From the AAP Website -HealthyChildren.org:
Fever:
Fever and Your Baby:
By itself, fever is not an illness. Rather, it is a sign or symptom of sickness. In fact, usually it is a positive sign that the body is fighting infection. Fever stimulates certain defenses, such as the white blood cells, which attack and destroy invading bacteria.
The fever may actually be important in helping your child fight his infection. However, fever can make your child uncomfortable. It increases his need for fluids and makes his heart rate and breathing rate faster. Fever most commonly accompanies respiratory illnesses such as croup or pneumonia, ear infections, influenza (flu), severe colds, and sore throats. It also may occur with infections of the bowel, blood, or urinary tract, inflammation of brain and spinal cord (meningitis), and with a wide variety of viral illnesses.
How to Take a Child’s Temperature:
Taking Your Child’s Temperature:
While you often can tell if your child is warmer than usual by feeling his forehead, only a thermometer can tell how high the temperature is. Even if your child feels warmer than usual, you do not necessarily need to check this temperature unless he has other signs of illness.
Types of Digital Thermometers:
(I didn’t copy & paste the chart -you can look it up – Health.)
Digital multiuse thermometer:
Reads body temperature when the sensor located on the tip of the thermometer touches that part of the body.
Can be used rectally, orally, or axillary.
Rectal (in the bottom)
Oral (in the mouth)
Label thermometer “oral” or “rectal”. Don’t use the same thermometer in both places.
How to Use a Digital Multiuse Thermometer:
Rectal temperature:
If your child is younger than 3 years, taking a rectal temperature gives the best reading. The following is how to take a rectal temperature:
Clean the end of the thermometer with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Rinse it with cool water. Do not rinse it with hot water.
Put a small amount of lubricant, such as petroleum jelly, on the end.
Place your child belly down across your lap or on a firm surface. Hold him by placing your palm against his lower back, just above his bottom. Or place your child face up and bend his legs to his chest. Rest your free hand against the back of the thighs.
Be sure to label the rectal thermometer so it’s not accidentally used in the mouth.
Oral temperature:
Once your child is 4 or 5 years of age, you can take his temperature by mouth. The following is how to take an oral temperature:
Clean the thermometer with lukewarm soapy water or rubbing alcohol. Rinse with cool water.
For a correct reading, wait at least 15 minutes after your child has had a hot or cold drink before putting the thermometer in his mouth.
When to call the doctor:
if your child has a fever and
Looks very ill, is unusually drowsy, or is very fussy
Has been in a very hot place, such as an overheated car
Has other symptoms, such as a stiff neck, severe headache, severe sore throat, severe ear pain, an unexplained rash, or repeated vomiting or diarrhea
Has immune system problems, such as sickle cell disease or cancer, or is taking steroids
Has had a seizure
Your child seems to be getting worse.
The fever persists for more than 24 hours in a child younger than 2 years.
The fever persists for more than 3 days (72 hours) in a child 2 years of age or older.
Signs and Symptoms of Fever:
What is a Fever:
Signs and Symptoms of a Fever:
If your child has a fever, she may feel warm, appear flushed, or sweat more than usual. She may also be more thirsty than usual.
Some children feel fine when they have a fever. However, most will have symptoms of the illness that is causing the fever. Your child may have an earache, a sore throat, a rash, or a stomach ache. These signs can provide important clues as to the cause of the fever.
Medications Used to Treat Fever:
If your child is older than 6 months and has a fever, she probably does not need to be treated for the fever unless she is uncomfortable. Watch her behavior. If she is drinking, eating, sleeping normally, and is able to play, you should wait to see if the fever improves by itself and do not need to treat the fever.
What you can do:
Keep her room comfortably cool.
Make sure that she is dressed in light clothing.
Encourage her to drink fluids such as water, diluted juices, or a store-bought electrolyte solution.
Be sure that she does not overexert herself.
Check with your doctor before giving medicine
Ibuprofen should only be used for children older than 6 months. It should not be given to children who are vomiting constantly or are dehydrated.
If your child is vomiting and cannot take anything by mouth, a rectal suppository may be needed. Acetaminophen comes in suppository form and can help reduce discomfort in a vomiting child.
Treating a Fever Without Medicine:
Fevers generally do not need to be treated with medication unless your child is uncomfortable or has a history of febrile convulsions. The fever may be important in helping your child fight the infection.
Even higher temperatures are not in themselves dangerous or significant unless your child has a history of seizures or a chronic disease. Even if your child has a history of a fever-related convulsion and you treat the fever with medication, they may still have this kind of seizure. It is more important to watch how your child is behaving.
Treatment Suggestions for Fever:
Encourage him to drink extra fluid or other liquids (water, diluted fruit juices, commercially prepared oral electrolyte solutions, gelatin [Jell-O], Popsicles, etc.).
If the room is warm or stuffy, place a fan nearby to keep cool air moving.
Your child does not have to stay in his room or in bed when he has a fever. He can be up and about the house, but should not run around and overexert himself.
If the fever is a symptom of a highly contagious disease (e.g., chickenpox or the flu), keep your child away from other children, elderly people, or people who may not be able to fight infection well, such as those with cancer.
Sponging:
In most cases, using oral acetaminophen or ibuprofen is the most convenient way to make your feverish child more comfortable. However, sometimes you may want to combine this with tepid sponging, or just use sponging alone.
Sponging is preferred over acetaminophen or ibuprofen if:
Your child is known to be allergic to, or is unable to tolerate, antipyretic (anti-fever) drugs (a rare case).
It is advisable to combine sponging with acetaminophen or ibuprofen if:
Fever is making your child extremely uncomfortable.
He is vomiting and may not be able to keep the medication in his stomach.
(Temp. over 104 F or 40 C.)
(History of febrile convulsions or s/o in immediate family has had them.)
(The last two recommendations comes from a previous edition of the AAP book. -Health)
Usually sponging will bring down the fever by one to two degrees in thirty to forty-five minutes. However, if your child is resisting actively, stop and let him just sit and play in the water. If being in the tub makes him more upset and uncomfortable, it is best to take him out even if his fever is unchanged. Remember, a fever less than 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) is in itself not harmful.
(They corrected/changed this from previous; before this latest edition they wrote -“Remember, a fever in the moderate range -less than 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) is in itself not harmful. -Health)
(I got most of the articles, but not all – Health.)
Sorry Mods for the length, but every parent has to know this -Health.