Vaccine Side Effects/Fever Management


 

NORMAL SIDE EFFECTS OF VACCINES

  • Your baby may experience fever in the first 48 hours after the vaccines. Acetaminophen (for example,Tylenol) may be given every 4 hours.
  • Your baby may experience irritability in the first 48 hours after the vaccines. Acetaminophen may be given every 4 hours for discomfort.
  • Your baby may be extra sleepy in the first 48 hours after the vaccines. This is normal as long as your baby is waking to feed.
  • Your baby may experience redness at the site of the injection. This may last 3-4 days and is more likely with each successive round of vaccines. Warm compresses, bathing and acetaminophen may soothe any discomfort.
  • Your baby may develop a lump under the skin where the injection occurred. This is due to bleeding under the skin. It may take several weeks for the body to reabsorb the blood. The lump may persist, but it is not permanent.

Call us during REGULAR office hours if:

  • Fever lasts more than 48 hours after the vaccines are given.
  • Redness at the injection site appears to be spreading.

Call us URGENTLY if:

  • Your baby is not waking to feed.
  • Your baby has been crying inconsolably for 2 hours or more and you’ve already tried giving acetaminophen and using warm compresses.
  • Something else not mentioned above is alarming to you.

FEVER – Ages 2-6 months

Now that your baby is 2 months old, he/she has a much stronger immune system than he/she had as a newborn. It is OK to give acetaminophen (for example, Tylenol) at home if your baby has fever as long as he/she is still alert and waking for feeds.

Call Us During REGULAR Office Hours If:

  • Your baby is persistently having fever over 100.5 for more than 24 hours. A rectal temperature is the most accurate measurement in babies this age.
  • You are concerned that your baby is eating a lot less but is still wetting diapers at least every 6 hours.
  • Your baby is very congested and having trouble eating/sleeping due to trouble breathing through the nose.

Call Us URGENTLY If:

  • Your baby seems to be breathing very fast. It is however, normal to breathe somewhat faster when a baby’s temperature is elevated. The breathing rate should come down as the temperature comes down. If it doesn’t, call immediately. Babies from 2-6 months of age normally breathe up to 40 times a minute.
  • Your baby is lethargic and does not want to drink even when the temperature comes down.
  • Something about how your baby looks seems abnormal and alarms you

** It is a good sign if your baby is alert and will still give you a smile. Remember that fever is your body’s way of helping to fight infection. Fever will never cause brain damage in a normal child. There is no specific number where fever becomes dangerous, but it is uncomfortable. There is no need to wake a sleeping child to treat fever. If they are sleeping, they are comfortable and working to heal themselves.

FEVER – Age 6 months and Up

Fever results from your body producing chemicals to help it fight infection. It is a normal reaction to both bacterial and viral infections. It will never harm a healthy brain, but it is uncomfortable which is why we treat it. There is no specific fever number that is considered abnormal, but temperatures over 105 are infrequent in healthy children.

Click Here for Doses of Fever Medications

Call Us During REGULAR Office Hours If:

  • Your child has had fever over 100.5 for 48 hours or more with no other symptoms such as runny nose, cough, diarrhea or vomiting.
  • Your child has had fever for 72 hours or more in addition to runny nose, cough, diarrhea, or vomiting.
  • Your child has congestion and/or cough with an initial fever that resolves but then returns several days later.

Call us URGENTLY if:

  • Your child is having very fast or labored breathing. It is normal for the breathing rate to be somewhat elevated with fever but it should come down as the temperature comes down. If it does not, please call.
  • You think that your child is dehydrated. The best way to monitor for dehydration is to look for wet diapers. If your child is having a wet diaper at least every 6-8 hours, this is a good sign that they are retaining enough fluid.
  • Your child is lethargic even after you give them medicine for fever. Most children will “perk up” an hour or so after receiving anti-fever medicine. Sleeping more during an illness is normal, but not wanting to get off of the couch all day is not normal for a toddler.

Anti-Fever Medicines (Ibuprofen for > 6 mos only)

 Weight (lb)

 12-17

  18-21

 22-24 

 Infant Acetaminophen (e.g. Tylenol)

 0.8 ml

 1.2 ml

 1.6 ml 

 Children’s Acetaminophen

    —

     —

 5 ml

 Infant Ibuprofen (e.g. Motrin or Advil) 

 1.25 ml

 1.875 ml 

 2.5 ml 

 Children’s Ibuprofen

    —

     —

 5 ml

We generally do not recommend that you alternate back and forth between Tylenol and Motrin/Advil. While we may occasionally suggest that you do this once or twice, we feel there is not sufficient data on its safety to recommend that you do it regularly.


