How high does a 3 year old's temperature get before taking them to ER?

Question

My 3 year old is very sick and has a 103 fever and is taking Children's tylenol every 4 hrs. It seems like the flu but no runs or anything like that. Some coughing, a little phelgm. Do you take them in if it hits 105?

Answer 1

Children tend to run higher fevers than adults. The degree of fever may not indicate how serious your child's illness is. With a minor illness, such as a cold, a child may have a temperature of 104 F; a very serious infection may not cause a fever or may cause only a mild fever. It is important to look for other symptoms along with the fever.

A fever in a healthy child is usually not dangerous, especially if the child does not have other symptoms and the fever goes away in 3 to 4 days. Most children who have a fever will be fussy and play less and may not eat as much as usual.

Answer 2

103 is NOT a high fever. Really.

Our oldest daughter runs fevers at the drop of a hat, often with no other symptoms, and she gets febrile seizures, so we know a LOT about fever.

Our pediatrician says that, unless your child is very uncomfortable, you don't even need to treat a fever under 102 in a child over 6 months old. (Fever is the body's way of fighting infection, and most higher fevers are caused by viruses, which your pediatrician can't do much about, so you might as well let it run its course.)

(It's not even a fever unless it's over 100.4. And Tylenol/Motrin won't bring a temp to normal unless it was a very low fever in the first place.)

If it gets to 105, you want to call the on-call pediatrician for advice. (Brain damage will not occur under 106, and most fevers can be safely observed/treated at home.)

Dress your child in light layers so he can bundle up a bit when he's chilled, or strip down when he's hot. Keep him hydrated: water, popsicles, Jell-o, soup, Gatorade, Pedialyte, etc. Give Motrin (it works better and lasts longer). If he's really miserable, try giving him a shallow, warm bath: just put him in a few inches of warm water, and get his head and chest wet. (You do NOT want to induce shivering, but evaporation will help to cool him quickly. Shivering increases the temperature.)

If you feel like you're losing control of the fever, you can give a dose of Tylenol and a dose of Motrin together, then alternate them, starting with Tylenol, every 4 hours.

With no other symptoms, this is the best thing to do. Do NOT take your child to the ER: you'll be misusing medical dollars and resources, plus exposing a child whose immune system is already working overtime to all the gross bugs in the ER.

If you're worried, call your on-call pediatrician.

And remember, too: febrile seizures, while scary, are NOT medically significant.

Answer 3

Fever alone, regardless of how high, is not necessarily the best indicator of how seriously ill a child is. If your child is drinking and acting fairly normal, but is running a fever, his body is most likely doing what it needs to do to fight off a virus. Fever scares most parents, but it is the immune system's natural defense against illness because it stimulates white blood cell activity. Your child's brain is NOT going to boil with a fever of 103. Even a temperature of 106, which is rare, will only in extreme circumstances cause long lasting damage. How is your child's behavior? If he is very lethargic, hard to wake up, won't drink, and seems to just be not acting the way you think he should, then by all means, err on the side of caution and go to ER. Do what you can to help his body lower his temperature naturally. It is common to think we need to keep sick children extra warm, but dress him in warm pajamas with only a light covering to help his body stay cooler. Offer him plenty of cool liquids, whatever he will drink is fine at this point. If he doesn't eat, don't worry, that is normal. Two summers ago, we had our then 7 year old daughter in ER because she was running a 104 temp, was lethargic and began to hallucinate. The ER doctor gave us a professional dosage list for children's motrin and children's tylenol. For a child 2-3 years old who is 24-35 pounds, give 1 tsp. of elixir or 2 tablets of 80 mg. of tylenol. Give 4-5 times daily not to exceed 5 doses in 24 hours. For motrin, a child 2-3 years old who weighs 24-35 pounds should have 3/4 tsp. of children's motrin if fever is under 102.5. Fever over 102.5 give 1 1/2 tsp. Give every 6-8 hours with no more than 40 mg per day. It took about 3 hours to lower her temperature using a combination of motrin and tylenol. We took off most of her clothes and had no cover on her. She was pretty out of it, but as her temp came down, she began to wake up and the nurse got her to eat a popsicle. We could feel her body cool down beginning with her feet and it seemed to just travel up her body until her forehead felt cool. They ended up not finding anything wrong with her of significance after checking her ears, throat, urine, and lungs.

Answer 4

In regardes to your question you can alternate the childrens tylenol with childrens motrin. Another thing is to not have a lot of tight clothing on the baby. Do not for any reason bundle the child up it just holds in the heat. Give lots of liquids. Watch the child for a little bit after alternating the meds and the other suggestions if fever does not go down then yes definitely take the baby in to the er. Also try to give the baby a luke warm bath. I hope that this helps you out.

Answer 5

Fever is the natural defense of the body against an infection, usually a virus. Young children run higher and more frequent fever than older children because their immune systems are developing. If there is also some cough and congestion it is most likely an upper respiratory infection. If he/she runs the fever consistently for more than 3-4 days you might consider taking him to the doctor but the emergency room is not indicated. You will sit there for hours and be exposed to other sick people.

Give tylenol or motrin in weight appropriate doses, dress the child lightly, offer popsicles or cool drinks and put the child in a lukewarm bath or take him/her in the shower with you for a few minutes to help reduce the fever. Do not pack him in ice or rub him down with alcohol.

Answer 6

I was told to never let a fever get over 104. That's ER time. Once it gets over that, you're creeping into the danger zone, and your child could suffer some serious brain damage. She should be in the ER RIGHT NOW.

Answer 7

Personally, I'd be at the ER once the fever hits 103, my child has been vomiting for more than 24 hours or there is lack of response/intrest in eating. Brain damage can occur if the fever gets too high and I'm pretty sure that at 105, that can start happening. For children under two, they should see a doctor/ER at 101 so I would be heading there if the fever does not recede within the next hour and has presisted more than 12 hours.

Answer 8

Just take him to the ER to be safe, that's a pretty high fever.

You also should be alternating between Motrin AND Tylenol at this point.

Answer 9

I just went through these same questions with my 3 year old. Here's something I found online about fevers. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/general/body/fever.html

Answer 10

Take your child right this minute to the emergency room. Your son can go into convulsions. The fever is to high and the water in his brain will boil and he can seriously go into a coma. Before leaving to the hospital put ice packs on the back of his neck and wash him down with a cold wash cloth. Keep him cool until you get to the hospital . Go rush to the hospital right now. God Bless. Hope he will be alright. Come back on and tell us how he is doing. Don't give him any more tylenol until you see the doctor.