Why does the baby have a high fever? Every parent asked this question throughout the entire period of growing up of the baby. Especially panic is caused by a very high temperature and a lack of qualified medical care at hand.
There are many reasons why children have a fever:
- teething,
- various diseases, such as pneumonia or meningococcal infection,
- banal ARVI or flu.
We will not go into the details of the analysis of the reasons for the occurrence of a temperature in a child, but we will focus on providing assistance at a high temperature.
First of all, it is extremely important to distinguish between "pink" and "white" fever, since the tactics of helping the child depend on it:
Pink fever is when the baby is red, arms, legs, head and torso are hot to the touch, the baby is breathing rapidly, is thirsty, and if the temperature is very high, he may become lethargic and refuse to eat. "White" fever is when a child has a high temperature (hot head), hands and feet are cold (blue), the child shivers, he tries to wrap himself up warmly.
As a general rule, if the child is healthy, i.e. does not have chronic diseases, is not registered at the dispensary, he is sick no more than 5 times a year and his parents are also healthy, with a "pink" type of fever, the temperature can be lowered when it reaches 39 ° C.
If the child is newborn, i.e. from birth to 1 month, you must first call a doctor, and all children under the age of 1 year, by order of the Ministry of Health, must be referred to a doctor for any disease.
Before seeing a doctor for pink fever, you can do the following:
1. Cool the baby physically (for any age): blowing air on the baby, give a drink at room temperature to make him drink, give a little, 1 teaspoon, but often, every five minutes, rub with a semi-alcoholic solution (vodka) at room temperature, wipe it is necessary around the neck, in the armpits, in the elbows, in the groin, under the knee joints - wherever large vessels pass. It is necessary to wipe it off with a well-moistened cloth so that the semi-alcohol solution flows from it. As soon as it dries up, wipe again.
Another effective way is to generously moisten the child's head with water at room temperature, so that the head is all wet, as if under running water. As soon as the hair roots dry up, moisten again and so on three times. This is effective, because the center of thermoregulation is located in the brain, and thus it can be "cooled". You can put an ice pack on your head, but you may not always have it on hand. It should be kept for no more than 15 minutes, wrapped in a towel in advance.
2. Drug therapy: at a newborn age at a temperature, the choice of drugs is extremely limited. You can only give paracetamol at a dose of 10-15 mg per 1 kg of the child's weight at a time of 6-8 hours. For example, the weight of a child is 5600, which means that paracetamol can be taken 56-84 mg at a time. The numbers can be rounded to 60-80 mg. You can usually measure it with a measuring syringe, which is attached to various paracetamol-based syrups, or use candles with a ready-made dosage according to age. Also, paracetamol is available in the form of tablets and drops.
Help with white fever:
When "white" fever occurs, with chills, it is not necessary to physically cool down, since the vessels on the limbs are spasmodic (narrowed), heat transfer is unproductive, i.e. all the heat generated by the child remains in the body, when using physical methods of cooling, the vessels will narrow even more and, accordingly, the heat transfer will decrease, the baby's condition will worsen. Therefore, you can immediately give paracetamol in an age-specific dosage and call a doctor. With this type of fever, only the head can be cooled, as described above!
From 3 months, ibuprofen is allowed at a dose of 5-10 mg per 1 kg of body weight, with an interval of 6-8 hours. No other drugs, without a doctor's prescription, should not be given to children, neither at 10 years old, nor at 15!
The biggest mistake parents have made since Soviet times is giving children aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) and analgin. It can cause destruction of the liver and destruction of the brain, as well as damage the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, cause exacerbation of stomach and duodenal ulcers.
Dear parents, remember the 4 main rules for a child's temperature:
1. The main thing is to determine the type of fever "white" or "pink"; 2. Provide the child with plenty of drink; 3. Give first of all paracetamol, and from three months, ibuprofen; 4. Do not give aspirin and analgin.
After you have learned about the provision of emergency care, I would like to say about the importance of providing the baby with a drinking regimen with temprature. The loss of fluid at high temperatures in a child, through the skin and breathing, can account for 52-75% of the total number of all water losses. In other words, he can lose more water through the skin during hyperthermia (fever) than through the urinary system, which can very quickly lead the child to dehydration and development, a very serious complication such as neurotoxicosis!
Remember 4 simple rules proposed by us and everything will be all right with your child!
