What should I do if my one-month-old baby has a fever?

Many newborn babies are treated as treasures by the whole family, but during this period the baby may still get sick due to many factors, and fever is a very common condition. Many babies have fevers due to catching a cold. Many parents don’t know how to properly treat their newborn babies when they have this condition. So, what should we do if a baby who has just turned one month old has a fever?

First, what should you do if a baby who has just turned one month old has a fever? There must be a reason for the fever. Viral infection and bacterial infection are the most common causes of fever in children. It has little to do with viral infection or bacterial infection (what we call colds). A young child's immune system is in the process of developing. Fever is one way the child's immune system works and is a sign of strengthening the immune system. If it is a viral cold, do not take antibiotics (it will be useless). If the child can breastfeed when the temperature is around 38 degrees and is not feeling any discomfort, don't worry. When you have a high fever, use physical cooling (wipe your body with warm water and don't wear clothes). Physical cooling method: Place a cold wet towel on your head and neck. Use 40-50% alcohol to rub only your extremities (avoid your chest and stomach!). Don't cover yourself with a blanket, wear clothes (don't face the fan or air conditioner), and keep the room cool. Or take antipyretics.

Second, the best way to reduce fever is to use physical methods. In addition to taking medicine to reduce fever, some physical methods can also help children with fever reduce their temperature. Commonly used physical cooling methods in the home generally include alcohol bath, ice pillow cooling or warm water bath. So, which method is best for babies? Alcohol bath was a common method of reducing fever in the past, but it is not recommended to use this method for babies now. Wiping the baby's body with alcohol will cause the child's skin to expand and contract rapidly, which is very irritating to the baby. It may also cause alcohol poisoning in the baby. Using an ice pillow or ice compress on the forehead to reduce fever is a common method used by many parents. However, this method is not suitable for children under six months old, because young babies are easily affected by external temperature. Using an ice pillow will cause the temperature to drop too quickly, making it difficult for the baby to adapt. In addition, when a baby has a fever, the temperature of the whole body rises. Local ice compresses can only have a local cooling effect. It is better to wipe the baby's whole body with warm water.

What should you do if your one-month-old baby has a fever? A warm water bath means using a warm water towel at about 37°C to wipe the child's limbs, chest and back. Gradually reduce the high temperature of the skin (about 39℃) and make the baby feel more comfortable. At this time, you can also wipe your forehead and face with a slightly cooler towel (about 25°C). It should be noted that when performing these cooling treatments, if the child has so-called cold reactions such as cold hands and feet, trembling all over, purple lips, etc., stop immediately. Why? When pathogens invade the human body, the body temperature will rise to a corresponding temperature, which is the set temperature. Lowering the temperature setting is key to reducing your child's fever. Because if the set temperature does not change, the body will still produce heat to reach the target body temperature while dissipating heat. At this time, giving the child a cold bath in an attempt to reduce the fever by dissipating heat is not only ineffective, but makes the child shiver and chill, which is very painful.

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