Fever In An Infant

The NYT has an article on dealing with fever in little ones: If a Baby Has a Fever, Treatment All Depends

Nowadays, anyone under 1 month old who develops any fever still tends to end up in the hospital. For babies older than 3 months, we now use our clinical judgment: if they appear well, we might order a blood or urine test, but they can go home, as long as we stay in touch with the parents.

Between 1 and 3 months is still a gray zone. And in this case, there were a few other subtle shades of gray, notably the fussiness and reluctance to nurse: after all, an infant with a serious infection has a limited repertory of signals to say, “Hey, Mom, something’s wrong.”