{"id":"b03b8802f76fb48ee81b994671f08053","slug":"my-baby-has-a-fever","question":"My baby has a fever","answer":"Your baby has a fever and you want to know what's happening—that's the right instinct to have.\n\nHere's the reality: most fevers in babies are viral and resolve on their own. About 1 in 10 babies with fever have a serious bacterial infection, but a well-appearing baby can still have one, so your pediatrician needs to evaluate them. The key is *how your baby is acting*. If they're playing, drinking normally, and seem like themselves aside from the temperature, that's reassuring. Warning signs that matter more than the number on the thermometer are unusual drowsiness, signs of dehydration, a very fast heartbeat, or blotchy skin.\n\nFor babies under 3 months, contact your doctor immediately or go to the emergency department—doctors have guidelines that determine what should be monitored or tested. For older babies, trust what you're seeing: your gut about how sick your child actually looks is part of the picture.\n\nYou know your baby best, and your pediatrician has the tools to figure out what's really going on.","sources":"[{\"title\":\"Identifying Serious Bacterial Infections in Febrile Young Infants.\",\"journal\":\"Indian pediatrics\",\"year\":\"2021\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33452772/\",\"score\":0.82},{\"title\":\"Evaluation and Management of Young Febrile Infants: An Overview of the New AAP Guideline.\",\"journal\":\"Pediatrics in review\",\"year\":\"2023\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36854834/\",\"score\":0.81},{\"title\":\"Parental Confidence in Relation to Antipyretic Use, Warning Signs, Symptoms and Well-Being in Fever Management-Results from an App-Based Registry.\",\"journal\":\"International journal of environmental research and public health\",\"year\":\"2022\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36361379/\",\"score\":0.81},{\"title\":\"A retrospective review of vital signs and clinical outcomes of febrile infants younger than 3 months old presenting to the emergency department.\",\"journal\":\"PloS one\",\"year\":\"2018\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29304160/\",\"score\":0.81},{\"title\":\"Paediatric Fever Management Practices and Antipyretic Use Among Doctors and Nurses in Australian Emergency Departments.\",\"journal\":\"Emergency medicine Australasia : EMA\",\"year\":\"2025\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41178609/\",\"score\":0.81}]","view_count":1,"created_at":"2026-06-28T20:10:14.923Z"}