Under 3 months, fever means call now
A rectal temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher is a fever. Under 3 months, call your pediatrician or go to urgent or emergency care immediately, day or night. Do not wait until morning, and do not give medicine before calling. Use a rectal thermometer; forehead strips and ear thermometers are not reliable at this age. A very low temperature in a newborn is also a warning sign.
Go to the ER or call emergency services if baby
- Is having trouble breathing, breathing very fast, grunting, or has pauses in breathing.
- Has blue or purple lips, tongue or skin.
- Is limp, floppy, or very hard to wake.
- Has a seizure.
Call the doctor the same day if baby
- Refuses feeds or misses two feeds in a row.
- Has very few wet diapers, no tears or a dry mouth, no stool in 24 hours or no urine in 48 hours.
- Vomits repeatedly or the vomit is green or bloody, or there is blood in the stool.
- Looks yellow early (in the first 24 hours) or gets more yellow, or is still yellow after 2 weeks.
- Has a bulging soft spot, a swollen belly, or a spreading rash.
- Has a cord stump that is red, oozing, bleeding or smells.
AAP's advice
"Never hesitate to call, even if you know the office is closed." Pediatric offices have an after-hours line. Put that number in your phone now.
Useful numbers for the fridge
- Your pediatrician and their after-hours line.
- US Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222.
- National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-TLC-MAMA (1-833-852-6262), 24/7.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988.
Not feeling okay? Reach out now.
Education, not medical advice. Every baby and every parent is different. Ask your own doctor, midwife or pediatrician about anything specific to you, and call them or emergency services if you are worried. Sources for this guide: AAP HealthyChildren: Fever and Your Baby; Canadian Paediatric Society: Caring for Kids; Mayo Clinic: sick baby, when to seek care; Newborn danger signs (WHO collaborating centre); HRSA; 988 Lifeline. All sources.