When do you take the kids to the ER?

[BabyBre]

Went to give dd8 a kiss last night at midnight and she was burning up! Her temp was 103.6, and she had no symptoms of anything at all when she went to bed. It was a little scary how fast it came on. She eventually responded well to Tylenol, a cool bath, and a popsicle, but it made for a very long and nervous night.

 

So at what point do you pack it up and head to the ER in the middle of the night?

[Hillary in KS]

For a fever? It would have to be pretty high, and not responding to Tylenol.

 

103.6 is not terribly high for a child, but it would be high enough for me to get up periodically during the night to check on them and re-dose them. :)

 

If my boys had a 103.6 fever, I would have given them Tyenol and helped cool them off. After 60-90 minutes, I'd check again and see if the temp had come down. If not, I would have called the Ask-a-Nurse line before taking them to an ER. Does your Dr. have a nurse on-duty after hours?

 

I think you did just the right thing last night!

[AnnetteB]

I'm glad that your little one is feeling better.

 

ER trips for me have been one of those "gut feeling" sort of things. One time, the trip to the ER in the cold night air broke the fever for one of our dc. I was signing him in at the counter and he vomited. His fever broke within minutes. They ran tests and said it was viral not bacterial and we returned home. He was fine after that, but he had been very feverish and we couldn't bring it down in the usual ways at home. I don't regret the ER trip....one way or the other it worked.

 

I took our first dd to the ER with a suspected broken leg in 1985. No one thought it was broken but me. She had stopped crying the moment I picked her up at the playground, but her initial cry had been something different and worse than anything I had ever heard from her. I took her in and the ER staff had us wait. She was astride my hip. She asked to use the bathroom and they directed us there. I helped her and then we waited for our turn. Immediately after taking the x-ray the technician came to my side and said, "We are not moving her. The leg is broken. No one thought the leg was broken." Sometimes Mom just knows and has to act on her feelings.

 

Dh and I have an agreement that if I think they need an ER visit and it turns out to be a false alarm, there is no penalty, lol

[katemary63]

In the case of my son, 16 times in 22 years! :lol::lol:

 

( He's an ADD accident waiting to happen!)

 

No, not for a fever like that, but as the other poster said, a high fever that does not come down with meds maybe.

[secular_mom]

I take mine to the ER for injuries or suspected serious illness (ds had been sick, and had a sudden rash all over with a severe headache and said his neck hurt- I was terrified that he had meningitis- it turned out to be pneumonia) . Fevers? I took oldest to the ER when her temp reached 105.7, and they didn't really do anything for her. It was just a virus, even though the fever was the ONLY symptom she had. She did that off and on for a while. Sudden fevers with no other symptoms, that went away suddenly. She did not have seizures due to the high temp, so after that first trip I decided not to waste our time for fevers (unless they were having seizures) and pick up more germs while we're there.

It's a much shorter wait if you make an appt.

[Mandamom]

So for us even a 104 fever hasn't been high enough to take to ER. I did call the ped though for suggestions and when it got to 105 I took her to the clinic (Patient First) where they were able to monitor her and eventually get it lowered (motrin and tylenol but I wasn't giving as much as they gave her).

 

Otherwise, the potential for stitches has been the only reason we did the ER.

 

I think it mostly depends on instinct and past history. My older daughter has always been prone to high fevers (over 103) so that wouldn't phase us. My 3 year old has never been over 103 so reaching 103 would start me worrying.

[Parrothead]

In the case of a fever it would have to be a high fever that wasn't responding to OTC meds. Any other circumstance there would have to be blood involved or suspected broken bones.

[Tree House Academy]

Not for a fever with no other symptoms. My son gets a throat infection that is NOT strep once a year and it alwatys presents first with a 103-104 fever that doesn't move much with tylenol or motrin.

 

It has to be an emergency before i will take the kids to the ER. They can pick up more in a place like that than any danger they are usually in at home (again, unless it is a true emergency - vomiting blood, doubled over in excruciating pain, seizure, etc)

[rafiki]

.

