The Best Way to Treat A Child’s Fever

If your child’s temperature was 100.3 degrees, would you consider that a fever? Would you wake him or her to administer an anti-fever medication? If you answered yes to both questions, you have a lot of company. You are also wrong.
A study published in the March issue of the Journal pediatrics found that roughly half of all parents erroneously believe a body temperature of less than 100.4 degrees is a fever and about 85 percent say they would wake a sleeping child to give medication to lower his temperature. Another one-quarter said they would give OTC anti-fever medicines to kids with temperatures below 100 degrees.
Not only does the study suggest that Dr. Mom and Dr. Dad overreact when they think their kids have a fever, but a frightening 50 percent of parents give the wrong dose of medications like ibuprofenor acetaminophen for their child’s weight, which could result in excessive doses that might be harmful. Instead, parents should focus more on their child’s comfort than solely the thermometer reading.

USE THESE TIPS TO PREVENT THE FLU IN SCHOOL:

While it’s alarming when your little one has a fever—I’ll never forget how frightened I was when one of my daughters spiked a temperature of 105 degrees—most of the time fever is not serious. After all, a fever is the body’s natural way of battling infections. When viruses or bacteria attack, white blood cells come to rescue by producing interleukin, a hormone that raises body temperature. In effect, the heat helps kill germs that are making your child sick.

HOW TO TAKE A TEMPERATURE:

Most pediatricians consider a rectal temperature to be the gold standard in accuracy in kids, while armpit temperatures and pacifier thermometers are the least reliable. Body temperature varies according to time of day and is lowest in the morning and early evening. To qualify as a fever, the rectal thermometer reading must be 100.4 or above.

TREATING AFEVER WITHOUT MEDICATION:

Medication usually isn’t necessary for mild fevers. Dress your child in a light, single layer of clothing when indoors and use minimal bedcovers. A sponge bath with lukewarm water helps quell a fever. The main goal should be keeping your child comfortable—not reducing the temperature to normal, the Pediatrics report emphasizes. Also make sure your child is well hydrated. Fruit juice, popsicles, soup and Jello are all choices with kid-appeal.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

Never give kids aspirin, which has been linked to Reye’s syndrome, a potentially fatal disorder. Avoid use of rubbing alcohol because it can be absorbed through the skin. Do not give adult medications to kids even if you try to adjust the dosage. Also avoid cold baths or ice to lower temperature. These cool the skin, then causing shivering, which in turn boosts temperature. Nor is it necessary to wake up kids to give anti-fever medications. Above all, don’t panic—even if your child spikes a fever high enough to trigger a seizure (a relatively infrequent problem), it’s still extremely unlikely to do any lasting harm. Most kids bounce back from a fever in a day or two. With a healthy dose of TLC, your child should soon be well again.