• Normal body temperatures vary quite a bit. We consider any temperature >100.4F a fever.

  • A fever is part of the natural way your child’s body responds to infection; as it most likely a response to an infection, it helps to fight off the germ that is causing the child’s infection.

  • We recommend you treat the symptoms, not the fever. Fevers are not themselves dangerous to your child.

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• If your child has fever and seems uncomfortable, you should give him/her some Tylenol or Motrin. Please check our website for dosing charts for both medicines.

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• We should definitely see your child for fever in the office if:

  • They are between 2 and 6 months.

    • We do not need to see them if they have a fever within 72 hours of receiving vaccines.

  • The fever is greater than 105.

  • The fever has lasted longer than 5 consecutive days without improvement.

  • The fever is associated with a rash.

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• If your child is less than 2 months old, please take them to the Emergency Department if they have a fever. In infants this young, we worry that they may have a more serious infection if they have a fever, as their immune systems are not very well developed yet.

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• Regardless of the degree of a child’s fever, a child who is very sick (having a lot of trouble breathing, dehydrated, lethargic) should go to the ER regardless of temperature. A child older than 3 months who is acting well can generally be seen in the office the next day, regardless of the specific number on the thermometer.

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