[swellmomma]

The only time I have used the ER for a fever was when we lived in a small town and the dr's office closed at 4 pm with no after hours clinics. TYpically though I save the ER for big injuries, blood etc after 11 pm when the walk in clinic closes, or injuries that I know need more than 2-3 stitches. AUstin is 10, I we have had dozens of ER visits already, ambulance transfers and 1 air lift all thanks to his ADHD with no impulse control.

 

Fevers I wait until the next day if they have not come down and call their ped or take them to the walk in clinic.

[Barb_]

I consider a fever with no other symptoms a good sign in a child. The body is effectively fighting off whatever the problem is. I tend to put a lot more stock in how the child is acting. Severe pain? White face and little response? Trouble breathing? Those are worth an ER visit with or without a fever. I don't even try to bring down a fever of 103 (in a child with no history of seizures, of course) because a fever can help kill off a virus or bacteria. Let the body do its job.

 

Barb

[Danestress]

In and of itself. I personally would be comfortable waiting until the next day to take the child in. Partly, I know that ERs are very crowded, and this would be considered very minor, so we would be waiting a LONG time. I tend to think it's better to keep the child comfortable at home.

 

If there were signs of Meningitis, that would be different.

[SquirrellyMama]

My five year old ds had a 103 temp the other night. I used to get them as a child all the time. I gave him so fever reducer and had him sleep next to me so I could keep an eye on him.

 

Our two youngest (ds and dd) have been in the ER for febrile seizures. The ER said we don't need to bring them in but the dr office won't see them until the ER has seen them. :glare:

 

Kelly

[SilverMoon]

We've never done the ER for just a fever. I wouldn't have gone either. ((cyber hug))

 

Crayon pieces so far up the nose we can't see them, asthma attacks, broken bones, pneumonia, those got us to the ER. :lol:

[BabyBre]

The on-call doc the other night said not to worry about ds6's fever until it hit 105 and wasn't responding to meds. That's a little higher than I've usually heard before. I guess my alarm was raised because I don't think I've ever seen a temp as high as 103.6 in my dc before. Every little one is different, I guess.

 

Doctor this morning said it's probably the flu and we'll know for sure tomorrow. Yay. Then we can treat it in dd because we caught it so early, but poor ds who started his suffering while we were out of town a few days ago will have to let it run its course. It's too late to start a treatment with him, doc says. And if it is flu, we all get to take Tamiflu so we don't get it, too. (Thank you, public school!)

[Mom-ninja.]

Crayon pieces so far up the nose we can't see them,

 

This made me laugh!

 

 

 

Fevers don't bother me and I like to let my children cook. For me fevers are not ER worthy.

 

Seems like lots of people are sick right now.

[Jenny in Florida]

He was younger than your kiddo, though. I think he was only two? He was always more prone to high fevers than my daughter, but this one was hovering around 104 or 105 and wouldn't come down with Tylenol.

 

I called our pediatrician's office. The nurse recommended taking him to the ER. We did so and watched a virtual parade of doctors come through the room trying to figure out what was wrong with my little guy. One doctor told me, in a pretty exasperated tone, that my son was "the healthiest kid he'd ever seen . . . except for the fever."

 

Finally, they had me start alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin, which brought the fever down to something more reasonable.

 

We never did figure out what was causing it.

[SquirrellyMama]

Finally, they had me start alternating doses of Tylenol and Motrin, which brought the fever down to something more reasonable.

 

 

 

The Tylenol/Motrin cocktail. We've had to use this more than once. I used to let them cook as someone else said until we started experiencing seizures.

 

Kelly

[AnnetteB]

This thread is bringing back so many memories....stitches, KNEX up a little nose, food poisoning (the most expensive hot dog ever), broken bone, split chin, etc. Last week we were sent to the ER for a chest x-ray, then detoured to out-patient, it all turned out fine, but today dd is running a fever and I can't think of anywhere else she could have picked up a germ. We haven't been anywhere since.

[Terabith]

Gut feeling. That's my criteria for all medical decisions.

