Conference moira::parenting_v3

    There is usually a window of time before you need to be too concerned
    with a fever.  A cool bath (they hate this) will work well and a dose
    of Tylenol.  I used Tylenol for my kids when they had fevers.  We never
    had serious problems with it.  If a fever continued, we were instructed
    to call the doctor.  I'd be concerned about what the doctor had to say. 
    Luckily, we had to use the bath once (I considered that the extreme
    one).  Keep in mind their temps will be higher at certain times of the
    day (I believe it's when they first wake from sleeping).  Seems he's
    very uncomfortable - I would definately bring him in to see the doctor
    just for my own piece of mind....
    
    Was any explanation given for the blood? 
    
    -sandy 
    

    My pedi says that you should let fevers run their course as it will
    help the child get better sooner. He's pretty much against the use of
    drugs unless it's absolutely necessary. Then I had a discussion with
    another mother whose pedi said that adults feel lousy when they have a
    fever; why make the child feel rotten? So I tend to medicate with
    tylenol only if Andy is really miserable. He's only had a fever a few
    times and each time he's been in good spirits so I haven't treated it.
    Although one late night fever I sponged him down with lukewarm
    washcloths. 
    
    As far as the benadryl, I keep some on hand as Andy has had a few
    allergic reactions to food (just hives, so far), My pedi also said
    1 teaspoon of the benadryl elixir. 
    
    My gauge for sickness has always been behavior; the fussier and
    crankier they are the sicker they are; regardless of temperature.
    Hope the dr. finds something today! 
    
    
    	Sue
    

    The doctor did check his ears, right?

    We've had a few fevers and I treat with Tylenol as required...not
    necessarily every four hours.   Our babysitter has given Jason tepid
    baths (lukewarm, not cool as in the other responses) to control his
    fever and works well too.

    One other thing that has helped that I haven't seem mentioned is to
    offer/feed plenty of clear fluids (pedialyte for the very young,
    Gatorade, diluted fruit juices, gingerale, etc).

    Carol

    I agree with .3 - check the ears!  My daughter would be fine one minute
    and then turn around with 102 degree fever out of nowhere.  That really
    is scary.  But every time we got her to the doctor right away, it was
    ear infection!  My doctor told us that abrupt awakening in the night
    usually is a good indicator that there is pressure in the ears from
    fluid.
    
    I prefer using the tepid bath and tylenol.  The combination really
    helps quickly and the baby was always more comfortable afterwards.
    Of course, always throw in a few hugs and kisses!
    
    Sandie

    I know exactly how you feel.  Have you tried Feverall?
    
    When my daughter was 9 months old, she had a fever (103 rectal)
    accompanied by the hysterical crying you describe.  I could only handle
    it for an hour (during which I gave her a cool bath, if nothing else, to
    break the crying cycle [didn't work]) before calling the doctor.
    
    The doctor-on-call suggested Feverall, tylenol suppositories since she
    was so distraught I couldn't get any tylenol drops down her.  I cut one
    in half, and within a half hour the fever was down, and both of us had
    stopped crying.  We did this every three hours for the next 24 hours
    (calmed down, she was also able drink some water which probably helped)
    and brought her in for a check up (all was well).

    I second the use of Feverall.  My son had a habit of spitting up any
    type of medication, and whatever else he had in his tummy.  It's easier
    to get one of these things into them at 2 am as well.  The dosage of 1
    whole one is about the same as 1 full dropper of infant tylenol.

    I would also have his ears re-checked.  Russell doesn't seem to run a
    temp when he gets them.  He woke up once from a nap screaming his head
    off.  Nothing we did calmed him down.  Sure enough, he had a dilly of
    an ear infection in both ears.  When they lay down to sleep, the fluid
    can build up and pushs on their ear drums (I think), which is why they
    scream more then.

