Relieve Minor Fever at Home

3 Parts:

Simple Solutions

Do's and Don'ts

Comments

Have you experienced rushing to the hospital because your child feels hot to touch or feverish? It is a known fact that fever results from a disease process or infection. This symptom can be managed at home especially during the onset of common childhood diseases, like chickenpox, mumps and rubella.

Fever is an increase in body temperature. The normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37 degrees Celsius. A fever can be said to be low-grade or minor when it is between 99 to 101 degree Fahrenheit or 37.2 to 38.3 degree Celsius. Along with an anti-pyretic medicine, you can help reduce the fever in the following ways:

Use a Tap Water Sponge Bath.After you've given an anti-pyretic medicine to your kid, it will take some time before it will take effect. The tap water sponge bath will help reduce the fever while waiting for the medicine to take effect.

1. 1
   Take your kid's temperature and note it

   .

   This will be your baseline temperature.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
2. 2
   Get a small towel, preferably a face towel and a basin of tap water

   .

   Soak the towel into the basin of water and wring.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
3. 3
   Wipe your kid's face, more like cleaning him

   .

   Work your way down to the neck, the arms, armpit, inguinal area and legs.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help
4. 4
   Repeat this for about three times

   .

   Then measure the temperature again. You will see that what you did helped to bring down the fever.

   Was this step helpful? Yes | No| I need help

Encourage your kid to drink plenty of liquids. When fever sets in, the body uses up more water than usual. You will notice that the child do not urinate as frequently as he or she should. This is because the body is conserving its quickly depleting supply of water because of the increased body temperature. Give fruit juices as well as water. It will help to replace the water lost from the body processes while the body is trying to combat the infection within.

Control the environment.

This involves turning off the air conditioning unit and using an electric fan instead. If the child feels cold, turn off the AC or electric fan. The more that the environment is cold, the more that the body will try to generate heat, accentuating the fever more. A comfortable environment for a sick child does not entail the coldness or hotness of a room. It also covers noise. Advise younger children to play somewhere far, not within hearing distance of the sick child. This will help him to gain adequate energy from an undisturbed rest or sleep.

Provide ample stimuli.

Though the child may need to rest, he would want something to be busy with. To be sick in a room may bore the child. Let him play with his toys or watch TV if he wants to. After a couple of hours, check up on him and advise rest if he seems unwilling to stop playing.

Make sure that the ill child eats.

The child may not want to eat as much like when he's well. But this is not a reason for him not to eat. Give bland foods like unflavored bread and soda crackers, coupled with fruits and juices. Jell-O can be a good suggestion to stimulate the child's appetite.

Though the child had been seen by a doctor and prescribed with medicine, it is important that you continue to do the above mentioned activities. Even after a child takes medicine, it will take a while before the fever really stops. It may come back even after some hours of normal temperature.

• Do not give aspirin to a child unless the doctor order to. Over the counter medicines like acetaminophen or ibuprofen are safe for children.
• Do not wait for a week doing only the above mentioned recommendations before seeking a doctor. If the child still has a fever after three full days, especially with alternate normal and spiking fever, bring him to the doctor.
• Do not submerge or attempt to bathe the child. Sudden hypothermia is a dangerous condition and may trigger a convulsion.
• Do not wrap the child in layers of clothing or blanket. A cotton shirt or dress is advisable and a thin blanket when he's cold. Replace the clothes when he sweats.

Please note that the above recommendations are not absolute measures to relieve a child's fever. It is always recommended to seek medical advice in times of illness.

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

Comments