Why do people take their kids to the ER for a fever?

[Bluegoat]

Perhaps the child was acting normal because she gave him the Tylenol.

 

I've had times when I wanted to die, but two Tylenol in the AM and then again in the afternoon, was all I needed to be highly functional.

 

Not that crawling into bed feeling like you are going to die isn't better. We probably all need more time in bed.

 

Yet. Somtimes one has children to care for, and work to attend.

 

Sometimes even children need a little relief. I'm not one to medicate at the 'drop of a dime', but some meds (herbal or not) can help a child feel less miserable.

 

 

No. She wanted to bring the fever down.

[Jyniffrec]

 

I grew up in a medical household, and we didn't even own a thermometer. My stepdad, who is a GP, has told me it isn't really all that helpful. You can detect a fever by touch and after that behavior and symptoms are more important. People who get hung up on the exact temperature can miss a more serious problem or, more often, get worried about something that is not serious.

 

This is very good advice. We have been told this about our complicated kid. We don't take temperatures or check blood sugars because we are supposed to go by the look of the kid. I think it confounds the ER docs sometimes, but this is what the geneticist told us to do and so far we have been right.

 

We do have thermometers, though. You get one every time you are admitted at our hospital. We have a whole drawer full of them. I just hate the idea of throwing them away. They kind of act as counting sticks for us. :lol:

[PeacefulChaos]

I was thinking of parents who are worried about a child. Maybe the kid has been running a fever for a week, and they haven't had any luck bringing it down with normal approaches. If they had insurance, they could call the pediatrician. But they don't. So, a worried parent who feels like she has no other option to get her kid seen, maybe get an antibiotic prescribed, goes to the ER to make that happen.

 

As others have said, we don't usually have the luxury of knowing every other person's back story before making a judgement.

 

I agree with you, but...

I do think that the OP was talking about people she knew, though. So she would actually know more of the backstory than someone who just saw them at the ER. :)

[swellmomma]

Well in my case it is because we do not have a doctor within 2 hours of here. The clinic in my town is only open 3 hours a day M-F not on weekends, and they only do by appointments, nothing for the day of. The clinic in the next town over has longer hours M-F closed on weekends, and though they do walk ins it is still hard to be seen.

 

With things like fever, I watch the kid. What seems to happen for us is the kid will have a low grade fever all day, and then at like 9pm, or on the weekend, it will suddenly go up, or they get a new symptom. And of course this is always the day before something important. Like the day before we have a family gathering, or a recital, or a field trip etc. So we tend to head to the ER to double check that they are okay, since there is no other options.

 

Many many times I have taken the kids to the ER just to double check and found out they had infected ears, or signs of something more troubling than just a simple minor fever though outwardly it looked like they only had a low fever and were otherwise okay.

[LibraryLover]

No. She wanted to bring the fever down.

 

 

What's wrong with giving a child some relief?

 

We know that the body can still do it's work, even with pain meds.

Edited September 25, 2012 by LibraryLover

[Bluegoat]

So what? What's wrong with giving a child some relief?

 

We know that the body can still do it's work, even with pain meds.

 

Bringing down a fever doesn't bring relief if the child isn't feeling badly, which she wasn't.

 

Look, I'm not sure why you are worried about this. I was there, I know what happened. She is someone I know well, and she is always very concerned about bring down fevers, including very low ones.

 

I mentioned it because I had said in the post that I think many parents are under the impression that you are always supposed to bring a fever down, and I think that is true of my friend, so it was an example. That particular situation came to mind because it was the first time I had seen her do it and thought it was odd. She is an experienced mom of a big family, well educated, and so I think if it was really commonly known that fever itself is not usually dangerous and in fact beneficial she probably would know.

 

But she doesn't, and I think that suggests it is not commonly known.

[Shellers]

I have four kids, and only one ever went to the ER for a fever.

 

My oldest had two febrile seizures, once with her baby sitter. DD ended up going to hospital in an ambulance (the babysitter had had a baby die of SIDS while in her care). The other time DD was with me in the car. I ended up taking her to the ER.

 

My step brother (I was told) ran a high temp as toddler, and had brain damage from it. He functions at a 5 year old level.

 

According to WebMD:

So, when do you need to call the doctor?

