Introduction to baby fever and cold hands and feet

When a baby has a fever and has cold hands and feet, it is very sensitive for a newborn baby, which can easily lead to fever and cold, so this requires young parents to take good care of our babies. For such serious problems as cold hands and feet after a baby has a fever, we must treat them in time to avoid sequelae in the future. We recommend that mothers take their children to the hospital for treatment in time when the baby has a fever and cold hands and feet.

First of all, what causes fever? At what temperature does a baby have a fever?

Normal body temperature for infants and young children

Since infants and young children have more active metabolism than adults and their temperature regulation center is not fully developed, their normal body temperature is higher than that of adults. However, there is a certain fluctuation in body temperature between day and night, which is low in the morning and high in the afternoon, but the fluctuation range does not exceed 1°C.

How many degrees is considered a fever?

What is the normal body temperature and what is the fever temperature?! So we first need to understand where we test the body temperature. There are usually three parts of the body to test body temperature. We often use the armpit, and clamp the thermometer under the armpit. Then, it is more common to use oral testing for comparison children. The last one is rectal temperature. Because the temperature of different parts will be different when tested. What is the normal range of the test values ​​in these places? How many degrees is considered a fever?

Axillary temperature

The armpit temperature is 0.3-0.4℃ lower than the average oral temperature, and its normal range is 36.0-37.4℃. Since the armpit is not a closed body cavity, the temperature is lower and is easily affected by the ambient temperature and sweating. When measuring the armpit temperature, it takes at least 10 minutes and the armpit should not sweat.

Oral temperature

Oral temperature is 0.2℃-0.3℃ lower than rectal temperature. Its normal value is 36.7℃-37℃. This measurement is a bit more convenient and accurate, but its disadvantage is that it is not suitable for crying infants and irritable patients to take oral temperature.

Rectal temperature

Rectal temperature is what we usually call anal temperature. It is the highest and is not affected by external factors. When measuring rectal temperature, if the thermometer is inserted more than 6 cm into the anus, the measured temperature is close to the core body temperature, and the normal range is 36.9℃-37.9℃.

How many degrees is a fever?

Taking the axillary temperature as an example, the normal body temperature is between 36 degrees Celsius and 37.4 degrees Celsius. Generally, 37.5-38.5 is low fever, 38.1-39 is moderate fever, and 39.1-40.4 is high fever. A fever of 40.5 or above is considered a very high fever[1].

The child has a low-grade fever of 37.5-38.5℃. With such a high temperature, why are the child's hands and feet cold? What is the cause? Does the cold hands and feet mean that the child is cold?

Why are your hands and feet cold?

Having a fever but cold hands and feet is a phenomenon of false cold and true heat, which is especially common in infants and young children under 3 years old. This is mainly because babies (especially infants) have less blood in their limbs than in their internal organs. Due to insufficient blood supply to their limbs, they are more likely to feel cold than adults. In addition, the baby's nervous system is not yet fully developed, and the autonomic nerves responsible for managing vasodilation and contraction are prone to disorder, causing the small blood vessels at the ends of the limbs to be in a spasmodic contraction state and become cold when the high fever first occurs.

Ambient temperature

Because children's central nervous system is not yet fully developed, their ability to regulate body temperature is imperfect. If the ambient temperature is low, children's hands will be exposed to the outside for a longer period of time, so their hands and feet will become cold.

The above is a detailed introduction to the causes and treatments of babies' fever and cold hands and feet. Our young parents need to read it carefully, because the baby's illness cannot be ignored. Therefore, when our baby's body shows abnormalities, parents should not worry too much. Illness is common, but it only needs timely treatment.