A mother is asking, “What should I do if my baby has a fever of 38.5 degrees! Will it be burned?” It’s understandable that moms are anxious about their babies’ health, but in fact, fever is not as scary as you might think, and it won’t be “burned out”! Today, we share the content about baby fever, with the views of famous childcare experts, hoping that more mothers can look at baby fever more calmly. Fever is not a disease, it is a symptomatic response triggered by the body against a virus All parents have a fever phobia, because many parents mistakenly believe that fever will harm their children. But fever is not a disease, it is a normal reaction when the body is infected. A fever usually indicates that a battle is going on in your baby’s body. When bacteria engage the body’s white blood cells, the cells produce substances called pyrogens, which stimulate the body to fight the bacteria, and then communicate the stimulus to the brain to regulate body temperature. When the bacteria are eliminated, the body begins to eliminate excess heat and accelerate its distribution through the skin, much like a dog panting in the summer to cool down. How many degrees is considered a fever in babies The normal body temperature of an infant is 36-37.8. A healthy baby may wake up with a temperature of 36 in the morning and rise to 37.8 in the evening or after being angry. Here’s what is considered a fever (rectal temperature) It’s best to always have your baby’s normal body temperature. It is best to take it early in the morning when your baby is well, when he wakes up, write down his temperature and take it again in the evening when he is quiet. Low fever: temperature between 37.2-38.3 Moderate fever: temperature between 38.4-39.4 High fever: temperature above 39.5 These are your baby’s average body temperatures, and any temperature higher than the normal body temperature indicates a fever. So when you go to the doctor in a hurry with a baby who has a fever of 38.9, it’s normal for the doctor not to be impressed because it’s only a moderate fever after all. A high baby temperature does not necessarily indicate a serious illness There may be a small percentage of viral diseases that cause a high fever (40-40.6), but each baby reacts differently to the disease that causes the fever. Some babies will have a high fever with a slight infection, while others will only have a slight fever even with a serious illness. Unless the fever reaches a temperature of 41.7, a fever is not too harmful to your baby and will not burn the brain. The level of your concern should be linked more to your baby’s physical performance than to the temperature of the fever! It is worth noting that the younger your baby is, the more parents have to worry about. A fever in a three-month-old baby is much more worrisome than a fever in a three-year-old baby. Smaller babies are also less resistant to germs. And babies under three months old should tell their doctor immediately about any fever because their immune system is not yet developed. Should I artificially bring down my baby’s fever? Since fever is a normal symptom, don’t reduce it easily! The purpose of reducing the fever is to make the baby comfortable, and generally the baby will not feel uncomfortable until it is above 39 degrees. At this point, you can reduce the fever again, but the condition varies from person to person. If your baby is sleeping peacefully, do not dig him up and force him to reduce the fever. And babies with fever should not be covered! (Babies regulate their body temperature differently than adults), cover the body temperature will be higher high will be more likely to trigger high temperature cramps ~ because babies can not regulate their own body temperature, the head is a heat dissipation tool, so more can not cover. As for insulation, the baby’s hands and feet are cold when wearing more, sweating when wearing less, do not go the other way. Be sure to prohibit the use of alcohol wipes for babies, the use of aspirin, the frantic use of antipyretic plugs and forced sweating. Only antipyretics have the effect of truly reducing fever Preventing high body temperature and avoiding febrile convulsions are the most basic reasons for taking antipyretics! Only antipyretics have the real effect of reducing fever! Other auxiliary ways such as fever patches, ice pillows, warm water wipes, etc. are only the cure, and will not have any effect on the central body temperature, the child’s body temperature up and down at this time are their own body balance each other, and you give the ice pillow, etc. have nothing to do with it! Do not use your own private medicine! Sometimes it will cover up the real condition. And the temperature is low, the disease may not really be better. The medication can also make the fever recede too much, into hypothermia, but also dangerous. And when breast milk is rich in antibodies, it is beneficial to keep your baby cold properly. Fever-reducing plugs are only used when the baby vomits and cannot take medicine. Using plugs will make the fever go down faster and the fever rise even faster, so it will also cause the baby to shiver and shiver. What is the situation that must go to the doctor? 1. Baby is less than six months old 2. Unable to determine whether the baby has a general viral or bacterial infection, for example: (1) Fever of 40 degrees or more. (2) More than 24 hours and still only fever, no cold or gastrointestinal symptoms. (3) Fever of more than three days. (3) The baby has symptoms of bacterial infection and is still depressed when the fever subsides (most important!) The baby may even be unconscious, have convulsions, etc. Bacterial infections include encephalitis, pneumonia, otitis media, sinusitis… And so on, each with different symptoms, the only common denominator is poor spirits! Fever is actually a good thing! Fever can enhance the effectiveness of the immune system, a large number of fever-reducing drugs will instead reduce the immune system, so that the virus is less likely to be killed. And a simple fever is definitely not going to burn your baby’s head. In the past, it was thought that fever would burn the head because many children with fever used to get encephalitis, for a simple example, a child with pneumonia has a high fever, but not a bad head; on the other hand, a child with encephalitis does not need to have a high fever, the head is also at risk. So parents should be able to understand. And incidentally, remind mothers that teething does not cause fever!