HELP! Baby sick at 5 weeks old...

[duckybelle]

You arent being overprotective....just safe. My daughter started getting fevers and then bumps, which then opened up and peeled when she was about 1 month old. Took 3 doctors, and several tests before they found she had Omenn's Syndrome, and had to have chemo, bone marrow transplant, etc. She is fine now, but Im glad the one doc who said I was being overprotective was not listened to. Kids with that disease usually don't live past 6mo old without treatment. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS! I have donated bone marrow twice, watched her in intensive care, etc, all for "nothing" as the one doc put it! (She is almost 16 now, and PERFECTLY healthy!)

 

[cinnamon-sugah]

I just want to echo PP who have said to trust your instincts. When DS was 2 weeks old, he was running a fever and his breathing didn't sound right to me. His Ped. told me that I was just a nervous mom and sent us home. As the afternoon wore on, I was more and more worried. After a trip to the ER and a chest X-ray, he was diagnosed with pneumonia!

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and prayers! The little man is sleeping right now luckily no fever and comfortable. My husband and I have been taking shifts the last couple of nights just so his fever doesn't spike and us not realize it because we are snoozing. We are a bit tired but I am not sure if I would be able to sleep anyway.



This is honestly my greatest fear, I don't know how you made it through it. I would never sleep again! I am known in my family as the crazy one because I didn't sleep the entire first year my daughter was born. She is turning 3 this week and I still check on her to make sure she is okay in the middle of the night.

I would HIGHLY recommend bringing her into bed with you. You will FEEL if her fever goes up. You will hear her fuss. It's truly the safest place for a sick kiddo, because people get rest but you will not get into such a deep sleep you don't hear her. At bare minimum bring her into the bedroom and put her right next to the bed, perhaps with an arm in the crib/bassinet if you can. Especially b/c you worry so much when they are little, have her near you while you sleep, so that you CAN sleep.

Also, febrile seizures are nothing. Seriously. They are benign, they mean nothing. Nothing to be afraid of. My guy's first fever? I realized he was having one because he started shaking in my arms, and THEN he got hot. Normal, then shaking, then hot. I called his doc after taking his temperature, she said "take a tepid bath with him, call me back if it doesn't go down". We did so, it went down, we never called her back. It's never happened again. Having one means you might be prone to having more, but since they mean nothing, I just think..."yeah, and?"

Others wondered about a reaction to other things...I wonder if it's a reaction to the drugs you're giving her. Rather than drugs, I would suggest a nice, tepid bath WITH her. YOu run the bath, get into the lukewarm water, have hubby pass her down to you, cover her with a face towel. This is not a COLD bath, this is lukewarm. It coudl even be proper body temperature, since that's what you're trying to help her get to anyway. Sing to her, nurse her, love her, and gently scoop water onto her back, her legs, her feet...if she gets cold, warm up the water! But otherwise you should find that she cools down. When you're ready to get out, get hubby in there with nice soft towel and dipe, get her bundly, get her dressed, see how she's doing. Wash rinse repeat. That way you know what her fever is really doing...is it during specific hours? Is it all day but not at night? Reverse? etc etc. That way it's better than the drugs, b/c those just keep the temperature down until the drug wears off...

Good luck, hope it's nothing major, and just something simple she picked up from big sis.

 

[dana1003]

i have twin girls ..at 3 one had a fever of 105 annd was lethargic..we brought her to the hospital, they gave her motrtin and sent her home. another time my other twin got a fever or 103 and broke out into that rash in the drs office. he said it was from the virus. she had that fever for 7 days!!!!! we were beside ourselves..he told us it would eventually break. on the 8th day it did but lemme tell u, worst week. i slept in their room all week.being a parent is the worst when their sick!!!! the worry you feel , like something terrible is gonna happen.i never wait to bring them to the dr either. im a pest and they know me by name-but who cares if i annoy them.

 

[kevschickee]

I just want to echo PP who have said to trust your instincts. When DS was 2 weeks old, he was running a fever and his breathing didn't sound right to me. His Ped. told me that I was just a nervous mom and sent us home. As the afternoon wore on, I was more and more worried. After a trip to the ER and a chest X-ray, he was diagnosed with pneumonia!

This happened to my baby. The Dr said its just a cold let it run its course. Well she wasn't getting better and then her temphit 104 and I brought her back in well after blood work and xray she had pnemonia.

Another time she had a low grade temp nothing hi and no spike well I laid her down to take her temp all of the sudden her back arched her eyes rolled and she wasn't responsive. She was having a siezure. I called an ambulance and they told me she was fine so the next day we took her to the pedi and she ordered a EEG. The EEG came back abnormal and we found that she has a form of epilepsy. The Dr said she will prob out grow it. We decided no seizure meds for now. We will wait to see if she has another one. So right now we follow seizure safety and I carry around a sedetive gel just incase. So my point is don't always listen to its just a febrile seizure it means nothing because sometimes its not. I would ask for an EEG.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

It is so scary when the kids are sick. Many times my kids have gotten the rash you have described. It is just a viral rash. It starts at the top and works its way down. It is completely common. There isn't anything you can really do about it. It is just the virus working its way out. It should go away in a day or so. Hang in there.

