is it normal??

sjerul wrote: i was babysitting again today... the 2 brats are getting so big and fast its unreal... there is not a second i cant watch them cause they both are up to no good ... ITS GREAT!!!! anyway today it was different cause of the heat in the netherlands the kids are not that happy anymore.. all week it has been above 90 F so everyone is warm.. today the baby had a temp of 105 something (the calculating thing wont make me calculate it right) and i phoned up the mom and she said to do nothing about it it would go away by itself.. so i phoned a doctor and they said oh its just cause its warm and they are growing.... and said to keep the kid dressed cool.... yah right only a daiper isnt cool enough?? so i gave her an asprine ... was i wrong doing that cause the mom was a bit angry for giving her the meds cause when the mom got home.. the temp had gone down and she was running around again.. she was so burning up i had a cold wash cloth and tried to cool her down it took me 2 hours to get it down to just a little fever temp... i so hate it when this kind of things happen cause now next time ill be all worried that the parents might get mad.. sigh think i should stop babysitting then..

amynicole21 replied: I was always told no aspirin until the age of 12 because of Rhye syndrom. Was it a baby aspirin? Not really sure what the difference is

If my dd was running a fever but otherwise happy and energetic, I wouldn't give her anything. Fevers are important for fighting off illnesses, and though 105 sounds HORRIBLY high (hope it was a miscalculation!) it's not uncommon for little kids to get really high fevers that are not dangerous at all. But, if someone gave my child meds without permission I'd be a pretty peeved... I think you sometimes have to suck it up and do what the parents say... even if you disagree. When the mom got home and saw her baby was miserable she would probably have changed her mind, but at least she wouldn't have been blaming you.

DansMom replied: I did the same thing once---gave cough medicine to a girl I babysat (she was coughing a lot and asked for some, also showed me where it was), and the mom was quite displeased when I told her. Now that I'm a mom, I understand her reaction. I think as a mom, you get afraid that the babysitter will give a wrong medication or too much---you would rather think they will dispense nothing without your consent or approval. It's hard to know what to do in that situation. A high fever can be dangerous, too. It sounds like you were careful and thought about it a long time before deciding. So now you know how the mom feels, and you'll do things differently next time.

sjerul replied: the meds are for babies... they arent that heavy... asprine might be the wrong word... i dont know the words... and the temp of 105 was right btw she is fine now... little brat scared me to death she was crying and only laying still in my arms... she freaked my out ... im so not ready for my own kids then hehehe ill freak out if they get something for sure then

mummy2girls replied: was it asprin or tylenol? because i know you cant give a baby aspirin under the age of 13 ( i think). I take care of kids fulltime so this is my suggestion. And this is to protect your butt also if something should happen. Type up some or write some medication permission sheets.Where the mom writes down what meds you can give them and how much and at what time and any instructions involved and then have her sign it. once you give the amount allowed write it on the paper how much and at what time and then you yourself sign it. that way it protects you and the mom. Because if you accidently give the wrong amount then something could medically go wrong.and you will be to balme. Because it says on the back of the medication bottle what to give and such but sometimes it varies with each child because one child could be smaller than another at the same age So for one dose for one child could be fine but then the other it can cause damagae... I do this with my family i care for this way everyone is happy.

sjerul replied:
cool idea ill have her do that ... i know these meds are ok for them cause the mom gives them too but atleast ill cover my butt and i wont be the one in trouble... and the meds are paracetamol for babies the bring down fevers she gave one when they had the shot... anyway ill ask the mom to make a list so i wont worry to much if i do it wrong... why didnt i come up with something like that... hmmm...

MommyToAshley replied: You were put in a tough situation, no one likes to see a child be sick and not be able to do anything about it. But, being a parent myself, I wouldn't want meds dispensed without my permission.

I think that now might be a good time to come to an agreement with the parent on what you should do if the child becomes sick again. If she does not want you to give meds under any circumstances then maybe you should have an agreement that she picks up the child if the child becomes this ill again. If it were me, I probably wouldn't babysit without some sort of medical agreement... I wouldn't want to give meds without the parent's permission but I also wouldn't want to watch a child suffer either. Just my 2cents.

Kaitlin'smom replied: I would have to agree with M2A being a mom and having a baysitter take care of my daughter 5 days a week, I dont want any med given with out my permission, thankfully Kaitlin has rarly been sick, but the one time she spiked a fever of 103, she called and asked what she should do, I did tell her it was ok to give her some of the tylnol I had in her bag. I would have gone to get her but I could not leave at that moment I checked in a 1/2 hour later and she was down to 101, so I told her I would be there in 1/2 hour. Do get some sort of medical agreement in writing you need to cover yourself and not put anyone in harm.

Alice replied: It seems to me that if you leave your child in someone else's hands, you have to trust their judgement when push comes to shove. The medicine was there-- you didn't go out and buy it, right? So it's the kind she chose. A fever of 105 is high enough to cause concern. If I didn't trust my babysitter's judgement, I would find another babysitter.

I think she put you into an unfair situation: please take care of my kids, and keep them safe, but don't react. You were faced with a sick child, and you did what your thought was right. You used medicine from her medicine cabinet. It worked-- the fever came down. I think you did the right thing.

For what it's worth, that's not a terribly hot day for summer in New York. Only one of my kids runs really hot when he's sick. And when he hits 105, I bring that temperature down. A temp in the low 100's is another story, but 105 is WAY in the scary zone.

irinam replied: Wow! Doctor said 105 is OK?!?!

It's on a verge of dangerous! I mean LIFE THREATENING!

It does not matter WHY baby's temperature got that way - because she is sick or because it is hot outside.

The fact was - HER body temperature was high.

You got worried instinctively and good for you! I agree with above replies that aspirin is not for babies but you did SOMETHING!

And the Mom? What was she thinking?

When you leave a child with somebody you make sure they have everything they might POSSIBLY need, and baby Tylenol would be the first thing she should have supplied you with AND instructed you on how to behave when situation is like this.

But what you wrote makes me wonder if she herself knew what has to be done.

What I would do for yor future babysittings is ask the parents how they would want you to react in similar situations, ask them to show you were the medicine is, etc.

It might also make irresponsible parents think about those things.

sjerul replied: the meds i gave she bought when the baby got the fever there was no way i was going to go to the store with a sick kid....the meds were in the babies bag and i did phone the mom on what to do and she said it was ok it was from the shots they had.. but then it kept high and the kid was burning up and screaming like mad so i phoned the doc and they said with this weather and the shots its normal just cool her down.... well then i started looking for the babies meds and they were in the babies bag and i gave one (ones for to give in the butt) and then a cold washcloth... wich finaly worked after 45 min or something then her temp went way down to 102 so i was happy it worked and thats why i hate the parents cause they dont give a shit she stayed at work and didnt phone again to check in either and 3 hours later she was home.. and then with the kid being fine she said see you shouldnt have given her anything she is fine now... grmbl so she doesnt really care cause its not the favorite one of the 2 how sad is that.. they have a favorite

irinam replied: You poor thing... Fortunately the baby is all right (and very possibly because of your efforts)

It hurts to know that some Moms are just not up to their title... favorites, staying at work when your little one is running 105... hard to believe