What are the physical methods to reduce baby’s fever?

Baby fever is a very common phenomenon in the baby's growth process. No matter how well the mother takes care of the baby, the baby will have a fever. There are many reasons for the baby's fever, but it does not mean that the baby needs to go to the hospital if he has a fever. Sometimes when the baby has a fever, you can do some physical cooling at home. There are several specific methods of physical cooling and fever reduction for babies. Let us understand.

If the baby's body temperature is between 38℃ and 39℃, you can take the following physical cooling methods:

1. Drink more water:

Give your child plenty of water to replenish body fluids. This is the most basic method of cooling down, and it is very effective and suitable for all babies with fever. The reason why most parents think that intravenous infusion is effective has a lot to do with intravenous fluid replenishment. Some children are unwilling to drink water when they have a fever due to sore throat and other reasons. Drinking water is the most important thing at this time. You can choose various fruit juice drinks, but of course the best is boiled water.

2. Wipe your body with warm water:

Wiping the whole body with warm water is a good way to cool down, suitable for children of all ages. The water temperature should be between 32℃ and 34℃. Each wiping time is more than 10 minutes. The key areas to wipe are the skin folds, such as the neck, armpits, elbows, groin, etc. For children with high fever or older children, a warm water bath can be used. The water temperature can be slightly lower than body temperature. Children will not be able to accept a temperature that is too low.

3. Reduce the ambient temperature:

Children need to exchange heat with the surrounding environment to reduce fever. The lower the ambient temperature, the more conducive it is to reducing fever. The best ambient temperature is 20℃~24℃ (depending on the season), which is conducive to a slow drop in body temperature. For young babies, especially in summer, if you just open their clothes and put them in a cool place, their body temperature will slowly drop. If a child has chills and shivering in the early stages of a fever, it means that the child's body temperature is still rising and this method is not suitable.

4. Use cooling patch:

The cooling patch covers a very small area and has a limited cooling effect. It may make children with high fever feel more comfortable and is only an auxiliary measure. Ice compress is too cold and may cause the capillaries in the child's skin to contract, hindering heat dissipation. Children who suffer from chills and shivering should not use ice compresses.

5. Alcohol bath:

Babies' skin is very thin and alcohol is highly permeable, so it is easily absorbed through the skin and may cause symptoms of alcohol poisoning. Alcohol baths can also irritate the skin, causing capillaries to constrict and hindering heat dissipation. It is generally not recommended for children, especially infants.

6. Excretion:

Drinking more water and urinating more often is a good way to remove heat from the body. In fact, defecation is also a good choice. Prepare an enema. If the child has a fever on the day or has not had a bowel movement for several days, use the enema once to eliminate food residues accumulated in the body. While excreting, it takes away heat to reduce the high fever. Many Chinese medicines use this method to reduce fever. Chinese medicine calls it clearing heat from the lower burner or laxative. These Chinese medicines generally contain rhubarb, gypsum, trichosanthes, betel nut, etc., so be cautious when using them.