• Newborns from 0-4 weeks with a fever of 100.4 F or above need immediate medical evaluation and hospitalization.
  
• Babies 4 weeks old to 3 months old with a fever of 100.4 F or above need immediate medical attention.
  
• Babies from 3-6 months old with fever of 102 F or greater, a fever lasting more than 3 days, a fever without signs of a viral infection, a fever and unconsolable or unarousable, or a new fever after a recent illness.
  
• Kids over 6 months of age who have a fever or 104 F or greater. a fever lasting more than 3 days, a fever without signs of a viral infection, a fever and unconsolable or unarousable, or a new fever after a recent illness.
  

ETA: I had my DD #3 who is 15, in the ER on Sept. 15th (she went temp blind and then passed out, she was out of it for a good 30 minutes. The EKG showed something weird and she is getting testing at Stanford Children's Hospital the week of Oct 7th). So far we only have the Doctor's bill, which was $11,000+. We owe $1,218. We pay $1,500 a month of health insurance. Ouch.... Edited September 25, 2012 by Shellers

[LibraryLover]

Bringing down a fever doesn't bring relief if the child isn't feeling badly, which she wasn't.

.

QUOTE]

 

I wasn't there, but I don't have a problem with a parent trying to bring down a fever. If I have a fever, I take something. Fevers can really bring one down, even low ones. The immune sysem is not poorly affected by mild pain or fever relief. The body can still do it's job.

 

I rarely get sick (KNOCK WOOD), and neither do my children (KNOCK WOOD!).

[Crimson Wife]

Bringing down a fever doesn't bring relief if the child isn't feeling badly, which she wasn't.

 

Look, I'm not sure why you are worried about this. I was there, I know what happened. She is someone I know well, and she is always very concerned about bring down fevers, including very low ones.

 

I mentioned it because I had said in the post that I think many parents are under the impression that you are always supposed to bring a fever down, and I think that is true of my friend, so it was an example. That particular situation came to mind because it was the first time I had seen her do it and thought it was odd. She is an experienced mom of a big family, well educated, and so I think if it was really commonly known that fever itself is not usually dangerous and in fact beneficial she probably would know.

 

But she doesn't, and I think that suggests it is not commonly known.

 

When I was growing up, anything over 100 degrees was medicated (usually with baby aspirin!) Fortunately, by the time I became a mom, I had read somewhere not to medicate below 103. I want to say that was in the Dr. Sears book but I can't swear to that.

[LibraryLover]

When I was growing up, anything over 100 degrees was medicated (usually with baby aspirin!) Fortunately, by the time I became a mom, I had read somewhere not to medicate below 103. I want to say that was in the Dr. Sears book but I can't swear to that.

 

 

I rememebr my mother saying to gently wipe down a child with a cool cloth, but not let the child get cold. I remember her saying that the time to worry is when the child's breathing sounds very labored.

 

Even then, a cool cloth can help.

[Laura Corin]

One problem my sister ran into when visiting here was that kids under 2 aren't seen by urgent cares around here, and GPs won't see you if you're not a regular patient.

 

I was staying in State College, Pennsylvania and needed to see a doctor. I called round all the local doctors and no one would see me, because I was not resident. I had insurance. I was told that going to the emergency room was the only option.

 

Laura

[Momof3littles]

 

My step brother (I was told) ran a high temp as toddler, and had brain damage from it. He functions at a 5 year old level.

 

 

Is it possible he might have had an illness coexisting with a fever that caused the issue vs. the fever itself?

 

Here's the AAP statement on antipyretic use in children.

 

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/02/28/peds.2010-3852.abstract

 

Full text here:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEcQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww2.aap.org%2Fpcorss%2Fwebinars%2Fpco%2FFeverSullivan.ppt&ei=AaFhULaIDfO20AGpkoGYCA&usg=AFQjCNGSv4yMcI_D18_ESETvW2YXsMbMAQ (fyi it is a download)

 

The full text piece points out that treating fevers can prolong the duration of illness by not allowing the body to do its job.

 

From the link above:

There is no evidence that fever itself worsens the course of an illness or that it causes long-term neurologic complications.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/02/28/earlyshow/health/main20037211.shtmlFrom that link- (obviously this does not apply to young infants, etc.) They are talking about the full text of the 2011 AAP statement on antipyretic use in children.

