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How To Deal With Baby’s Fever

Posted: Sunday, September 16, 2007

by Cecilia Koh
http://www.Babiesconsult.com

Fever and pain are part of baby’s growing up process no matter how healthy your little one is. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong ! Fever is an increase in body temperature and is a natural defence mechanism against germs and infection. A fever is a symptom of another illness so you need to find out the cause. Understanding what causes a fever and knowing what to do when it happens will help you deal with it confidently.

Common causes of a fever in babies

Infection which could be bacterial or viral (there will be a separate article about this topic)
Post immunization
Teething can cause mild fever in some babies
Over heating especially if left in the sun or heated environment for too long.
Over heating from insufficient fluid intake

Signs of a fever

Forehead and body feels hot to touch
Flushed cheeks
Irritable, restless and crying
May refuse to feed
Very smelly breath

When you have a baby you MUST have a thermometer which will give you an accurate reading of your baby’s temperature so that you will know what to do.

Types of thermometers		Comments and how to use
	Clinical thermometer	Not recommended for children because it is made of glass and contains mercury. Never use the oral or rectal route for small children.
	Digital pacifier baby thermometer	I cannot comment on this as I have never used it
	Digital thermometer	Can be used in the armpit for small baby or orally for older children. Takes about 2 minutes to register the temperature. Follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer Some babies do not like being held this way for so long
	Plastic strip thermometers (small plastic strips that you press against your child's forehead)	Not reliable as it only tells you that the baby has a fever but not the actual temperature reading which is very important for small children
	Electronic ear thermometer	Measures the tympanic temperature - the temperature inside the ear canal Electronic ear thermometers are not recommended for infants younger than 3 months because their ear canals are usually too small. Follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer.
	Digital forehead thermometer	Easy to use and quite accurate Follow the instructions recommended by the manufacturer.

Below is a list of the temperature reading and what you can do when your baby has a fever but it is best to check with your baby’s paediatrician first to make sure that there is nothing more serious. Most books recommend adding or subtracting 1 degree from the reading depending on the method you use to take the temperature. I find this very confusing therefore I just use the reading plus the signs that I see to take the necessary actions.

°C	°F	What it means	What to do
36.0	96.8	Normal	Nothing
37.0	98.6
37.2	99.0
37.4	99.3	Low grade fever	* See below on treating a fever
37.6	99.7
37.8	100.1
38.0	100.4	High fever	Check with paediatrician * See below on treating a fever Tepid sponge baby Use Chinese massage
38.2	100.8
38.4	101.2
38.6	101.5
38.8	101.8
39.0	102.2
39.2	102.6
39.4	102.9
39.6	103.3
39.8	103.7	Very high fever	Check with paediatrician May need Panadol suppositories Tepid sponge baby Use Chinese massage
40.0	104.0
40.2	104.3
40.4	104.7
40.6	105.1

Treating a fever

This will depend on the cause of the fever and how old your baby is. The initial steps to take are:

Keep your baby cool with light clothing
Make sure the room is cool
Give baby plenty of fluids
Check his temperature and make a note of the reading and time
Give him his ‘fever medicine’ as prescribed by the doctor.

‘Fever medicine’ as most parents call it are medicines used to reduce the baby’s temperature. Never give children aspirin to treat fever or pain.

Name of medicine
	Panadol or Paracetamol (known as acetaminophen in USA) is used to relieve pain and fever. May be used for post immunization fever. The paediatric version of paracetamol syrup contains 120 mg of paracetamol per 5ml (teaspoon). Sugar-free versions are available . It may be added in cough, cold or flu medicines so check the leaflet before giving additional Panadol.
	Calpol Infant Suspension is a liquid paracetamol suitable for infants aged 2 months plus
	Nurofen or Ibuprofen is stronger than Panadol and is used if the fever is very high which cannot be treated by Panadol. A word of caution here. It can cause gastric pain in some children therefore do use this very sparingly.

Other signs which need urgent medical attention include:

Baby is unusually drowsy or has difficulty waking
A fever with cold and clammy feet and hands
If baby looks blue or pale
Baby has difficulty breathing or breathing faster than normal
Baby is floppy
A rash, especially a purple, blotchy one anywhere on the body
If your baby has a fit

Tepid sponging to reduce fever

If your baby has a temperature over 40°C, you can sponge bath him to bring the fever down but you must use tepid water and only sponge the forehead, temples, armpits and legs.

When baby has a very high fever and you sponge the body it may cause shivering which can lead to the temperature going up further instead of coming down. After sponging dress baby in light clothes to keep him cool. Do not wrap baby to make him sweat as babies do not sweat well.

Traditional massage with dough made from flour and egg white. I find this method very effective especially when the fever is very high and cannot be reduced with medications or tepid sponging. Do not use refrigerated eggs.

Mix the flour and egg white together to form a dough. Use the dough to massage the whole body starting from the face and working down to the toes. Once you have finished, baby will start to sweat. It is important that you keep wiping the sweat off so that baby does not catch a chill. Do not use fan or air conditioner until baby has stopped sweating which will take about 20 minutes. Sometimes baby will start having little red spots after the massage. This is normal so do not panic. The fever will come down very quickly and if it goes up again the next day, massage once more and most times the fever will have settled. This method can be used for older children and adults but you will need more dough.

Traditional Chinese cooling drinks

The Chinese believe that the body can become internally over heated especially if not drinking sufficient fluids or over eating ‘heaty’ food especially toddlers who love eating biscuits. A sign of overheated body is baby’s breath is very smelly. The recommended treatment is to give ‘Leng Yong’ drink which is very effective but this can only be given twice only. Other cooling drinks are barley (use the big grain barley which is less cooling compared to the small grain normal barley), Seven Stars tea which also has a cleansing effect to rid the body of toxins. You can check with your medical hall assistants for their recommendations.

Cecilia Koh is a British trained nurse/midwife with over 30 years working experience. She operates a child care centre for children aged 1 month to 2 years.

http://www.Babiesconsult.com

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