when should I call the doctor? UPDATE

IMO 103 is pushing it however a fever is there for a reason. Call your Dr.

If your child's fever hits 105 call the pediatrician immediately!

Thanks both of you. His fever has gone down.

I am glad to hear this.  I used 103 as my point of calling the doctor.

Quoting mutedsapphire:

Thanks both of you. His fever has gone down.

I always had much better lick with motrin.  It worked better and longer for fever than tylenol with my kids.

Motrin always worked better for my kids too when it came to fever. If it comes back and gets any higher than 103 I would def call the doctor. Good luck and I hope he is feeling better soon!

We're at the hospital now. His fever went back up again to 103.

Children spike high fevers easily.  They can get up to 105.  103 is of concern.  104, take action. 105, call your doctor. That's how I managed when my kids were little.  A fever is not always a bad thing, either. When we get a fever, we do NOT HAVE TO do a thing!  The fever is there, as the body's way of fighting off infection. When we take aspirin or tylenol to lower the fever, although we may feel better, we are making it harder for our body to do what it must.

If your child gets a fever of 104, treat it.  If his fever is below 104, and he seems fine, leave him be.  At 104, you can also take other actions to bring the fever down.  You can give him a cool bath - NOT COLD.  You want to bring down the fever slowly, but don't make him shiver, which is the body's way of warming up.  Once I had a child with a fever of 105.  In the doctor's office, the idiot doctor gave her a cool bath with rubbing alcohol in water to lower her body temp to 100, then he sent her home, without doing a checkup to find out why she had a fever.  Within an hour, her temp was high again, and I saw another doctor who took one look in her throat and put her on antibiotics for a strep infection.  Doctors!  Grrr.

Anyway, 103 is fine, and nothing to be overly concerned about.  You can usually tell by how your child is acting, if it's time to worry.  If he seems listless, inattentive, and miserable - call your doctor. If he's playing, he's fine.

Lorelei

HeThis made me feel so much better! His fever is now 102.5 and he's still acting normal. He seems to be just fine. They didn't do anything for him at the hospital last night besides guve him a checkup and some motrin. They couldn't find anything wrong.

Quoting LoreleiSieja:

Children spike high fevers easily.  They can get up to 105.  103 is of concern.  104, take action. 105, call your doctor. That's how I managed when my kids were little.  A fever is not always a bad thing, either. When we get a fever, we do NOT HAVE TO do a thing!  The fever is there, as the body's way of fighting off infection. When we take aspirin or tylenol to lower the fever, although we may feel better, we are making it harder for our body to do what it must.

If your child gets a fever of 104, treat it.  If his fever is below 104, and he seems fine, leave him be.  At 104, you can also take other actions to bring the fever down.  You can give him a cool bath - NOT COLD.  You want to bring down the fever slowly, but don't make him shiver, which is the body's way of warming up.  Once I had a child with a fever of 105.  In the doctor's office, the idiot doctor gave her a cool bath with rubbing alcohol in water to lower her body temp to 100, then he sent her home, without doing a checkup to find out why she had a fever.  Within an hour, her temp was high again, and I saw another doctor who took one look in her throat and put her on antibiotics for a strep infection.  Doctors!  Grrr.

Anyway, 103 is fine, and nothing to be overly concerned about.  You can usually tell by how your child is acting, if it's time to worry.  If he seems listless, inattentive, and miserable - call your doctor. If he's playing, he's fine.

Lorelei

Glad they didn't find anything wrong. How is he now?