    Also, a word of caution about the Benadryl.  Russell had a penicillin
    rash as a result of some amoxicillin.  The Dr. recommended 3/4 teaspoon
    of Benadryl if he became really uncomfortable.  That night, he did seem
    pretty bad off, so we gave him somewhere on the shy side of 1/2
    teaspoon.  Well, he was miserable after that!  He couldn't sleep, and
    when he did drift off, the minute he moved, he would scream again.  The
    only place he would stay without screaming was on my chest.  The two of
    us drowsed on the couch until about 1-2 am until this stuff wore off. 
    Then he fell into a deep sleep for the rest of the night.  Not
    something I want to repeat any time soon.

    marianne

    Our systems raise it's body temperature/fever as a response to some
    invasion. To medicate/drug against this defeats the body's natural
    response and prolongs the illness. Obviously, too high a temp can be
    dangerous as well. A good guideline recommended by many doctors is 102
    degrees F is a good dividing line. Below/leave things to nature. Above
    begin to apply fever reducers. Above 103, see your doctor.
    
    Two cents worth==========SANFORD===========

    5 months is probably too young, but I find that popcycles not only help
    prevent dehydration, but also feel nice and cold.

    Tepid baths help alot. Tylenol or Feverall help as well.
    
    I would guess ear infection.
    

re .0

Sounds like ears or vaccinations also.  

At our last visit to the pedi, my daughter had the flu and a 102.5 temp - with
tylenol.  The doctor gave me a sample of Children's ADVIL and said it was
better at reducing fevers - use it at night.    

I *hate* giving the tepid water baths! She screams so loud and long that it
seems like her temperature goes *UP*, especially at 2 am.

Rochelle

    fevers usually spike in the late afternoon and at night.  They're
    usually lower in the a.m.
    
    My pedi says to let a fever go on NO LONGER than 3 days.  Then I'm to
    call him.  as with any fever, it's more the child's reaction to it than
    the fever itself that's dangerous (unless the fever is unusually high)
    If the child seems his normal self and can play a little, OK, but if
    he's listless, crying , etc. call the pedi.
    
    The only time my daughter's temp stayed up for 3 days, I took her in
    and the pedi did blood work and her white blood count was very low.  He
    put her on antibiotics to get it back up.
    
    Bev

    Here's my two cents worth, both from the viewpoint of mother, and the
    one who gets an infants shoved at her, when the child has had a febrile
    seizure...
    
    I have used the tylenol suppositories, the pedi gave me samples, and I
    just love them.  Many times the fever will cause an upset stomach and I
    hate cleaning sheets with stomach contents, let alone those stained
    with red tylenol liquid!  My pedi suggested, from his experience with
    his kids, either in a cool bathtub or if it's during the warm weather, 
    put them in the wading pool and just let them swim until a slight shiver 
    is noticed, take the child out and let them warm up, and repeat the
    process.  My pedi said he did this literally one whole overnight, but
    the fever finally broke just about the time dawn did.
    
    What we sometimes do in the ambulance is to put wrapped ice packs in
    the armpits and groin areas, and wrap the child in a flannel bath
    blanket.  This will achieve much the same thing as the cool bath.
    
    From a personal point of view, I'd be a little less quick to blame ear
    infections for the middle of the night, waking up screaming thing. We
    had an experience like this, and it ended up being breathing
    difficulty. He was about 6 months old at thetime.  We brought  him by
    ambulace to the hospital, and was sent home with tylenol and codiene
    for ear pain. The doctor on duty legitimately did see red ears, however
    it was from him screaming, NOT and ear infection.  We had to bring him
    back the next morning, and he spent the following three days in a croup
    tent, with severe bronchitis/asthma.  We nearly lost him, because the
    doctor was quick to blame they sceaming and red ears on an infection.
    This kid was literally suffocating, and even though we knew it the
    doctors couldn't be convinced.
    
    The little one, say under 18 months will spike severe fever -higher and
    quicker.  When they get older and they spike a fever over 102, then
    definitely there may be something really wrong.  And I generally will
    insist he be seen ASAP when we get a fever that high, especially with a
    sudden onset.
    
    Lyn
    (Dr. Mom/EMT) 

While fever does have a purpose, and a mild fever can go untreated, it is also
an indication that the body's temperature control system is amiss.  Once you
notice a fever, it is important to look for other symptoms *before* treating
the fever, because most medications you use to treat a fever will treat
other symptoms too!  Generally, we treat a fever when it is over 101 or
when the person doesn't feel well, having noted the symptoms.  We monitor
the fever carefully because it is often a good clue as to whether the body
is coping with the infection.

As an aside, I was in such pain with the 'flu and pneumonia I had in the
fall that I took so much pain-killer, I never did have a fever!

