5 Medicine-Free Ways to Fight a Child's Fever

5 medicine-free ways to fight a child's feverIt's one of the most alarming moments of parenthood and, unfortunately, also one of the most common. When your child has a fever, it's enough to make you both miserable - you're sick with worry, and they're, well, just plain sick.

Despite the initial panic it may induce, having a fever is not necessarily a bad thing. A fever is a sign that the body is fighting an infection.

Knowing when to take steps to reduce a fever and when to let it run its course is important. While a temperature greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit in infants is a reason to contact your pediatrician, fevers in older children can be less of a cause for concern. But while they may not be life-threatening, they still have the ability to make your child pretty uncomfortable. Here are a few medicine-free ways to fight a child's fever.

Dress your child in lightweight clothing
1. Dress your child in lightweight clothing
Clothing should be kept to a minimum to allow the heat to escape through their skin. Make sure they are dressed in lightweight fabrics and avoid layering or footed pajamas. It's also important to ensure they aren't wrapped in thick bedding that could trap heat and increase their body temperature. A sheet or thin blanket will suffice.

Related: Everything parents need to know about fevers


Give your child a lukewarm bath
2. Give your child a lukewarm bath
Ensure the water is not too hot and not too cold. Though your instinct may be to bathe them in cool water, this can cause shivering which generates heat and may increase your child's fever. As the water evaporates from your child's skin, it will cool them and lower their temperature.


Wipe them down with a cool cloth
3. Wipe them down with a cool cloth
Apply a wet wash cloth to the neck, head, and wrists. Like the bath, it is important to make sure the cloth is room temperature.This will feel cool to feverish skin, will help bring a fever down faster, and may bring some added relief to your child, as well.


Try a wet sock treatment
4. Try a wet sock treatment
Here's a favorite naturopathic remedy: Wet a pair of thin cotton socks and wring them out, leaving them damp. Put these socks on your child and cover them with a pair of dry wool socks. Forcing your child's feet to be a different temperature from the rest of the body is said to boost the immune system and trigger the release of white blood cells as the body hunts for the cause of the difference in temperature.

Related: Fever busters - the 10 best foods to starve a fever


Encourage them to drink cool liquids
5. Encourage them to drink cool liquids
Your feverish child is at an increased risk of dehydration. Encourage him or her to drink plenty of water, juice, and electrolyte-containing liquids.

- By Amber Doty

For 3 more medicine-free ways to fight a child's fever, visit Babble!

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