Fevers...

[pattyT]

as many of you know my kids have had cronic ear infections lately -
well I should have replaced the old baby books when DD 1.2 was born -
I DID not know that you shouldn't put a cold wet cloth on their heads,
and that you shouldn't give them warm baths (aka rather cool as apposed to hot)
The covering physician gave me an earful...

 

[Aidensmom]

I didn't know that either till a few weeks ago when my friend's son was sick, and her pediatrician read her the riot act for the same thing.

Sometimes medical advice changes so quickly it is hard to keep up. Don't feel bad for not knowing.

 

[crazyme5kids]

What is the reason for not putting a cool cloth on the forehead? I always do that.

 

[hugsquared]

What did he say? It really depends on how high the fever is and the doc. I work with some docs who will treat any fever over 100, and some who feel like the fever helps kill the offending organism and a child has to be 101.5 before they will let us give Tylenol or Motrin. Once a fever reaches 103 or above, you run the risk of febrile seizures and yes, we do cover with cool rags, ice down or bathe in tepid water. They (the docs) all have their ideas of good and bad, none that really hurt the children, just differing opinions.
Hope the babies are feeling better soon.

 

[tiggersmom2]

Ok...fill me in. I am a RN (though I have not practiced since 2002 - I left it for dentistry) and I have always heard you put the kiddo in a tepid bath...has that changed?

 

[Kermit]

I think the current theory is that you should keep them from getting too hot but that if you put cold things on them, the shaking and chattering of teeth will actually cause them to build up body heat.

I have to admit to being confused by all the stuff about bringing fevers down. We just let our kids have fevers. I guess I might do something if they ever had a really high fever (like maybe 105?), but so far, that hasn't happened.

 

[CJBaby]

I know that when my 2 year old dd has had a very high fever, I can't make the bath more than lukewarm. When you are so hot, even lukewarm feels freezing, and it's practically painful.

I also thought that the water on your body evaporating over time is what helps lower the temp slightly.

I'm also curious to know if when the water is too cool to the child, and causes them to shiver, if that raises their temperature. Or is shivering itself just a symptom of rising temp.?