What are the physical cooling methods for children?

Children have relatively weak resistance and their body organs are not yet fully developed. They can easily develop a fever due to external factors. A cold is a typical example of this disease. When a child has a fever, it is a very good idea to use physical methods to reduce the temperature. Many parents are concerned about physical methods to reduce the temperature of their children. So, what are the physical methods of cooling down children? Let’s take a closer look below.

1. Drink more warm water, vegetable juice and fruit juice. Let your baby drink more water to replenish body fluids. This is the most basic way to reduce fever, and it is very effective and practical, suitable for all babies with fever. Don't give your baby cold water, because babies often have gastrointestinal symptoms and coughs when they have a fever, 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 good way to cool down, and it is also suitable for all babies with fever. The water temperature is more suitable at 32-34 oC, and each wiping time is more than 10 minutes. The key areas to wipe are the wrinkles of the skin, such as the neck, armpits, elbows, groin, etc.

3. Warm water bath: The water temperature is about 3-4℃ lower than the sick baby's body temperature, and each bath lasts 5-10 minutes. Many parents think that babies cannot take a bath when they have a fever. In fact, on the contrary, a warm water bath can help the baby cool down. Warm water bath is suitable for all babies with fever.

4. Low temperature chamber method: Place the sick child in an environment with a room temperature of about 24℃ to slowly lower the body temperature. In order to allow the skin to contact with the outside air and cool down, the child needs to wear less clothes. If conditions permit, use air conditioning to lower the room temperature. This method is suitable for infants under 1 month old, especially in summer. As long as the baby's clothes are opened and placed in a cool place, his body temperature will slowly drop. If the baby has a fever accompanied by chills and shivering, the low temperature chamber method cannot be used.

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

6. Ice compress: There is still much controversy about the pros and cons of this method. I think the disadvantages of ice compress outweigh the advantages, because ice compress may cause the capillaries of the baby's skin to contract, hinder heat dissipation, and the body temperature will be higher, especially when accompanied by chills and shivering, ice compress should not be used.

7. Alcohol bath: Babies' skin is very thin, and alcohol has strong permeability, so it may be absorbed into the blood through the skin. In addition, alcohol bath will irritate the skin, cause capillary contraction, hinder heat dissipation, and increase body temperature. This method has been abandoned.

In addition to using medication to reduce temperature, we found that there are many physical methods to cool children down in daily life, which avoids the disadvantages of possible side effects when children use medication. However, because the causes of fever vary from child to child, when physical cooling methods are ineffective, it is best to go to the hospital in time to take effective methods to reduce the temperature to prevent the child from suffering more serious injuries.