Stuart

    Concerning dosages (Tylenol, Benadryl, etc.) -- be sure to 
    verify with the pedi (or by reading labels) in order to avoid
    confusion between different forms of the same medicine. 
    
    For example, children's Tylenol comes in drops (for infants,
    comes with an eye dropper) and elixir (comes with a little
    cup). They are not the same strength. You can give either form,
    as far as I know, but need to know the appropriate dosage.
    
    Lucy

My doctor said to stay away from the baths unless the fever was *really* high.
I use it when the temp is around 103 or 104.  Cool or cold baths can actually
*raise* the body's temp, whereas lukewarm will reduce it (wet the child, then
let the water drip or evaporate off). 

I use Panadol.  Evan seems to like the taste slightly better than Tylanol,
and they both work well for us.  Without it, he often would be in too much
pain to sleep, and that wasn't helping any of us.  His problem was almost
always an ear infection (or a *double* ear infection - *sigh). :-}

      Carol

Will come back and read all these responses later ... (so perhaps my
suggestion has already been mentioned) ...

Juli is prone to ear infections.  We're getting real good at
catching them "very early on" (our Pedi gave us maintenance Bactrim to
hold Juli over -- during the night or weekend -- until we can get her in
for a checkup).  Well, we started her on the Bactrim, only to have a
backup Pedi TAKE HER OFF!  Within 24 hours, Juli almost ruptured an ear
drum!  We were scared and her regular Pedi was livid!

When all this came to a head (at 5 am in the middle of a bad ice/snow
storm), her regular Pedi called in Ceclor AND Tylenol suppositories
(at 24-hour CVS).  The suppositories kicked in REAL FAST (15 minutes)
and she slept for 10-12 hours!  (Missed her Pedi appointment - but Pedi was
more than happy to take her "after she wakens".)

We use very little Tylenol, but the few times we did (fevers, teething,
ear infections), we always used the Elixir.  I still have some Tylenol
suppositories, HOWEVER, I'm only going to keep those for the REAL BAD
fevers and pain.  (I understand you don't need a prescription for these,
but most pharmacists keep them behind the counter, so you have to ask for
them.)

Lots of liquids ... Juli likes flat ginger ale and flat coke (yuk!).

When Juli's feverish, I usually take a vacation day, dress her in a soft
jogging suit (or sleeper) and just about wear out the runners of the
rocking chair!

    Please tell us how this turns out. I can't help but think that blood in
    spitup is serious. I'd be more worried about that than about fever.
    
    I guess I've been generous with Tempra/Tylenol. My pedi uses Tempra as
    a precaution BEFORE giving a vaccination so why not give it to a child
    who actually has a fever ?
    
    I'm sure that by now you are back in urgent care and, hopefully, your
    pedi has ordered a GI series or some diagnostic tests. I've never heard
    of a child screaming because of fever. Sounds like pain ?

    My oldest son had a febrile seizure when his low-grade fever suddenly
    spiked in the middle of the night.  It is a *very* scary thing that
    I would not wish on any parent.  Because of that, I medicate *all*
    fevers with Tylenol.  Once my youngest had a double ear infection and
    I tried the warm bath treatment.  It didn't thrill him, so I don't
    do that anymore. 
    
    Is Spencer prone to ear infections?  My youngest is, and screams
    because of the pain-- especially when he's lying down.  Something
    to keep in mind.
    
    As far as the blood goes....  The morning after my son's febrile 
    seizure (and a trip to the hospital), he woke up with dried blood
    *coating* his teeth.  At the hospital, the doctor said that when 
    tonsils are really inflamed and swollen, they will sometimes bleed.
    That afternoon, Chris was back to his old self.
    
    I'd definitely take Spencer to the doctor to find out what's going
    on.
    
    
    Pam
    
    
    
    

    
    	Hi, I've only got a few minutes to write as I'm just checking in
    and then I'm home to shower and get clean clothes.
    
    	Spencer was sent to the Hospital Monday afternoon. Finally,
    Finally, someone listened to the whole story asked to see him and
    ordered some blood work and x-rays. Turned out his blood work was way
    off (extrememly high white blood count) and his lungs were partially
    filled, he was immediately admitted.
    
    	Poor kid's been an absolute trooper (although he's black and blue
    from head to toe) and has had to endure a spinal tap, nose aspiration,
    blood cultures, IV's, injections, cultures, etc, etc. He is incredibly
    exhausted and we have not been able to keep his temperature down. 
    
