When is a child's fever an emergency?
Age sets the rules: any fever in a baby under three months is an urgent same-day assessment, no exceptions. Beyond that age, the child's behavior outranks the thermometer: a 39.5 child playing and drinking is usually safer than a 38.2 child who is limp and listless.
Emergency signs at any age: a rash that does not fade under a pressed glass, stiff neck, breathing difficulty, blue lips, seizures, inconsolable crying, signs of dehydration, or drowsiness beyond the ordinary.
Otherwise: fluids, comfortable clothing, paracetamol or ibuprofen by weight for comfort, and review any fever beyond five days. Trust the parental gut; it has good statistics behind it.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org on fever
Try the fever check30 seconds, free, nothing to installWhat your reading means by the way it was taken, because an ear, a forehead and a mouth do not agree.
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a thermometer
A basic digital stick thermometer is accurate and costs a few dollars. Forehead scanners are fine for quick checks on children; ear thermometers need good technique to read true.
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