My Sick Little One!

Aww, sorry to hear about your little guy. Nobody likes a sick child! I'd ask the doctor to take a listen to his chest and possibly take an xray. Pneumonia can sneak on quickly and the low grade fever indicates some sort of infection somewhere. An xray can give you a good idea if it's just congestion or something worse. As terrible as it is, it may just be a bad cold that needs to run it's course. Since these days can blur together, keep a little log of what is happening with him. It'll help if/when the doctor is asking questions. Best of luck in being a strong mommy!!

It sounds pretty routine to me, although I know that doesn't make you feel any better, I'm sure! ;) We give our kids Zyrtec (generic) at night to help with coughs. Benadryl is also a cough suppresent, but you don't say how old your son is...I think that is only for kids over 2, although I'm not entirely sure. Zyrtec is safe though, just make sure you have the right dose. You can ask your Dr. or Pharmacist to be sure.

If he's not too hungry I'd just let it go. Try giving him more liquids and he'll eat when he starts to feel better.

Hang in there! Hope it gets better!

My daughter's school in plano has had strep going through it the past few weeks...lots of kids out with it. If the fever continues (and/or vomitting), you might ask the dr to do a throat culture. My daughter sometimes has had a negative one early on and then a positive a few days later. Is he worse at night? Perhaps croup? (

Aw, it's hard when your baby's not feeling well :(
Try not to worry too much, cold symptoms can last a while (especially during spring with all the pollen in the air.) And 100.4 is a really low grade fever. Treating it with tylenol may extend the life of the cold, so hold off unless the fever spikes. Our pediatrician doesn't want us to use tylenol unless it reaches 104, and even then he wants us to treat with cold compresses first.
You can ask YOUR doctor of course (and you should) but I think that's pretty much what most of them recommend.
Hope he feels better soon. Lots of liquid and lots of rest!

**Adding this: coughs can be worse at night, because, when lying down the mucus accumulates in the throat. Then it causes the gag-reflex to trigger... and then the person coughs.
With my cold and my son's, we do cough more at night.

If your son does not get better, take him back to the Doctor for a follow-up.
Post-nasal drip mucus, can also trickle down into the chest. And then cause infection. I had that happen to me from a head cold once. And then I got Pneumonia.
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My son had a cold like that last week and the cough is lingering.
Then I got sick from him... and it is still lingering.
Other kids at my kids' school have this same thing.
It is going around now.

Just keep him hydrated.

It might be that he's just having back-to-back colds, it happens all the time with mine, being in daycare. He used to have ear infections the same way, one would clear up just in time for a new one to come along.

We also just fought a pretty long-lasting virus called CMV which is very common in daycares and causes some pretty similar symptoms to what you're describing. Either way, 9 x out of 10 it's viral and you'll just need to make him comfortable! But trust your mommy instincts, if you think it's something else, there's no harm in being a regular in the ped's office, I know we've all been there!

Keep checking his fever and if it starts getting higher...like up to 103 I would be a lot more concerned. I think the most important thing is that you know your child better than the doctor and mothers have strong instincts, if you are really worried take him back in, if you are concerned about pneumonia, ask for an xray even if the doctor doesn't request one. My daughter got a cold 2 years ago after starting daycare for the first time, it went on for 2 weeks of taking her to the doctor with high fevers and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. He said if it went past 2 weeks he would order an xray. She got worse in the middle of the night that Friday night so we took her to the emergency room, she ended up having severe pneumonia and was flown in a helicopter to ICU at Children's in Dallas. I don't tell this story to scare anyone but to to tell people the importance of advocating for your children because you know them the best. I knew my daughter wasn't ok but trusted the doctor and now I know for the future that it's important to ask for extra tests if you're concerned. The biggest thing to watch is the fever and his energy levels. Good luck! I hope he starts feeling better soon!

I would talk to his dr. Phnamonia does sneek up on you and I know allergys have been BAD this year. But most of those simptoms could be from teething as well including the fever. but I would rather be safe than sorry and get him checked out. Hope he feels better soon!

Good luck and God Bless!

When a cold seems to get better then a temp flairs up again it could be bronchitis or pneumonia. It's best to let the doctor know about it and have him seen again. Especially since he is not eating. He is worse, get him checked out.