 

For 103 with no other symptoms, no, definitely not, UNLESS my gut was saying there was something wrong. I don't even give OTC fever reducers unless the child is miserable. (Although mine have always been pretty miserable by 103 or so.) Depending on what my gut said, I'd wait a day or so before I took her to the dr.

 

However, at our house the family tendency is to under-react to illness. About six weeks ago, my 3.5 year old started feeling pretty bad. She was running a fever of around 103 and very listless. The listlessness worried me. Grandma said, "There's no point in taking her to the doctor. Kids get sick; they run fevers." That just didn't feel right, so I took her in. Dr said, "Well, flu test is negative. Her white cell count is up, so it may be bacterial, and she doesn't look right, so let's go ahead and start her on an antibiotic." Okay. Well, the next morning, her temp is 105. I give her motrin and call the dr back. She says not to bring her back in, it can take time to work these things through. This didn't feel right to me. She just seemed VERY sick. I was having a very hard time getting any fluids in her, and she was totally listless. She wasn't sleeping well and her breathing didn't sound right. I called the dr back, and again they said not to bring her in, they didn't want to expose her to more germs. By the middle of the night, I was frantic. Even after both motrin and tylenol (together), her fever was still at 105. My gut was at air raid siren level. I called the call a nurse line, and they said taking her to the ER would not be overkill, but I really didn't want to do that. But at 7 am, I got her up and took her to the dr's office, even though my husband and my mother in law said I was being ridiculous. She had bacterial pneumonia. We narrowly avoided being admitted to the hospital. If I'd waited any longer, she would have had to have been admitted for oxygen and IV antibiotics. As it was, she got a shot of antibiotics and some stronger oral ones, and it still took her about a week to recover.

[joannqn]

We've only had to take our kids to the ER twice in 9 years. The first time was when my daughter fell and hit her forehead on the doorway trim. She had the largest goose egg I've ever seen and the thud was REALLY bad. We were worried about a concussion. The second time was when my youngest, then 2 weeks old, had a fever of 101. I wouldn't have worried about that temperature normally but it was on our newborn care paper as a "call immediately" so we did and were told to take him in right away. He ended up staying for 8 days battling a kidney infection and RSV.

 

On the other hand, I end up in the ER much more frequently...preterm labor, dehydration while pregnant, the white of my eye swelling up like a water balloon, and a concussion. Funny thing, but not really funny, I've never gone to the ER for what ended up being minor anaphylactic reaction. For some reason, I don't panic too much when golf balls start growing in my throat.

[Bright_Future]

Broken bones and any profuse bleeding which might require stitches or staples. The insurance company loves us because we never go to the doctor or hospital :lol:

[3lilreds in NC]

Abbie has gone in for group when the breathing treatment in the dr.'s office didn't help, and for the lovely, parallel cuts she got on her head from an ethernet card, requiring stitches.

 

Emma has been for her broken arms, and another time when I thought she might have broken her foot because she wouldn't walk on it.

 

Schmooey has been twice for bad breathing retractions that I could not get under control at home with the nebulizer.

 

I didn't take him in for a high fever - that time his breathing was OK and he was keeping ibuprofen/Tylenol down. But, I would, if I couldn't get it under control with medicine and a cool bath.

 

I think any time your mama radar says "take them" is a good time to go. At the very least, do you have a nurse line you can call? That always makes me feel better, when I don't really need to take them but I want someone with medical knowledge to reassure me. :grouphug:

[mom2fiveboysnc]

At our ED we code any child with a fever over 103 to get a room ASAP, especially infants and we don't want them sitting in the waiting room getting exposed to gosh knows what. Their bodies are not able to compensate for high fevers as ours so it can take them alot longer to come down. The threat of febrile seizures is not how high the fever gets but how quickly it goes up or comes down. We normally give them Tylenol or Motrin first unless it is really high (combo then). Most kids have nothing show up and we send them home after running lots of tests (RSV washing, flu swab, Urine analysis-know that you child may need in&out cath for sterile specimen if they can't pee and no, we don't use collection bags) and we get the fever down.