    	More blood is being drawn tomorrow and we might have a clue then
    as to what is going on.
    
    	Keep him in your thoughts, okay?
    
    		Wendy

    Wendy,
    I'll keep you both in my thoughts.  I know how difficult it is having a
    sick child and especially waiting to find out what's wrong.  My best
    wishes will be with you!
    Marie

    
    Wendy, 
    
    I'll be keeping you both in my thoughts until we hear back from you 
    on Spencer.  It must be so difficult seeing that little one undergo
    such a rash of testing...
    
    Hang in there and let us know how he's doing. Heres wishing for a
    speedy recovery.
    
    Chris
    

    One thing that we used to do in India a lot and we do here is - if the
    temperature is high (above 101) then I mix some cologne (in India we
    get something called Eau-de-Cologne but here I use either after shave
    or something like that) in some tepid water, dip a hand towel in it and
    place it on the child's forehead. Even water with some salt in it will
    do the job. That will prevent the fever to "go to the child's head"
    i.e. causing seizure.It also helps bring the temperature down slightly.
    After the temperature is not rising any more we do the warm bath
    routine.
    
    We avoid tylenol and other meds as much as possible since we have great
    faith in Homeopathic medication that has worked for us all the time.
    Homeopathic meds do not have any side effects (at least the more common
    ones) and they work well. We have been treating our 2.5 year old
    daughter with these meds since she was 6 months old.
    
    Shaila

    
    Wendy,
    
    You are all in my thoughts!  I can sort of relate to you.
    My daughter Rebecca, was 3 weeks old when she was admitted to
    Children's Hospital because she turned blue on us. They also did
    spinal tap, all sorts of blood test, she had to have 3 IV's because
    they kept on falling out because she was so small. One in her head
    and two on her arm.  She remained in the hospital for 5 days.
    She also had to have an EKG done.  The final result was she had
    an under developed esaphagus.  She had choked on her formula.
    Which made her loose her oxygen.  All I could think of was that
    she could have suffered brain damage, but THANK GOD SHE DIDN'T!!!
    
    The last day we were there, the doctor came to us and said they
    had found something on the EKG.  I almost fainted, here I thought
    YEAH! were going home and my precious baby is fine!  Well, they had
    to call in a specialist to check her heart.  I was extremely exhausted
    by this time I hadn't slept in a week, and I was started to get sick.
    They did another EKG, and they came up with the same thing.  One of
    her valves was not functioning properly.  At least that is what the
    EKG read.  Well, the specialist listened and listened to her heart
    and he could not hear anything!  I WAS PRAYING THE WHOLE TIME!
    He finally said, there was nothing he could find wrong so guess
    what we could go HOME!!!!!!!!  She was fine after that, they had said
    maybe what happened with the EKG was that one of the leads that goes
    on her chest was moved by her or the technician that caused the 
    result.  Anyway, I was glad it was over!  She had to go back 
    1 month later for another EKG, and low and behold it was PERFECT!!!!
    
    So I know exactly how you are feeling, I wanted to change places
    with my daughter so badly!  I hope your story has a HAPPY ending
    too!!!
    
    Please keep us posted!!!!
    
    Kim
    
    

    I've been there, too. My daughter Charlotte was admitted to
    the hospital when she was two weeks old, for a fever of 103.
    There's nothing harder than watching all those procedures
    being done to a tiny infant... Fortunately for us, the final
    diagnosis was just a cold (thanks to her big brother!), but 
    while you wait you feel so many emotions... 
    
    Best of luck, Wendy, and let us know how it's going as soon
    as you can.
    
     Lucy

    Wendy,
    
    Hope all is going well with Spenser and you. I know what you are
    going thru since I went through something very similar with my 9
    month old when he was six days old.  No one believed me at the hospital
    before we were discharged or when I called the doctor's office that
    there was something not right. (The nurses blamed it on post partum
    blues for me and that some babies take longer to learn to nurse!)
    When I finally insisted on bringing him in the doctor took one look
    at him and sent us directly to the hospital.  That night, Mike was rushed
    from the local hospital to Children's NICU in Boston. 
    
    Mike too had IVs, blood work, spinal tap and a host of other tests
    done on him. He's doing fine now.
    
    Please take care of yourself as well.  My prayers are with you all.
          
