Fever - how long before you take them in?

One of my boys has had a fever since Monday morning.  It hovers around 100-101 without meds, one time as high as 102, and with meds it comes right down to normal again until about 4-6 hours later when the meds wear off.  When it goes up, he feels bad, doesn't want to eat, etc., but as soon as the meds kick in, he is back to normal. 
 
We have all had colds (runny nose, congestion, coughing), but he is the only one with a fever.  He says his ears do not hurt, but his throat does, and all the discharge from his nose is normal (clear, thin, runny nose).  DH thinks I shouldn't take him in yet because it's just a cold, but my mommy instinct feels something else might be going on.  Usually when they have a fever, it's gone within a day, two at most, and this is now the third day.
 
I have a call into their doctor, but I was wondering how long you all let a fever go before taking them in?

 

After three days, I would take him in.  My kids don't typically run fevers, so I take them in pretty quickly when they have one because it means something is wrong. 

 

Colds don't typically mean fevers here, either. Sounds like step.

 

My kids rarely get sick, so I usually call the next day if they have a fever.  My ped. is great and will bring them in whenever I call.  I would rather go and be told its nothing, than miss a strep or other real issue.

 

Well, I talked to the nurse (after she talked to the dr).  She said since there's no ear pain, and no spots on his throat that I can see, and all clear from the runny nose, it's probably either a cold or a mild case of the flu (they had the vaccine).  She said I could bring them in if I wanted, but they would probably just tell me it's a virus and not give us anything.  She said strep doesn't usually have the cold symptoms like cough and runny nose, and it would usually be a higher fever. 
 
I'm still skeptical, but the good news is, his fever is staying down for now, and he hasn't had any meds for about 8 hours.  So maybe we are out of the woods.....I guess we'll see how the rest of the day goes. 

 

I would probaby take him in too, the last twice I had strep and my oldest son had strep, I had no clue it was strep.  I actually thought my oldest had a sinus infection, so much drainage from his nose and a bad cough. 

Since his fever is normalizing now I would probably wait and see what the day brings, but if it goes back up tonight I'd take him in.  I hope he's on the mend now!
 
Also, none of my kids have complained of ear pain when they had ear infections.  My big indicators are a general grouchiness, not sleeping well at night, and a slight fever sometimes but not all the time.

 

I hope he is on the mend. But if the fever returns, I would take him in to be checked.
 
On the third day of a fever I would usually take them in because mine both mostly have shorter spells of higher fever and a lingering fever would suggest to me that I might be missing something.

 

I would say, if the only symptoms were a fever that kept coming back after the medicine wore off, I would take the kids in either on day 2 or day 3. 
I hope your little guy is feeling better.

 

Well, his fever came back last night, 100.7 last night and 101 this morning.  His brother also started a fever yesterday, so I'm going to take both of them in.  They are both complaining of ear pain now, too.  Guess I should have listened to my mommy instinct and taken them yesterday, huh?  We have been very lucky that they have really only had minor illnesses their whole life, and only 1 ear infection each, and that was just before they turned 2.
 
Luckily I work in a rural school system and have been off all week for snow/ice anyway, so at least I'm not losing pay from missing work.

 

Well, here's what we found out.  DS1 (who just got sick yesterday) has strep and the beginnings of pneumonia.  He tested negative for flu, but they gave him an antibiotic for the strep and pneumonia.
 
DS2 (who has had the fever since Monday) tested negative for strep and flu, so most likely something viral they thought.  So initially they didn't give us anything, but half an hour after we got home, his temp spiked to 104.6.  I called back and they are calling in an antibiotic, thinking he might actually have strep even though the test was negative.  Given that his brother tested positive AND that high of a temp, it seems likely.
 
I'm definitely glad I took them in, but the test results were definitely opposite of what I expected with DS1 and DS2.
 
Now I'm wondering if I have strep.  I've been sick, too, and I get strep pretty easily, and usually with no fever.  Guess I'll try to get myself tested after DH gets home this afternoon.

 

Poor kids! One of my kids tests negative on the short strep test and one will test positive. The last time they had it the kid who tested negative on the short test was positive on the long test.

I hope you feel better, too. Strep is such a pain with all of the disinfecting. :/

 

Good that they are calling in the antibiotic.  Those rapid strep tests are notorious for false negatives.  Hope they both feel better quickly!