What should I do if my child has a fever but his hands and feet are cold and his body is hot?

Babies have always been a very special group. They do not have the same resistance and immunity as adults, and can easily get sick if they are not careful. Some mothers recently found that their children have cold hands and feet when they have a fever. What is the reason for this? To be specific, we need to find the root cause. Children are not like adults. Their organs are not yet fully developed and are not mature enough to respond to diseases. Once they have a fever, their various functions will be disordered, and they will naturally show different symptoms from adults. Here is some knowledge about children with cold hands and feet but hot body when they have a fever.

Is it normal for a baby to have cold hands and feet when he has a fever?

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. This is a normal pathological manifestation, and parents do not need to worry too much.

The ambient temperature can also cause your baby's hands and feet to be cold. 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 and the child's hands are exposed to the outside for a long time, his hands and feet will become cold.

Reasons why baby's hands and feet are cold due to fever

Some parents do not understand this situation. Once they find their baby's limbs are cold, they mistakenly think that the baby has caught a cold and is afraid of the cold. They immediately wrap the baby tightly. As a result, the baby's body temperature cannot be dissipated in time and keeps rising, and the baby may even have a high fever or convulsions.

What to do if your baby has a fever and cold hands and feet

If your baby has a fever, you can give him some warm water and keep the room ventilated. Usually cold hands and feet are a precursor to fever. If the baby's fever does not exceed 38.5℃, it is recommended to use only physical cooling. If it exceeds 38.5℃, take antipyretics first to prevent the baby from developing bronchitis and pneumonia. Then go to the hospital to do a routine blood test for the baby to check for inflammation.