    Pat K.

Well, the high white cell count is probably an indicator that the poor
tot is fighting a pretty massive infection somewhere that docs just haven't
located yet.  That doesn't make the worry any lighter, but some explanantion
of why the blood counts are off kilter at least shows a glimmer of light.

You're all in my thoughts.

Re using eau de cologne ... it's the alcohol that increases the skin
evaporation and helps lower fever.  That's why rubbing alcohol is called
"Rubbing" alcohol ... used to be made from unpleasantly flavoured
Methanol ... but today they add some unpleasant tasting gunk to Isopropanol
instead.  I'd forgotten all about using alcohol ... The hitch is that it is
harder to control the rate of cooling, and if you lower the skin temp too
much, the body tries to compensate and can raise the body core temp even more
to compensate and it is the body core temp that is the cause of seizures.

At least acetaminophen stabilizes body core temp.  Usually we give under the
recommended dose for this ... it controls the fever, but not necessarily down
to normal temp.

Stuart

re: .26

Thanks for using the correct term.  "Tylenol" is a brand name for a medication 
in which acetaminophen is the active ingredient.  If you are firmly convinced 
that "Tylenol" is better, then buy it, but you can save a lot of money by 
buying "house" brands of acetaminophen -- it's usually referred to as 
"non-aspirin pain reliever."

Clay

    Indeed Clay, the use of brand names to represent the brand names of
    the products we buy is amazing ... it's a sure way to spend big $.
    
    Tempra, Panadol, Tylenol are all brands of the generic drug
    acetaminophen --- which incidentally in the UK and Europe is called
    paracetamol.  In the UK, if you asked for acetaminophen you'd get a
    blank look!
    
    Incidentaly, in England, where Bayer doesn't hold the trademark for
    Asprin, asprin is the generic name for ASA (Acetylsalicylic Acid).
    So, English people visiting Canada and asking for asprin have a
    humungous shock when they see the price!  If they knew it was ASA
    they'd be more pleasantly surprised!
    
    Back to acetaminophen ... generally, house brand generics are every
    bit as effective as the brand names for these products.  One advantage
    we found with Tylenol caplets was that they were smaller and much
    more solid so they didn't dissolve readily in a kiddies mouth.  Aspirin
    used to taste bad, but acetaminophen is SO BITTER!
    
    Stuart

    
    	Spencer's home.
    
    	Boy that was tough. You know, when they put this bloody little
    person on my stomach right after I delivered him, I looked at him
    and thought, who are you and how am I ever going to be able to love you
    as much as I love the other people in my life?
    
    	Then I took care of him and changed his diapers and gave him baths
    and saw him start to smile and giggle and at some point along the way
    (I don't know when exactly) I started thinking, how could I ever love
    you more?
    
    	And then they tell you that he is sick and you start worrying that
    he might be taken away from you. And you find that a small part of you
    that belongs completely to the baby is in pain and continues to be in
    pain and the only thing that can stop the ache is seeing him smile and
    giggle again.
    
    	
    	Spencer started giggling again yesterday.
    
    	We still don't know what he had but we know what he didn't have. On
    Tuesday the nurses were started to talk about testing him for a blood
    disorder (leukemia) because he didn't appear to be responding to the
    treatment. By Tuesday night he strted to respond to the antibiotics. We
    now know that he doesn't have leukemia, he doesn't have meningitis, nor
    an ear infection, nor RSV (a baby virus), nor a million other things
    that he was tested for.
    
    	All of this is very good news except that we don't know what he
    had, or how he got it, or if it will come back, or if we can avoid
    re-exposure. For now he is home, resting comfortably, starting to pick
    up his eating and fluids.
    
    	I found that in the hospital, the one thing that really calmed
    Spencer down was to read the story The Runaway Rabbit. Over and over I
    read that story to him and it just seemed to lull him into comfort. It
    has become one of my favorite stories because not only did it comfort
    him, but it did a heck of a job comforting me as well.
        
    
        Marc and I are very grateful for the way things turned out.
    
    			Wendy
    

    I'm sure I speak for many of us that we're relieved that Spencer is 
    ok! Thanks for taking the time to update us...
    
    Sue
    

    
    Re: .29
    
    Great news! Sometimes you may not get the answer. I know from my
    experience with my son how frustrating this is. Modern medicine can
    work miracles but there is so much to be learned.
    
