What to do if your baby has a fever and difficulty breathing

It is winter and the weather is quite cold. Many babies start to catch colds and fevers. This is because the baby's resistance is reduced. When taking the baby out with friends, if they are not dressed properly and catch a cold or are exposed to the wind, the child may have a fever and respiratory disorders. The fever will affect the lungs, and the baby will have symptoms of coughing, pneumonia, and vomiting, which will cause difficulty breathing and respiratory disorders. During the baby's fever, parents and friends must take good care of the baby. So what should we do if a baby has a fever and difficulty breathing?

Commonly used physical cooling methods in the home:

1. Drink more warm water, vegetable juice and fruit juice. Let your baby drink more water and replenish body fluids. This is the most basic method of reducing fever. It is very effective and practical and suitable for all babies with fever. Do not give your baby cold water, because fever is often accompanied by gastrointestinal symptoms and cough, and drinking cold water will aggravate these accompanying symptoms. Give your baby warm water.

2. Warm water bath, that is, wipe the whole body with a warm water towel. This is a great way to cool down any baby who has a fever. The water temperature should be between 32 and 34 oC, and each wiping time should be more than 10 minutes. The key areas to wipe are the skin folds, such as the neck, armpits, elbows, groin, etc.

3. Warm water bath: The water temperature should be about 3-4℃ lower than the child's body temperature, and each bath should last for 5-10 minutes. Many parents think that babies should not be bathed when they have a fever. In fact, on the contrary, giving babies a warm bath can help cool them down. A warm bath is suitable for all babies with a fever.

4. Low-temperature chamber method: Place the sick child in an environment with a room temperature of about 24°C to slowly lower the body temperature. In order to allow the skin to come into contact with the outside air and help cool down, people need to wear less clothes. If conditions permit, use air conditioning to lower the room temperature. This method is suitable for babies under 1 month old, especially in summer. Just open the baby's clothes and put him in a cool place, his body temperature will slowly drop. If your baby has chills and shivering when having a fever, you should not use the low-temperature chamber method.

5. Cooling patch: Cooling patch is a new product in recent years and is very popular. In fact, the cooling effect is average and not as exaggerated as advertised. Putting a patch on the baby's forehead will make the baby's head feel more comfortable and the parents will feel more at ease too. It should be beneficial and harmless.

6. Ice compress: There is still a lot of controversy about the pros and cons of this method. I think ice compresses do more harm than good, because they may cause the capillaries in the baby's skin to contract, hindering heat dissipation and causing the body temperature to be higher, especially if accompanied by chills and shivering. Ice compresses should never be used.

7. Alcohol bath: The baby's skin is very thin and alcohol has strong permeability, so it may be absorbed into the blood through the skin. Moreover, alcohol baths can also irritate the skin, causing capillaries to contract, hindering heat dissipation, and causing the body temperature to be higher. This approach has been abandoned. If the baby's temperature is still over 38.5℃ after physical cooling treatment, medication should be used to reduce the fever.

When the baby has a fever, the mother is very worried and anxious. She doesn't know how to treat the child. Many parents will use a popular cooling patch, but the effect of the cooling patch is average, and most of them are made of chemical drugs. Therefore, it is not recommended for parents to use it. It is recommended that parents can give the child more warm water, apply ice, or give the child a warm bath to reduce the fever during the baby's fever.