95.1 degree body temp.

[sms]

DS11 has a sore throat and is congested. The strange thing is his temp. It is 94-96. Seems really low. Anyone have any idea what this could be? Should I take him to ER tonight or dr in the am?

 

[indygirl99]

DS11 has a sore throat and is congested. The strange thing is his temp. It is 94-96. Seems really low. Anyone have any idea what this could be? Should I take him to ER tonight or dr in the am?

Sometimes a low temp can be a sign of illness in children.

Call your doctor, they will have someone on call and they will tell you if he can wait till morning or needs to go to the ER now.

 

[low-key]

everyone will say take to ER now, but if it hold steady I would handle it in the morning. Get better care in day shift and save yourself a lot of money for something thats probably nothing

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not a doctor...

But what is his normal body temp?

What it means is that there is no fever. Not all cold symptoms produce one.

And while it is no substitute for proper medical advice, if he doesn't have difficulty breathing, I don't see why a trip to the ER would be needed. It sounds like a cold.

FWIW--we run low body temps (97ish). We measure with an ear thermometer and it does sometimes register on the lower side (95-96ish). We always check both ears. Not sure why it does that.

 

[SLP958]

Are you sure the thermometer is working right? Ours always reads low when the battery is low.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I would take the temp a few times over several hours to see if it's a pattern. Be certain he doesn't eat or drink anything at least 30 minutes before you take each temp. That can make it appear lower. Also, try using different thermometers to ensure it wasn't a malfunction. If he's still running consistently low in the morning, it's worth a call to the doctor to see if he should come in.

 

[Jennasis]

Anything below 95 is hypothermia ( I believe...). My guess is your thermometer is broken or needs new batteries...and if not, I'd be heading in to the ER or urgent care.
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/what-is-hypothermia

 

[ilovepcot]

Check your temp with the same thermometer. I'm inclined to believe the thermometer is not functioning right.

 

[LJSquishy]

Your thermometer may be malfunctioning. Take your own temp with it and if yours reads normal, I would take him in to get checked out. I would bet his temp isn't actually 95 degrees, though, and it's just a faulty thermometer.

 

[sms]

I used 2 different thermometers. One ear and one mouth. Both the same. He is sleeping. I covered him up really good. His temp is rising. Slowly. I'm going to keep checking him tonight. I will take him to doctor in the am. Thank you all so much for your help!

 

[aprilgail2]

Whats his normal temp? My daughter and I are both 97.1- if we get to 98.6 we are both not feeling well.

 

[lauradis]

I used 2 different thermometers. One ear and one mouth. Both the same. He is sleeping. I covered him up really good. His temp is rising. Slowly. I'm going to keep checking him tonight. I will take him to doctor in the am. Thank you all so much for your help!

Long night of mommy worrying, poor mommy.

Hope he feels better today.

 

[Ceila]

OP, doesn't your pediatrician have an on-call doctor you can contact? I've never had one that didn't. If I need to ask a question during non-office hours for something that I am really concerned about, I just leave a message with the answering service and one of the doctors calls me back. They can then tell me if I can wait it out until the next morning, if I should head to the ER, or if there is something I can do at home.

 

[BDL]

I am 1 of those rare people that when I run a fever, my temp can either go up or down. I've even gone so low as 94*. Call your primary care physician's office. Ask what they think you should do. It could just be the flu and your child's temp is scaring you more because of the direction, rather than the difference from norm.

 

[njmom47]

Doesn't body temperature go down a bit at night? Did you take his temp just before you posted? Hope he's feeling better today.

 

[kamik86]

I agree it would depend on his normal temp.

My normal temp is 96.8. So if I have a cold that is making me breath through my mouth and its a bit chilly in the room I can easily get 95.something.

My husbands normal temperature is 99.4 If his temperature was 96 I would be bringing him to the ER right after I figured out it wasn't the thermometer being wonky.

 

[nkereina]

My normal body temp is around 97. I just got through with a sinus infection and never had a fever, but my temp did read around 96. Never felt chills or anything like that. I think it's true that anything below 95 is "hypothermic" but if he has a low body temp to begin with, he probably won't show signs of true hypothermia.

 

[rgf207]

Anything below 95 F is considered mild Hypothermia. It seems very strange that his body temperature would be that low

 

[pweyl36]

Why the ER? He's sleeping,breathing fine,Even if it is a cold there is nothing a Dr can do is tell you Tylenol and fliuds. Even a temp of 100 is really not a freak out. I would never waste my time the the ER for a cold,flu.