schedule of medication that you, of course, must adhere to. But. . . for future reference, Tylenol works more quickly to reduce the fever than Motrin, though Motrin always lasts longer.
Big hugs.