Fever 1 Fever 1 One of the most frequent reasons parents will call or visit a pediatrician is because their child has a fever. I am always amazed at how little most people know about what fever really is. This is just the average body temperature.
Some people are normally higher and some normally lower.
A fever is a body temperature above 100.5 F. A temperature of 99.5 or 100 F. is should not be a cause of worry in otherwise normal children. It is not a fever. And now a word about taking temperatures in young children. The only really reliable way to take a young child's temperature is with a rectal thermometer. Feeling the forehead is just not trustworthy.