# fever and shaking in 14 mo. old?



## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

I'm trying not to be a paranoid mama, and everything in Dr. Sears indicates spiking a high fever quickly is probably just a viral infection that will pass on its own, but dd is *shaking* too, which is freaking me out a bit.

She's been drinking a lot of water and nursing a lot today, but had no other signs of being sick. We took a nap from 4:30-5:30 p.m., and she felt a little warm and I noticed she was shaking a bit when we woke up and I tried to put her on her feet while I changed her diaper. Armpit temp. was 100.3 F. Now it's 7 p.m. and her temp. is 103.2 F, by armpit again, so I know it could actually be a degree or so higher.

Her eyes are clear, she's alert, she's been eating and drinking, playing -- a bit crankier than normal, but not lethargic or pale. But she's shaking! Is this normal for a high fever? A sign of something else? Worrisome or no?

TIA!

x-posted in Health and Healing


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## RainCoastMama (Oct 13, 2004)

Call your local nurse's hotline or even the children's hospital and ask them. It could just be a normal reaction to having a fever (adults get fever chills) or not...we experienced a horrible scare with our babe - she had a fever, then started to shiver, then had a fever seizure that took us to emerg (it was nothing, thank god, but a 'normal' childhood event). We did get good info from the medical pros. Use your mama instinct - I always err on the side of caution. Good luck.


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## teachma (Dec 20, 2002)

Last August, my dd, then 17 months old, had a highish fever (somewhere around 102) and along with being a complete floppy ragdoll in my arms for hours, she was also making a deep grunting sound with each breath. I was very worried and even brought her in to be seen by the doctor on a Sunday morning. The physician on call said that grunting is a not-uncommon symptom of fever in babies and toddlers! I never would have known. Nonetheless, she asked to administer Motrin to dd and made us wait in the dr's office for the medicine to kick in. She wanted to see if the grunting would immeditaely disappear when the fever did- and it did! So although we don't ordinarily medicate for fever in my family, we did this time, and I continued to do so for the rest of the day. By the next day, the virus had passed. If you aren't completely against meds, you may want to try Tylenol to see if, when the fever is reduced, the shaking subsides.


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## gabry (Jan 21, 2004)

Shaking is often what is called 'chills' too, and it often happens with high fevers. It's because the body 'resets' its thermostat and even with a fever one perceives oneself to be cold.
Now, I'm assuming she is fully conscious when this happens and there is no reason to believe she is having a seizure (which I think you would recognize even if you'd never seen one in real life). Our ds has had several febrile seizures, and only the first time did we go to the ER/hospital, and even have a lumbar puncture and such to rule out meningitis (he was only 7 months, and that's more likely that early).
Anyways, even though supposedly it doesn't make a difference, I am always quick to treat a fever with tylenol or motrin. You could consider trying that and see if it resolves the shaking too. And hydrate hydrate hydrate. And, like you're already doing, watch your dd, and go by her behavior, level of alertness etc. Hope she's better soon!


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

Are her eyes rolling back a bit, or her head nodding back? And/or are her limbs randomly jerking here and there? If so it could be febrile seizrues. They are scary but harmless. My girls both had them and get them with a semi-high fever.

If it's still that high as I'm posting this, consider piggybacking Motrin with Tylenol. Give both together, then as each wears off (4 hours for Tylenol, 8 hours with Motrin) give another dose. A nurse at the hospital taught me that when my dd2 had a high fever/seizures.


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## earthmama369 (Jul 29, 2005)

Phew. We made it through the night with a tired mama but a pretty much all-better dd. It wasn't seizures -- she was conscious and alert the whole time -- it was just the chills. It's been so long since any of us had a really high fever that I forgot that can happen.







:

We pushed the nursing and water as much as possible, and around 2 a.m. I finally gave her some infant inbuprofen because she was tossing and turning so much, and just couldn't get to sleep. Normally I like to let a fever run its course, but I figured sleep was equally important to the healing process, you know? That worked really quickly and she stopped shivering and was able to find a comfortable sleeping position much easier. I, being a paranoid mama, stayed awake watching her sleep most of the night, but dh was a love and did the single-parent thing this morning so I could get some sleep.

I'm just not good at watching my child feel miserable. I want a magic wand. Ugh. But the magic boob seems to have run a close second.







Thanks for all your help and support, mamas!


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## swissmiss (Mar 22, 2005)

Earthmama--
So glad to hear that things got better overnight!
I, too, tend to stay awake all night, totally vigilant the times that my ds (now age 3) has had a fever, even a slight one. Ditto on the wanting a "magic wand". I find myself praying to whomever will listen--all night long.


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## gabry (Jan 21, 2004)

Glad your dd is better, Sarah, and thanks for giving the update!


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## mariamaroo (Aug 15, 2004)

My 2 yo dd had a similar weird day of sickness last weekend. Woke up fine, but before breakfast in about a 20 minutes period she got quiet, hot, whimpery, lost her appetite and nearly fell asleep at the breakfast table. She had a high fever all day, and was miserable, dozing and nursing literally all day. She got shaking chills too, and I felt so awful for her!

The really weird thing was that the next day she was fine.


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## mollyeilis (Mar 6, 2004)

Popping in even though it's resolved.









With my son's first fever, he had a febrile seizure. Since I have some knowledge of that, I knew there was nothing wrong, it was simply a febrile seizure, and that they have no consequences. He did it while the fever rose; I actually found out he HAD a fever b/c he started shaking in my arms, and I felt his forehead. I was carrying him the whole time!

I did call our ND, she affirmed what I already knew, and suggested a tepid bath. I tell you, lukewarm/tepid baths are the BEST. Thanks to that suggestion, I've never felt the need to medicate DS for fevers; we just get into a bathtub, he nurses or just hugs me, and his fever goes down gently. We do use homeopathy as well, but the baths are amazing.

So keep that in mind next time you face a fever!









Oh, also, at around 16 months we travelled, and DS started working on molars and canines at once. 3 nights in a row he had a very high fever and just did NOT feel well, just wanted to lie down with and on me, and accepted everything I did to help him (usually not his personality). I stayed up with him, bathing, nursing, trying to sleep....then in the morning the fever would be gone and he was normal. Next night around 8pm, same thing. It was the weirdest thing! And I was SO glad to not use anything to lower his fever, because then I KNEW that the fever was breaking by morning, and that it wasn't just an after affect of a medicine, KWIM? Helped me really get to know what was going on better.

So those are my thoughts.







Tepid/lukewarm baths!


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