When a baby has a fever, many parents are very nervous and always worried about burning their baby’s brain. So, cover the thick clothes, wet towels, paste the fever patch …… all kinds of tricks you can think of are on the line, can’t wait to immediately bring down the baby’s body temperature. Some parents even rush to feed their children fever medicine when their body temperature is less than 38.5°C, or go to the hospital emergency room and directly ask the doctor to give the child a fever reduction injection, hoping to achieve an immediate effect of fever reduction.
Most of the time, fever is a process in which the body mobilizes the immune system to fight against the virus. In the process of this fight, the child’s immune system can be strengthened if handled properly. An ordinary fever usually does not damage the child’s brain. On the contrary, if an overly aggressive approach is used to reduce fever, it is not good for the child’s health. Here are four major misconceptions that parents should try to avoid when reducing fever in their children.
Misconception one
Three layers of “sweating” to reduce fever
”Eat some medicine, cover for a while, and so sweat out on the fever.” Many parents encounter children with fever will use “cover” this trick, some people think that children with fever will also be accompanied by fear of cold, so desperately to the child to wear more, cover more, three layers, three layers outside the child wrapped tightly, only to reveal a stifled red little face.
Comment.
In fact, this practice is not scientific. When a child has a fever, the peripheral circulation becomes poor, the hands and feet may feel a little cold, but it is not because the child is not dressed enough. Wrapping the child tightly will instead affect the body’s heat dissipation, making the body temperature rise or even in a state of hyperthermia. The peripheral blood vessels can compensate for the expansion during hyperthermia, which increases sweating, while the body’s metabolism is hyperactive and oxygen consumption increases, making it easy to be in a hypoxic state, making the baby’s body even more uncomfortable.
Correct practice.
When your child has a fever, don’t wear too many clothes too tight, and don’t cover too much too tight, to ensure that their bodies can fully dissipate heat; at the same time, we should also pay attention to the proper warmth for the baby’s hands and feet.
Misconception two
You can’t take a bath, only rub your baby’s body with cold water
Some parents think that children with fever can not take a bath, and some parents think that children with fever need to dissipate heat, with cold water to rub the body can help cool down. In fact, these two practices are not desirable.
Point of view.
If the child’s fever temperature is below 38.5 ℃, the spirit is fine, a warm bath can not only help clean the skin, to avoid blockage of sweat glands, but also help the child’s body heat dissipation. If the child has a high fever of 38.5 ℃ or more, even with chills, cold limbs, etc., it is not appropriate to take a bath.
Correct practice.
The baby’s body temperature is below 38.5 ℃, the spirit is fine, you can take a warm bath to help the body heat. The key is to take a proper bath, pay special attention to adjust the room temperature (preferably around 25 ℃), the water temperature can be one or two degrees lower than the body temperature, the bath time is not too long. If it is inconvenient to take a bath, it is okay to use warm water to wipe your body. But whether it is a warm bath or body wipe, we should pay attention to avoid the wind, and then quickly dry the whole body and put on dry clothes to avoid catching cold.
Misconception three
Feed fever medicine as soon as you have a fever
Some parents immediately give their children a variety of antipyretic drugs as soon as they see a fever. If the effect is not obvious after eating the medicine, and immediately change another fever-reducing drugs, can not wait to immediately be able to reduce fever.
Comment.
This is actually not a good idea either. Generally speaking, the child’s body temperature below 38.5 ℃, it is recommended that the main physical cooling; more than 38.5 ℃ before the physical cooling at the same time consider taking antipyretic drugs. At present, there are many kinds of antipyretic drugs on the market, parents had better use the children’s form of antipyretic drugs, especially for small babies, you can use some drops of antipyretic drugs.
Correct practice.
If the child’s temperature still does not drop significantly after taking the antipyretic, do not immediately use another antipyretic or replace it with another antipyretic; generally take another antipyretic after an interval of 4 to 6 hours. At the same time, pay attention to hydrate the child to facilitate cooling.
Myth 4
High fever should be treated after seeing a doctor
Some parents worry that giving their children fever-reducing medication will affect the doctor’s ability to make accurate judgments about the condition, or they don’t know what medication to use for their children, so even though their children’s faces are red from the fever, they don’t take active measures to lower the temperature, and they have to wait until they see a doctor before the doctor deals with them.
Comment.
Some children already have a high fever, and the parents pick them up at home and rush them to the hospital without treating them, and when they wait anxiously outside the clinic, the child is already feverish and confused. For babies who already have a high fever, if the fever is left untreated for a long time, it can easily cause febrile convulsions and fainting in children. Therefore, it is also important to actively cool your child down before seeing a doctor.
Correct practice.
If your child already has a fever of 38.5°C or higher, you should actively cool your child down at home with physical cooling methods or even by feeding fever-reducing medicine.
In short, parents should pay more attention to their child’s behavior when he or she has a fever, rather than just focusing on the temperature number. If the child is still in good spirits and the temperature is below 38.5°C and tends to decrease, there is no need to worry too much. However, it should be reminded that the immune system of small children within 3 months of age is not yet mature, so it is better to seek medical attention as soon as possible once the fever is present, and not to take it for granted and give the child random medication.