Northwestern Children's Practice

Pediatricians located in Gold Coast, Chicago, IL

The Northwestern Children’s Practice team educates parents to help them raise healthy and loving children and educates children to help them develop healthy habits. As one of the best pediatrician offices in Chicago, our health care providers are dedicated to providing anticipatory guidance to help families navigate from one visit to the next. Founded by Dr. Marc Weissbluth in 1973, the Northwestern Children’s Practice continues to thrive in Chicago’s Gold Coast, a few blocks away from Lurie Children’s Hospital. This welcoming team of experienced child health advocates cares for families in the Chicago-land area and beyond. The Northwestern Children’s Practice offers annual check-ups, lactation support, adolescent visits, sports physicals, vaccines, and more. Besides providing health care for children from infancy through young adulthood, the practice has doctors and nurse practitioners that specialize in sleep consultations, nutrition, and weight management counseling, treatment and prevention of childhood obesity and safe immunization practices. Several of our nurses are trained as lactation consultants to provide support during newborn well-visits. Our lactation consultants and doctors also lead a weekly support group for new parents. Topics often discussed are newborn feeding, including breastfeeding, sleep, development, and safety. 

The Northwestern Children’s Practice has continued to grow throughout the years and now includes a team of doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses and office staff who work together to provide comprehensive care with individualized attention. The office is located several blocks from Lurie Children’s Hospital, Prentice Women’s Hospital, and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Patients can be seen at Northwestern Children’s Practice’s convenient walk-in clinic at 8-11 am, Monday through Friday and at 10 am on Saturday and Sunday. No appointments are necessary for the walk-in clinic. Scheduled visits are available Monday through Friday as well as a limited number of well-visits on both Saturday and Sunday. 

 

  • We offer complimentary prenatal visits to expecting parents as a forum for the concerns of new parents. We have an exchange of information to discuss any prenatal issues, family history of medical issues, what to expect in the hospital, what to expect from your doctor visits in the hospital and what to expect during the transition to home. We will discuss important things to think about including newborn feeding, circumcision, vaccines and newborn screening tests.

    We also offer similar visits to adoptive families and to families who are considering changing pediatricians.

  • Come in for your school physical!

    Make sure your child is up to date with vaccines. At the 11 year old visit we recommend the 3 adolescent vaccines including Tdap, Meningitis and HPV.

    At the 16 year old visit we give a booster for meningitis, and we initiate the Meningitis Type B vaccine series.

    To learn more about the HPV vaccine, please click here.

    To learn more about the Meningitis Type B vaccine, Please click here.

    American Academy of Pediatrics, Healthychildren.org 

     

  • We have walk-in clinic hours 7 days/week. Patients can be seen at 8 am by physicians and pediatric nurse practitioners on Monday through Friday. Later walk-in hours with a nurse practitioner are available until 11 am also on Monday through Friday.

    Patients can be seen during our weekend walk-in clinic hours on Saturday and Sunday at 10 am.  

    No appointment is necessary

 


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Accepted Insurance Plans

Listed are the major insurance providers we accept. Contact your insurance company or Human Resources to verify if we are in network with your specific plan. Please note, currently, we are out of network for all Marketplace Health Insurances.

Aetna
BCBS
Cigna
Coventry Health Care
HFN
Humana
Interplan
Land of Lincoln Health
Multiplan PHCS
PHCS
United Healthcare
Testimonials

Words from our patients

  • Yelp

    "I have been taking my 6 month old son to NCP since he was born and I have only encountered top level service and medical advice from the doctors and nurses."

    Don J.
  • Yelp

    "We've been going to NCP for almost ten years...I am more than ecstatic to say that they've been very dedicated and have always been there for our family health issues."

    Sylvia O.
  • Yelp

    "They are in tune with our girls, proactive about health care and give honest, practical advice. We moved out to the suburbs but will not stop going to this practice..."

    Pam B.
  • Google+

    "Very happy with my experience with NCP for my three children! Our primary is Dr. Hirsh but had great experiences with Drs. Unger, Li, King and Goldstein as well!"

    Sanna B.
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Northwestern Children's Practice
680 North Lake Shore Drive
Suite 1050
Chicago, IL 60611