    Re: generics
    
    My beef...I wish there was a generic for Tylenol/Feverall
    suppositories.
    
    Chris

    I've been a little overwhelmed the last couple days, and just saw this
    part of the note.  I was extremely anxious for you both, and am so glad
    the worst appears to be behind you.
    
    We too have been there, the unexplained fever, non-response to
    anitibiotics and so on.  We too were never given a valid explaination. 
    To this day we seem to think it was a urinary tract infection.  Through
    a snafu in the hospital the urine sample never made it from the
    emergency room to the lab, and by the time this was realized he had
    been on antibiotics so long the results would not be valid.  All this
    and he was only 18 days old.  I did fine for everything, but absolutely
    flipped out when they did the spinal tap.  I guess the discomfort of my
    epidural was still too fresh.
    
    I do hope the worst is behind you!
    Lyn

    Thank God. And thanks for letting us know.

Indeed ... Great News Wendy ... It really is worrysome when a kiddy is sick.
Every time our kids this winter complain of not feeling well, I cannot help
but feeling some panic inside after all the fun this winter with meningitis.

Goodness knows, there are some strange bugs around ... but it shows how
wonderful anti-biotics are ... when I was a baby, while ther were some
antibiotics around, they weren't particularly useful for many infections, and
I have to thank one of them for my crossed eyes so I'm lead to understand.
The doctor gave it to me for 'flu at 3 weeks old!  How I survived childhood
I don't know!

>    My beef...I wish there was a generic for Tylenol/Feverall
>    suppositories.

There are some brands that are a little cheaper ... we use one called
Abenol ... but the reason they are so expensive is they have a shorter
life, should ideally be refrigerated, and they sell so comparatively few
when compared to tablets.  As a thought, beware there are different dosage
suppositories available ... you can o/d with those too!

Stuart

    Wendy--
    
    I'm glad everything worked out for you and your family.  Being a parent
    can be a very scary thing...   I'm glad he's okay.
    
    Pam

    
    Glad to hear that he is OK.  Hope something like this never happens
    again to you or to the little guy.
    
    Pam

We also had a scare when Dirk was 4 weeks old.  He cried and cried from the
day he was born and then started getting sick.  First fever, then diarrhea, then
projectile vomiting; I was to the Dr every day for three days and then to the
hospital.  He had massive infections all through him including 
gastrointestinitis.  

I had friends whose little boy developed very quickly a dangerously high fever
causing him to be hospitalised.  They gave him intraveneous aspirin injections
for several days.  They never found out what it was.

My pediatrician said that the little ones sometimes don't have completely 
developed systems and its difficult to find out what is wrong when they hardly
have enough blood to take a sample.  They treat it as best they can and
praise God when it gets better.

Here in Switzerland, the standard form of fever medicine (paracetamol) for 
babies and toddlers is suppositories.  I normally got them with a prescription 
so the insurance paid for them but we can also buy them over the counter.
They are a lot easier to administer and quicker acting and you don't have 
problems if the child is vomiting.

ccb

    Have to admit I didn't read all the replies so maybe this one is in
    there, but I just heard about one -- putting wet socks on the child,
    covered by dry wool socks or plastic bags.  This cools them down
    without other intervention. If it were an adult, the wet compresses go
    on the calves.  Comes from a German friend who believes in homeopathy. 

Re: -.1, It is a proven fact that if your feet are cold, you will feel cold all 
over, and if your head is cold, you will feel cold as well.  (Remember how we
keep the infants' heads covered so as to not loose body heat? Same principal)

Nice method, I'll have to remember that next time.

Lyn

    Just a quick word.... blood in spit-up or phlegm that's coughed up, is
    not *always* serious. If you've had a bloody nose, particularly at
    night, some of it can remain in your throat, and some may be
    swallowed. Therefore it can make a "repeat performance" so to speak.
    But, personally, I'd *always* check it out witht the dr., unless
    perhaps I had actually witnessed the bloody nose.
    
    --dave--

    
    Does anyone know how accurate taking a tempature under the arm is?
    