 

The report doesn't recommend any temperature cutoffs for when to treat or call the doctor.

"The fact is, no one has ever been able to say that a fever below a certain point is not associated with a serious infection, or that a fever above a certain point is associated with a serious infection," Farrar said.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Momof3littles

[TravelingChris]

I don't know, my kids never got fevers and didn't feel bad -like sick except for the dd who got Reactive Arthritis and ended up on aspirin for that (and she had a low grade fever too which is often the case with any type of arthritis other than osteo.)

[raceNzanesmom]

Not a newborn (because that is a good reason to go to the ER) but normal children without other health issues? I know someone who posts on fb every so often about taking her child to the ER with fevers in the 102-103 range. :confused: I'm a nurse and I would never take my kid to the ER for a fever like that...in fact my general rule is you must have uncontrolled bleeding, broken bones, need stitches etc to warrant a trip to the ER!

 

I agree. There are always a few exceptions where a child/person needs the ER for fever or some other minor ailment, but in general I think ERs are waaaay over used for non-emergency type illnesses and injuries. I'm always shocked at the things people I know go to the ER for, or the doctor for that matter.

[boscopup]

This is completely different than what I described. She absolutely knew she wasn't going back to work.

 

I used short term disability insurance to have paid maternity leave (since I had paid for the insurance during the years I had worked there), and everyone at work, including HR, knew I wasn't planning to come back afterward. HR just had me come in 2 weeks before the end of maternity leave and give my 2 weeks' notice. No big deal.

 

My DH had insurance also, so I could have added DS1 to his insurance at the birth, so it wasn't an insurance issue (and boy did that 4 week NICU stay use insurance!). It was probably less messy just putting it all on my insurance though, since I also had a 4 day hospital stay prior to the birth.

 

In my case, I was planning to work through August, but baby decided to come in June, so it was a bit abrupt, but the people at work had already decided who would take over my part of the project, and they'd been assisting me on it, so they were able to easily take over the job when my water broke and I called in to say, "Um... my water just broke, so I won't be in today... or ever again..." :lol:

[Bluegoat]

Bringing down a fever doesn't bring relief if the child isn't feeling badly, which she wasn't.

.

QUOTE]

 

I wasn't there, but I don't have a problem with a parent trying to bring down a fever. If I have a fever, I take something. Fevers can really bring one down, even low ones. The immune sysem is not poorly affected by mild pain or fever relief. The body can still do it's job.

 

I rarely get sick (KNOCK WOOD), and neither do my children (KNOCK WOOD!).

 

 

Well, the fever is there to fight the disease. If you stop the fever, it can't help the body do that. In cases with vaccinations it can even affect how well the body responds to the vaccinationif you give pain meds that prevent fever.

 

I give kids meds for fever if they are really, vocally unhappy, or if they can't sleep. So it's not like I never would. But I think it is generally better to let the body work to make itself healthy as efficiently as possible. I wouldn't even consider it with a nine year old who is sitting reading with a fever of a few degrees.

[Jean in Newcastle]

 

 

Well, the fever is there to fight the disease. If you stop the fever, it can't help the body do that. In cases with vaccinations it can even affect how well the body responds to the vaccinationif you give pain meds that prevent fever.

 

I give kids meds for fever if they are really, vocally unhappy, or if they can't sleep. So it's not like I never would. But I think it is generally better to let the body work to make itself healthy as efficiently as possible. I wouldn't even consider it with a nine year old who is sitting reading with a fever of a few degrees.

 

:iagree:

[Retired]

I haven't bothered reading this thread. I work in the E/R. I usually see the following

 

the parent that got of work and discovered the child with a high fever, caregiver doesn't think its big deal but parent wants another opinion (their usual clinic is closed)

 

the parents that is young just doesn't know what to do (i live in Alabama we get lots of 17-21 yo new moms)

 

we were seeing lots of the Hispanics bring their children in for kid stuff/fever before Alabama changed their laws (we wonder if they left the area or just not seeking medical care -hiding)

 

then there are also the American citizens that don't have insurance and their children have been sick a few days, they are scared and bring them in

 

We do see the occasional mom that thinks every sneeze is life threatening but thats not often.