Fever (Age 0-5)

Definition

• Your child has a fever if:
• Rectal, Ear or Forehead temperature: 100.4° F (38.0° C) or higher
• Oral or Mouth temperature: 100° F (37.8° C) or higher
• Under the arm (Armpit) temperature: 99° F (37.2° C) or higher
• Caution: Ear temperatures are not accurate before 6 months of age
• Excluded Age: birth to 3 months. These babies need to be seen if they have fever.

• Age under 3 months
• Your child looks or acts very sick
• Any serious symptoms occur, such as trouble breathing
• Fever goes above 104° F (40° C)
• Fever without other symptoms lasts more than 24 hours and age less than 2 years
• Fever lasts more than 3 days (72 hours)
• You think your child needs to be seen
• Your child becomes worse

Causes

• Main cause: colds and other viral infections.
• Fever may be the only symptom for the first 24 hours. This often occurs with a viral illness. The start of symptoms (runny nose, cough, loose stools) is often delayed. In the case of Roseola, fever may be the only symptom for 2 or 3 days.
• Most often, you won't know the cause of the fever until other symptoms develop. This may take 24 hours.
• Bacterial infections (as with a Strep throat or a kidney infection) also cause fever.
• Teething does not cause fever.

Fever and Crying

• Fever on its own shouldn't cause much crying.
• Frequent crying in a child with fever is caused by pain until proven otherwise.
• Hidden causes can be ear infections, kidney infections, and sore throats.

Normal Temperature Range

• Rectal or Forehead. A reading of 98.6° F (37° C) is just the average temp. A normal low can be 96.8° F (36° C) in the morning. It can change to a high of 100.3° F (37.9° C) late in the day. This is a normal range.
• By mouth. A reading of 97.6° F (36.5° C) is just the average mouth temp. A normal low can be 95.8° F (35.5° C) in the morning. It can change to a high of 99.9° F (37.7° C) late in the day. This is a normal range.