    My daughter 1 year old, is on 2 medications (Bactrim and Cephlexin) for
    her ears.  Yesterday, when I picked her up from her sitters, I noticed
    her eyes being very heavy and her body was hot! I had taken her tempature 
    under the arm, it was 100.6 but she was crying when I took it.  So I 
    knew it would be higher because of her being upset.  Well, I took her
    home and she ate supper which was a change because she really hasn't
    been eating since her ear infections two weeks ago.  I called the
    doctor and he said just to keep giving her the tylenol and if it gets
    worse to call back. She was in a great mood, no crying, or anything.
    Later on I noticed her body still being hot, (oh, I did give her tylenol 
    at the sitters) so I decided
    to take it again, under the arm, this time 97.0.  But her body was
    still hot!  I kept on checking her during the night, she was still
    pretty warm.  This morning I took it again and still nothing.  But her
    body remains hot!!!  Could their be an infection in her body but not
    giving a tempature?  I hope she is not having a reaction from this
    medicine, but she has taken it before.
    
    Any ideas?????
    
    Nervous Mom!!!
    
       

If you have doubts, or if you get anything over 100 under the arm do a rectal
temp.

Temps under the arm run between one and one-one half degree lower than the mouth,
which would be about 2 degrees lower than a rectal.

Taking a rectal temp literally can be accmoplished in 2 minutes with a standard
thermometer, and the electronic ones (although not completely accurate sometimes)
can accomplish it in about 30 seconds.

Lyn

    The rule of thumb our pedi gave us was to add one degree to an armpit
    reading, or deduct one degree from a rectal temp, to approximate an
    oral reading. Also, he told us not to get too nervous unless the temp
    was above 102 (101 armpit/103 rectal), and if it was ever that high,
    we were to contact him as soon as possible. In the meantime, recommended 
    treatment was Tylenol (or equivalent), which always seemd to work for us...
    
    	Freddie

Feeling hot doesn't really mean a lot ... you are nervous, so your hand is
a little more moist than normal, and that moisture will transfer more heat to
you, making her feel hotter.  The hand can be a particularly inaccurate
thermometer!

Stuart

> you, making her feel hotter.  The hand can be a particularly inaccurate
> thermometer!

My impression was (and I seem to recall that there were actually some studies
that showed this) that for most practical purposes, the information a parent
gets from a hand on a forehead is quite as accurate and useful as what you're
going to get with a thermometer.

	-Neil

    Re: Armpit temperature
    
    We have always measured Avanti's temperature with the thermometer in
    the armpit. Let the thermometer sit there for between 2.5 and 3
    minutes. I have verified its accuracy many times with the rectal
    temperature and the two have always been the same. Usually I can guess
    Avanti's temperature by feeling the back of her head - in her case the
    back of her head hotter than her forehead would to the touch.
    
    Shaila
    one_who_hates_taking_a_rectal_temperature
    

I use armpit all of the time, with a digital thermometer.  The instructions
say to let the digital ones stay under the arm for longer than the beep,
so I do that now, but the first minute tells me the approximate range.
If it comes out 97 degrees or so, I don't worry.  If it comes out 98 or 99 then
I know he has a temperature and I let it stay under his arm until it stops 
going up.  Like others have said, you add a degree to the armpit temp to get
the temp you would normally get orally. 

          Carol

re .45

I agree, the hand is a good *comparative* thermometer for like conditions for
many people.  My mother always had a very dry hand and it was a very accurate
thermometer (we rarely had one in the house ... she was accurate to about 1/2
a degree!).  Sometimes I've felt one of the kids and they felt hot ... took
temoerature and it was normal, so felt another kid ... and they felt similarly
hot.  My hand was more moist than normal.  Also, if you've been handling
something cool, or your body surface temperature is lower than normal,
anyone you touch will feel hotter than normal.

The back of the hand may well be more accurate than the front, since you
tend not to perspire as much.

Also remember that what is important is the body core temperature and not
the body surface temp.  The body surface temp can vary a few degrees for
a constant core temp.

So, if someone feels hot (or cold) ... feel someone else for a comparison!

Stuart

    A soft kiss on the suspect's forehead has always been our family's way
    of getting a ballpark temp.  Maybe I'm just talented |-) but when
    Alex's forehead feels definitely HOT to my lips (not just "maybe you're
    a *little* warm"), it always checks out to an oral 101.5 or above.  So,
    "hot" = Get A Real Thermometer.  "Burning up" = This is Too Hot, Call
    the Doctor and Take Measurements Later.
    
    Leslie