A fever usually indicates that your child’s little body is busy fighting an infection. Listed here are the symptoms to watch out for. Use the info as your diagnosis starting point (but do keep in mind that your child may not have all the symptoms listed for each illness). Be sure to consult your pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis, and always call the doctor if a baby under three months is running a fever of 100.4ºF or higher, or if a child older than that is running a fever of 101.5ºF or more.
If your child has a fever because of a cold, the symptoms would include:
- A runny or stuffy nose
- Sneezing
- Headache and sometimes muscle aches (may fuss and cry)
- Loss of appetite
If your child has a fever because of the flu, the symptoms would include:
- A runny or stuffy nose
- A dry cough
- Muscle aches and pains (a child may refuse to be held)
- Unusual sleepiness
- Chills
- Loss of appetite
- Dizziness, stumbling, and bumping into things
- Vomiting and diarrhea
If your child’s fever is because of a ear infection, the symptoms would include:
- Tugging or pulling at the ear
- An earache or headache
- Crying more than usual
- Night waking
- Failing to respond to sounds
- Crankiness and irritability
- Dizziness, stumbling, and bumping into things
- Crankiness when lying down, chewing, or sucking
- Decreased appetite
- Fluid that’s clear, bloody, or contains pus drips out from the ear
If your child’s fever is caused by pneumonia (a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection that inflames the lungs), the symptoms include:
- A runny nose, sneezing, and cough that gets worse
- Fast, laboured, or wheezy breathing
- Chills
- Loss of appetite
- Bloating and a stomachache
- May turn blue around the lips or fingertips
If your child has a fever is because of tonsillitis (a viral or bacterial infection that inflames tonsils), the symptoms would include:
Refusal to nurse or drink (because it hurts to swallow)
- A red throat
- Swollen tonsils
- Swollen lymph glands in the neck or jaw
- Hoarseness
- Irritability
- Stomach pain
If your child has a fever because of a sore throat, the symptoms would include:
- Refusal to nurse or drink
- Sleeplessness and night waking
- Irritability
- Loss of appetite or nausea
- A thin, red rash on the torso and limbs (occasionally, in babies)
- Red throat (in toddlers)
- Swollen neck glands (in toddlers)
If your child has a fever that is caused by hand, foot and mouth disease, the symptoms would include:
- Painful, red, blister-like sores in the mouth
- A non-itchy rash (flat or raised red spots, sometimes with blisters) that appears on the palms of hands, soles of feet, and sometimes on the buttocks or genitalia
- Fever
- Loss of appetite
- Irritability
If your child has a fever that is caused by urinary tract infection, symptoms include:
- Irritability
- Cloudy, bloody, or foul-smelling urine
- Frequent urination
- May vomit or experience diarrhea
Note: Sometimes, a fever is the only symptom a child with urinary tract infection will have.
If your child has a fever caused by meningitis, symptoms would include:
- A headache (a child may tug at the hair or bangs head)
- Vomiting
- Irritability
- Drowsiness
- Loss of appetite
- A stiff neck (your child has trouble turning the head)