The good

Fevers can make us feel very uncomfortable. Our bodies make chemicals called cytokines that then tell our brain to make our body temperature rise. As our cytokine levels and temperatures rise, we can feel cold and shaky, tired, irritable, and our muscles and head may hurt. Children often appear very irritable or extremely tired when they have a fever. 

The ugly

When your child’s body temperature rises, so does their pulse (heart rate) and breathing (respiratory) rate. When you hold your child during a fever, you may feel their heart beating hard and their breathing quicken; they may sweat as their body tries to cool itself down. Then, as the body temperature drops back down, so do their heart and respiratory rates, and they appear more calm. It’s difficult to predict how long your child will have a fever with any given illness. Some children have “low grade” fevers when they get a certain infection, whereas other children will have much higher temperatures with the same infection. But much more important than treating a fever is making sure that your child’s body is tolerating the infection itself. In a very basic way, this is making sure that your child stays hydrated, is breathing normally, and is alert. Of course, most if not all parents want to treat a fever when it comes, and this is both understandable and appropriate. However, it’s even more important to monitor your child to look for worsening signs of illness. We will talk more in future blogs about fevers in children who are at higher risk of serious infections, as well as important warning signs. 

The facts

Young children have an average of 6-8 colds per year, and usually one per month during peak season. Unfortunately each illness can last up to 2 weeks, which means your child may spend about half of the year sick! Many of these colds can be accompanied by a fever, which may be short-lived or last much of the duration of the illness.