Home Treatment of Childhood Fever

 
There are a few simple procedures that you can perform at home to alleviate the discomfort of your child during fever. Once you have established that your child has fever, take her clothes off immediately, unless she is chilly and wants to be covered. Touch your child to make sure his entire body is hot, including legs and feet. If feet are as hot as the rest of his body, you can carry out a few easy hydrotherapy procedures. Wet two cotton socks with cold water, wring them out slightly, so they do not drip, and put them on his feet. Put another, dry pair of socks, on top of the wet ones to seal in the cold. Change the wet socks every twenty minutes or so, or as soon as you feel them get warm.

For a bigger child it is better to use a towel, so you can wrap it around his calves. Take four cotton hand towels, wet two of them with cold water, slightly wring them out, and wrap around your child’s legs and feet. Use the second pair as a dry insulating layer. Change as soon as the wet towels become warm. If your child does not vigorously object, you can also place the cold towel on her forehead or the back of her neck at the same time as you cooling her feet.

If socks or towels do not significantly bring the fever down, you may use a sponge bath. There are two ways to do that. With a small infant it is easier to use the following method. Place a large towel on the floor and your baby on the towel. Wet a sponge or a face cloth with lukewarm water from a dish placed nearby. Run the sponge or cloth all over her body to create a sweat substitute; as soon as the skin dries, wet it again. It is often easier to place an older child in a half-filled bathtub and sponge her upper body. It is very important not to cool the child to the point of shivering. If he starts to shiver, that means his temperature began to rise again. Also, never perform hydrotherapy on a chilly child, and never force him, if he objects to being cooled, there must be a good reason for his objection. Likewise, if he feels very hot, he will welcome a relief.

If all these procedures fail to bring you child’s temperature down within two hours, and especially if the temperature is above 39o C (102oF), take him to see a doctor.

TREATMENT OF CHILLS

Sit her on a chair and wrap a warm blanket all around her. If her head feels hot, you can place a cold towel on the back of her neck or her forehead. If she feels cold all over, cover her head with a blanket as well. Dissolve two or three table spoons of mustard powder in a foot bath filled with hot water. Make sure the water is not too hot by placing your elbow in it to test. Take your child’s foot and put her heel in the water asking her how it feels. If she feels that temperature is not too hot, slowly immerse both of her feet in a water, one after another. Assure her that the water will feel much cooler in about a minute or two, once she is used to it. Heat more water in a kettle, but do not bring it to a boil. Every ten minutes add a bit of this very hot water to the foot bath, making sure not to pour it directly over her feet. The aim of this procedure is to gradually raise the temperature of the water to your child’s level of tolerance. Keep on testing the water’s temperature with your elbow. Continue the procedure for about half an hour.

After that, remove her feet from the water, one by one, making sure she does not get chilled again, rinse them from mustard with warm water, and then rub them vigorously with a cold wet towel. Dry her feet and put on a pair of dry socks immediately. By the end of this session your child should start feeling warm and may want to remove the blanket. Put her to bed with hot water bottle if she is still chilly and give her plenty of hot drinks, raspberry tea with honey preferred.

Once the fever is broken and your child starts perspiring, especially if he is very young, it is very important to prevent dehydration, which is what happens when body electrolytes-the chemicals from tissue fluids, such as sodium, chloride, potassium, and others-evaporate with the sweat. If the child also has had a few episodes of diarrhea or vomiting, replacing electrolytes is essential. Plain water can not replace these electrolytes, but you can prepare a drink that has them.

If the child is extremely thirsty, supplement with plain water, giving her as much as she wants, and at whatever temperature she wants, even if it is cold from a refrigerator.
Electrolyte Recipes
Recipe #1

1 tsp miso
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp liquid calcium
2 cups water

Recipe #2

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup of honey
1 tbsp liquid calcium
1 liter water

Recipe #3

1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp honey
4 tsp lemon juice
1 liter water