When is childs temperature too high

You can treat a fever with medication like paracetamol if the fever is making your child hot and uncomfortable. Check the medication packaging for the recommended dose and frequency.

You can use ibuprofen if your child is older than three months. Do not give your child aspirin for any reason. It can also cause serious illness or even death in children with chickenpox or flu symptoms. Skip to content Skip to navigation. What is a fever? Fever is not an illness in itself, but is the sign of an illness. Causes of fever and high temperature in children Children get fevers for all kinds of reasons. Infections that might cause fever include: gastroenteritis common colds , influenza and other upper respiratory tract infections diseases like chickenpox , measles and mumps ear and throat infections like middle ear infection and tonsillitis urinary tract infections in babies and toddlers and urinary tract infections in children pneumonia meningitis.

Skip to navigation menu Skip to content. High Priority Alert. Close alert. Informational Alert. Fever - Myths Versus Facts. My child feels warm, so she has a fever. These are the cutoffs for fever using different types of thermometers: Rectal bottom , ear or forehead temperature: All fevers are bad for children.

Anyone can have a seizure triggered by fever. Seizures with fever are harmful. All fevers need to be treated with fever medicine. Without treatment, fevers will keep going higher.

With treatment, fevers should come down to normal. If you can't "break the fever", the cause is serious. Once the fever comes down with medicines, it should stay down.

If the fever is high, the cause is serious. Even if your child isn't thirsty, try to get them to drink little and often to keep their fluid levels up. If the environment is warm, you could help to your child to stay at a comfortable temperature by covering them with a lightweight sheet or opening a window. However, they should still be appropriately dressed for their surroundings and sponging your child with cool water isn't recommended to reduce a fever.

Children's paracetamol or ibuprofen work as antipyretics, which help to reduce fever, as well as being painkillers. You can't give them both at the same time, but if one doesn't work, you may want to try the other later. Antipyretics aren't always necessary. If your child isn't distressed by the fever or underlying illness, there's no need to use antipyretics to reduce a fever.

When using antipyretics, always read the patient information leaflet that comes with the medication to find the correct dose and frequency for your child's age.

Sometimes a high temperature in children is associated with more serious signs and symptoms, such as:. Home Illnesses and conditions Infections and poisoning Fever in children. Fever in children. Here's one dad's take on how to raise boys to be emotionally healthy.

Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Medically reviewed by Carissa Stephens, R. What a fever means. High fevers in newborns to 3-month-olds. High fevers in 3-month-olds to 3-year-olds. High fevers in children older than 3 years. In a nutshell: When to go to urgent care. The bottom line. Read this next. Infrastructure Bill: Why It's Vital to Public Health to Replace Old Water Pipes Lead in water pipes can cause a number of long lasting health effects, and experts say children are particularly vulnerable to them.