couldn't believe it!

[darlene]

Hi all. While we were at my bil/sil this weekend, we were talking about their dd who has had a fever (averaging 102) since Wednesday. Advil was taking it down, but as soon as that wore off, the fever was back up. My sil said her dh didn't want to take their dd to the dr. because he didn't want her to end up on antibiotics. She has never been on antibiotics in her life (she is almost 7). Bil figures it isn't good for kids to be on antibiotics! I guess he would rather have a sick/miserable little girl on his hands. I would like to kick him in the butt! In November their other little dd had a fever for a week before they finally took her to the dr. and he diagnosed her with a DOUBLE ear infection!
Okay, vent over. Now the question! LOL
How long do you let your kids have a fever (that is consistent) before taking them to the Dr? I usually go by the three day rule. Ds is sick now, but hasn't had a fever since Friday. Last time I took him to the walk in clinic, we had to wait 3 hours before the dr. saw him. I don't want to go through that again!
Just wondering???
:)

[angie r]

If it is only a fever I would wait 4 days probably. If it was combined with runny nose, cough, vomiting, pain, etc. I would go asap.

[KarlaB]

It depends on how high the fever is and if there are any other symptoms - how lethargic my child is acting due to the fever. I usually call in and talk to the nurse to see what she thinks. Sometimes she will say to just watch it and other times she will say to come in depending on what I tell her and what is going around. I would never not go though because I didn't want my child on an antibiotic. :(

[MK]

I give just about any fever 48 hours. Usually the mild ones, 98-100, playing, cheerful, sniffles, but no other symptoms are gone by then anyway. But if it sticks around it might be something to check out. The thing to remember, though, is many infections are viruses, and antibiotics won't do a thing for it. With a virus you pretty much have to just wait it out.

[Linda/NE]

I read in a pamplet from the doctor's office a while back that a child has a fever for a reason and shouldn't be given anything for it unless it gets above a certain temp (I know it's around 100.5, but for the life of me I can't find the ppamphlet!) A low grade fever should be left to run it course and fight the infection or whatever there is.

I'm not a big one to run my kids to the doc with every little sniffle and cough. Like the other posters said, I just base it on how my child acts and the other symptoms he/she has.

I would have done it though in this case. They do say now that too many antibiotics can cause them not to be as effective--they develop an immunity to them. That's probably taking it a little to far to refuse antibiotics all together.

As parents, all we can do is what our instincts tell us to do. I don't think there's a rule book on any of this--if so I want to see it! LOL

[Suz]

I usually allow something to run it's course for about three days (if it isn't serious). Unless it is coming up on the weekend, then I will take them in just to be safe.

[Melody]

It depends on what the other symptoms are. Ds has been running a low grade fever off and on for a couple of days and the tylenol is working to keep it down and it doesn't come back until the next night or evening. He went to school yesterday but not today, rough night. He has a headache and sore throat and now I am pretty sure it's to do with sinuses. So if he is still running fevers by tomorrow or has a really rough night again I will take him in to make sure he doesn't have an infection. We have been to the doctors so much this winter that I am trying to avoid going unless I really think the kids need something more than what I can give them at home.

[AnnW]

I am not overly wild about antibiotics cause they work for so few things. It usually depends what they have if I call the doc..if it's a cold, I will wait a week; if fever, about 3 days. I was always told that a fever was the body's way of handling things.

[RCT]

I usually wait a couple of days, and it all depends on how my child is acting....with ear infections I can usually tell by the child, dd pulls at her hair, but when questioned about if her ear hurts she says no....lol....sure sign its an ear infection....lol....ds screams all night if he has any pain so we go immediately when I know he or she is struggling with pain....as for low grade fever, I don't usually run to the ped....not really sure if I like my Ped.....but thats another story....