For parents · Guide · English
Your child has a fever at night in Turkey — what now?
A hot forehead at 2 a.m. makes every parent's heart race — and in a country whose health system you are still learning, twice as much. First, a deep breath: fever is usually not the illness itself, but a sign that the body is fighting an infection. Here is what to do at home, which signs cannot wait until morning, and how the practical side works in Turkey.
What counts as a fever — and how it is measured here
38 °C (100.4 °F) or above is a fever. A digital thermometer is the reliable method; a hand on the forehead can mislead you in either direction. Note the reading and the time — at the visit, that single line of information is worth more than any description.
Two things differ from what you may be used to at home:
- Turkey measures under the arm. Axillary measurement with a digital thermometer is the routine method here, in clinics and emergency departments alike — where the US commonly uses rectal readings in babies and oral readings in older children. If you take a rectal reading at home, say so when you quote the number, because it runs roughly 0.5 °C higher than the underarm equivalent.
- Turkey uses Celsius only. No one at the desk will follow a number in Fahrenheit, and thermometers sold here have no Fahrenheit setting.
| °C | °F | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 37.5 °C | 99.5 °F | Not yet a fever — normal range |
| 38 °C | 100.4 °F | Fever begins |
| 38.5 °C | 101.3 °F | Moderate fever |
| 39 °C | 102.2 °F | High fever |
| 40 °C | 104 °F | Very high — seek advice |
How high the number goes matters less than how your child looks and behaves. A child of 39.5 °C who drinks, makes eye contact and settles is in a better place than a listless child of 38.2 °C who will not wake properly.
What you can do at home
- Take off extra layers and heavy covers; keep the room cool and aired.
- Offer plenty of fluids — water, breast milk, soup. A child with fever becomes dehydrated easily.
- If your doctor has already given you a fever medicine, use it at the dose and interval they gave you. Doses are worked out by weight, so never give medicine on the advice of a neighbour or relative.
- Cold showers, vinegar water and alcohol rubs are not recommended. You may well be offered the vinegar remedy in Turkey with great confidence — it does not help and can harm.
- If your child is asleep and otherwise well, there is no need to wake them just to take a reading. Rest is part of getting better.
Fever medicine: what the box is called in Turkey
The two active ingredients used for children are the ones you already know. Only the names on the box change, which is why the pharmacy shelf looks unfamiliar:
| Active ingredient | Names you will see in Turkish pharmacies |
|---|---|
| Paracetamol (acetaminophen in the US) | Calpol · Parol · Tylol — children's syrup and suppository forms |
| Ibuprofen | Nurofen · Dolven · Pedifen — children's syrup |
Both are sold without prescription. A few rules that matter more than the brand:
- Dose follows weight, not age. The syrup concentrations sold here are not identical to those at home, so a spoon measure you memorised elsewhere may be the wrong amount. Ask your doctor or the pharmacist for the dose for your child's weight.
- Ibuprofen is generally not used under 6 months without medical advice, and not in a child who is dehydrated or vomiting persistently.
- Never give aspirin to a child — it is linked to Reye's syndrome.
- Avoid combination cold-and-flu syrups for young children; they carry ingredients your child does not need and make accidental double-dosing of paracetamol easy.
- Antibiotics require a prescription in Turkey, and fever alone is not a reason for one — most childhood fevers are viral. Do not use leftovers from a previous illness.
Do not wait for morning if
If any of the following is present, go to an emergency department (acil servis) even in the middle of the night, or call 112:
- Your baby is under 3 months old with a temperature of 38 °C or above — this is always urgent.
- A seizure: stiffening, jerking, eyes rolling, unresponsiveness.
- Difficulty breathing: fast breathing, grunting, drawing-in of the chest, blue lips.
- Hard to wake, unusually drowsy, or refusing to feed or drink.
- A rash that does not fade when you press a glass against it; a stiff neck; vomiting that will not stop.
- Signs of dehydration: much less urine or fewer wet nappies, no tears when crying, dry mouth, a sunken soft spot in a baby.
- Fever lasting more than 5 days, or a child who stays unwell between doses of fever medicine.
These can usually wait until morning
If your child has a fever but is drinking, making eye contact, playing between bouts and sleeping comfortably, seeing your doctor in the morning is almost always enough — with the measures above through the night. When you are not sure, call anyway. There is no such thing as a wasted examination.
Where to go at night in Turkey
The practical part that no guide from home will tell you:
112 — the emergency number
Turkey's single emergency number, free from any phone, and it dispatches ambulances. Call it for anything in the red list above. An English-speaking operator cannot be guaranteed, so keep it short and factual: your address first, then "çocuk, ateş, nefes" (child, fever, breathing) will be understood.
Acil servis — the emergency department
Every hospital, state and private, runs a 24-hour acil servis, and larger hospitals have a separate çocuk acil (paediatric emergency). Walk in without an appointment. Care is not refused on grounds of nationality or insurance status.
Nöbetçi eczane — tonight's pharmacy
Pharmacies take turns staying open overnight. Every closed pharmacy posts tonight's duty address in its window, and searching "nöbetçi eczane" with your district name finds it online. Only the duty pharmacy is open — the one on your corner will be shut.
Aile Sağlığı Merkezi — daytime only
The state family health centre is where routine child health and free national-schedule vaccinations happen, but it works office hours. It is not an option at night.
State hospital emergency care is free or low-cost; private hospitals charge, and whether an international policy covers it depends on your insurer — worth checking before the night you need it.
What to bring
- Passport or residence permit (kimlik), and your insurance card if you have one.
- Your child's weight, the temperature you measured and when, and any medicine already given, with the time. Write these on your phone before you leave — you will be asked all three.
- The vaccination record, especially if the schedule was started abroad. Vaccinations given in Turkey are also held in the national e-Nabız system, which you can access as a parent.
Turkish phrases for the emergency department
Worth having on your screen before you arrive:
| Turkish | English |
|---|---|
| Çocuğumun ateşi var. | My child has a fever. |
| Ateşi 39 derece. | The temperature is 39 degrees. |
| Altı aylık. / İki yaşında. | Six months old. / Two years old. |
| Kilosu 12 kilo. | He/she weighs 12 kilos. |
| Parasetamol verdim, iki saat önce. | I gave paracetamol, two hours ago. |
| Nefes almakta zorlanıyor. | He/she is having difficulty breathing. |
| Havale geçirdi. | He/she had a seizure. |
| Kusuyor. / İshal var. | He/she is vomiting. / There is diarrhoea. |
| Döküntü var. | There is a rash. |
| Alerjisi yok. / Şuna alerjisi var. | No allergies. / He/she is allergic to this. |
| Aşıları tam. | Vaccinations are up to date. |
| İngilizce bilen biri var mı? | Is there someone who speaks English? |
| En yakın nöbetçi eczane nerede? | Where is the nearest duty pharmacy? |