 

[Leleluvsdis]

Make sure to keep him in only a diaper. Don't try and sweat out a fever on babies. Also a cool bath is good for cooling from outside in. Sorry if this has already been said, I didn't read the whole post.

 

[kpm76]

I would HIGHLY recommend bringing her into bed with you. You will FEEL if her fever goes up. You will hear her fuss. It's truly the safest place for a sick kiddo, because people get rest but you will not get into such a deep sleep you don't hear her. At bare minimum bring her into the bedroom and put her right next to the bed, perhaps with an arm in the crib/bassinet if you can. Especially b/c you worry so much when they are little, have her near you while you sleep, so that you CAN sleep.

Also, febrile seizures are nothing. Seriously. They are benign, they mean nothing. Nothing to be afraid of. My guy's first fever? I realized he was having one because he started shaking in my arms, and THEN he got hot. Normal, then shaking, then hot. I called his doc after taking his temperature, she said "take a tepid bath with him, call me back if it doesn't go down". We did so, it went down, we never called her back. It's never happened again. Having one means you might be prone to having more, but since they mean nothing, I just think..."yeah, and?"

We do not co-sleep on a regular basis but I have to agree with taking her into bed with you when she's got the fever. We did this with DD and it's true, you FEEL the temp rise. I didn't sleep for the week when she was sick but at least I knew when I need to strip her down and give her a lukewarm bath.

You're right, febrile seizure are nothing but scary as all heck. Every kid experiences them differently. My DD went completely limp and foamed at the mouth. When I tried to pick her up it was like holding a 29 pound newborn....she had no control over her arms, legs, head etc. SCARY! After I call 911, I called the pedi and he was calm as a cucumber....told me I did not even have to go to the hospital, I could just bring her to him. No way was I doing that...haha. I wanted to be sure that it really was febrile. They told us at the children's hospital that if she experiences another one, we don't need to take her in. I have to be honest though, I will. I would never forgive myself if God forbid it was something more serious. I am not taking that chance.

 

[HGD24]

I feel like everyone tells me that I am overreacting and honestly with my first I probably did! But when my second was born the doctor mentioned to look for jaundice because of his blood type. The next day I thought his eyes looked a bit yellow. Everyone told me that I was overreacting but I didn't care....well, he had jaundice! Thank goodness I didn't listen to everyone and my ped. trusted me. I would rather take a trip to the doctors than "wait and see"!

I made a promise to myself not to be THAT mom who rushed her kid to the pedi's office for every little fever, fussy spell, etc. because I thought people would just think I was being a paranoid first time mom. Well, DD ended up having chronic ear infections and after the 3rd one, we knew the signs pretty well. Our instints are there for a reason and we really need to be more in-tuned with them. Sounds like you're doing a great job listening to yours.

 

[laughinplace199]

Glad to hear your little one is doing better.

This is honestly my greatest fear, I don't know how you made it through it. I would never sleep again! I am known in my family as the crazy one because I didn't sleep the entire first year my daughter was born. She is turning 3 this week and I still check on her to make sure she is okay in the middle of the night.

Don't worry, you're not alone. My kids are 10, 8, and 2 and I check on all three of them in the middle of the night just about every night. When they were babies and started sleeping through the night, I used to set my alarm for every 2 hrs to check on them. They slept way more than I did!

 

[PrincessPeyton]

Don't worry, you're not alone. My kids are 10, 8, and 2 and I check on all three of them in the middle of the night just about every night. When they were babies and started sleeping through the night, I used to set my alarm for every 2 hrs to check on them. They slept way more than I did!

I got a little teary-eyed when I read this because it's the first time I felt like I am not alone! I don't even tell most people that I still check on her because of the reaction I get. I probably also go teary-eyed because that means there is no end in sight! i will never sleep thru the night again!

So my update for today is that today was the first day since last week that we haven't called the doctor because there was no fever and no new symptoms! He still has the rash but it hasn't gotten any worse. I feel like we are finally winning this battle! My DD birthday is tomorrow. We are going to drop the baby off at my dad's so we can take my DD to a place called Tea with an Accent for a tea party and we don't have to worry about all the germs and our people coming to close to him! Thank goodness for grandparents! Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers!

 

[MomTo4+more]

I am glad he is feeling better! Hope the birthday celebration is lots of fun - enjoy the tea and the company!

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

try alternating between tylenol and motrin to fight the fever every 4 hours. I bet he's picked up a virus.

You cannot give Motrin to a baby under 6 months of age, unless directed by a pediatrician.


I hope your little one feels better soon. I don't have any experience with a baby that young being sick. My DD's first cold was at 6 months of age.