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My Son Is 8 Years Old. He Has A Temperature.
Brief Answer:
Recommendations on the fever given below
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service.
I carefully went through your query.
If your son is having temperature (38.5C) while taking Motrin, this is a very common thing and there is nothing to worry as long as he is active and looks well.
First make sure he is taking the right dose of Motrin for his age or weight. Being 8 years old very likely he is able to swallow pills (syrups might not be able to provide the needed dose for him depending on the weight in kg). If you tell me his weight I can calculate the dose he needs for you but as a general rule he should take average of 8 mg of motrin per kg every 6 hours after some food.
You can easily combine tylenol (also called acetaminophen or paracetamol) up to 15 mg per kg of weight every 6 hours and this can be taken together with the ibuprofen (at the same time)
To conclude:
- it is common the first 3 days for children to get high temperatures even though they get medications for it, as long as he is active, behaves as normal and looks well
- Make sure he drinks plenty of water, fever dehydrates the children and if he also has any diarrhea or vomiting he will need oral rehydration solutions (ORS) that can be taken over the counter in pharmacy to substitute both water and electrolytes he might be loosing.
- You may combine tylenol and motrin (taken together every 6 hours)
- if the fever does not go down with the combination of both medications you may give him a nice bath, with nice warm water at first and then gradually removing a bowl of warm water and adding a bowl of cold water every 5 minutes. Make sure you do not cool the water too much or too quick because he should not shiver.
- if you notice any changes in behavior (the child is less active or not oriented, he interacts less or is very tired) or you think he does not look as he usually looks when he has fever, then he will need to see the doctor again.
I hope this answers your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
Recommendations on the fever given below
Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service.
I carefully went through your query.
If your son is having temperature (38.5C) while taking Motrin, this is a very common thing and there is nothing to worry as long as he is active and looks well.
First make sure he is taking the right dose of Motrin for his age or weight. Being 8 years old very likely he is able to swallow pills (syrups might not be able to provide the needed dose for him depending on the weight in kg). If you tell me his weight I can calculate the dose he needs for you but as a general rule he should take average of 8 mg of motrin per kg every 6 hours after some food.
You can easily combine tylenol (also called acetaminophen or paracetamol) up to 15 mg per kg of weight every 6 hours and this can be taken together with the ibuprofen (at the same time)
To conclude:
- it is common the first 3 days for children to get high temperatures even though they get medications for it, as long as he is active, behaves as normal and looks well
- Make sure he drinks plenty of water, fever dehydrates the children and if he also has any diarrhea or vomiting he will need oral rehydration solutions (ORS) that can be taken over the counter in pharmacy to substitute both water and electrolytes he might be loosing.
- You may combine tylenol and motrin (taken together every 6 hours)
- if the fever does not go down with the combination of both medications you may give him a nice bath, with nice warm water at first and then gradually removing a bowl of warm water and adding a bowl of cold water every 5 minutes. Make sure you do not cool the water too much or too quick because he should not shiver.
- if you notice any changes in behavior (the child is less active or not oriented, he interacts less or is very tired) or you think he does not look as he usually looks when he has fever, then he will need to see the doctor again.
I hope this answers your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj,
General and Family Physician
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Nagamani Ng
Answered by
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