Fever, Age 3 and Younger

Preparing For Your Appointment

To prepare for your appointment, see the topic Making the Most of Your Appointment.

You can help your child's doctor diagnose and treat your child's condition by providing the following information:

• The history of the fever, including:
  • When did the fever start? Did it come on suddenly or increase over several hours?
  • Are you able to measure your child's temperature? How high is the fever?
  • Does the child have any other symptoms?
• Does your child have frequent fevers?
  • How often does your child get a fever?
  • How long does the fever usually last?
• Has your child had any other health problems during the past 3 months?
• Has your child been eating, drinking, and playing normally?
• Has anyone else in your family been ill?
• Is your child in day care? If so, have any other children at the facility been ill?
• Has your child recently traveled outside the country?
• Has your child recently had close contact with immigrants or nonnative people?
• Has your child had any animal or insect bites (including ticks) in the past 6 weeks?
• Does your child have any health risks?

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Author:	Jan Nissl, RN, BS	Last Updated: April 21, 2009
Medical Review:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine Michael J. Sexton, MD - Pediatrics H. Michael O'Connor, MD - Emergency Medicine Thomas Emmett Francoeur, MDCM, CSPQ, FRCPC - Pediatrics
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