You would be surprised (maybe not) at how many parents bring their children in for fever and never gave them a thing at home first. That drives me crazy!! I can count on <2 hands the # of times my 5 kids have been in the ER, all but 2 for stitches, never for fever.

If the fever came on suddenly or your child is dehydrated bring them in. If your gut tells you something is bad wrong, by all means bring them in. Most of the docs in my ED take into account that a mother knows her child best and can sense when something is really wrong. HTH, sorry so long!

[Mere2]

Ohh I have done lots of ER runs - in fact I should have my own seat in the waiting room. Last time was 2 weeks ago as my DS was having problems breathing...you know the big suck in the whole rib cage, nostrils flaring desating in the 80s type of thing. :glare: This time he was very considerate and it was 3pm - normally its the 2am thing.

 

Basically I do Er when temp is over 42 degrees (DS febriles over 42 and he only has one kidney), steroids aren't helping him to breath, broken bones (DD tried to fly from the top of the playground), RSV & croup as babies at 2am and the only one we haven't done yet is lots and lots of blood.:tongue_smilie:

 

Basically anything I dont feel that I and my extensive medical cabinet can handle and its outside doctors hours (what is with Sunday nights?), then its an ER run.

 

Disclaimer: My DS is a medical special needs child (muscle disease) so we do get to have a free pass :D

 

Fi

[KidsHappen]

I have six kids ranging in age from 9 to 26 in all that time we made the following trips to the ER:

 

When ds fractured his skull

When ds cut off the top of his finger

WHen ds got a hole in his head by hitting it on the side of the pool after jumping off the diving board.

When ds got a whole in his head from getting hit in the head with a rock.

 

There were probably a few more trips for him when he was at his father's house.

 

When oldest dd had the measles and a very high fever.

 

when 15 year old had an ear infection in the middle of the night on a cross country trip and was in so much pain she was crying.

 

Trips that did not warrent the ER. WHen one girl broke her arm jumping out of a tree.

 

One broke her nose at a roller skating rink.

 

One fell off of a horse and hurt her neck.

 

One had seizures.

 

I am a don't go to the ER unless it is clearly broken, bleeding or causing extreme pain kind of mom. I don't go to doctor much more frequently. I have a few children who have only went in to visit with the doctor for school or camp physicals. One that had a lot of ear infections, one with a lot of strep throat and one mini-me. I only go if I can't resolved the problem myself, the doc can't help me over the phone, and the child is truely miserable.

[Ria]

I only go to the ER if my doctor advises me to (ie, I have a concern, call the doc, and talk to him about it...a high fever would fall into this category and we've never gone to ER for this, just talked to the doc) OR if there is a life-threatening/clearly serious injury requiring immediate medical attention.

 

The time that my son bit most of his tongue off (it was hanging by a thread...he needed emergency surgery) was one of those ER times.

 

Ria

[Melinda in VT]

Our ER trips so far:

 

1. oldest son, then 4, somehow knocked over an improvised weight bench and dropped a heavy weight on his toe. (toe was broken, but the rest of the foot was fine)

2. DD (then 2) had breathing problems and the doctors' office didn't have a small enough nebulizer so they sent us to the ER (pneumonia)

3. oldest son broke his leg skiing

4. middle son (then 6) had a 6-foot fall in Costa Rica, complained of stomach pain, and looked "funny" (ended up being hospitalized for 2 days with internal bleeding)

5. DD (then 6) fell off the monkey bars, landed on her elbow, and dislocated her elbow and broke her arm in two places. (ended up with surgery)

6. youngest DS (then 2) had a vomiting/diarrhea combination that we couldn't stay on top of and he was getting very listless. (ended up with a two-day hospital stay for dehydration)

[TravelingChris]

We have done the ER for broken bones (not usually but sometimes), eye injuries (2 different times, 2 different causes), bad cuts that needed stitches, animal bites (2 times, different children, different animals), breathing problems, and one time- for fever. That one time (actually two days in a row on a holiday weekend) it turned out that it was pneumonia. The first night they told me it was nothing, and I went back again the next night when it didn't seem like nothing to me and she kept having a high fever even with medications. Once we started the anti-biotic, her fever came down soon.