How to Reduce Fever in Baby At Home

As a parent, you should know how to reduce fever in baby at home. This is important so that later there will be no confusion when their child has a fever, especially for new parents. For further explanation, let's look at the following.

A baby can be declared a fever if his body temperature reaches 38 degrees Celsius or more. Fever in babies can occur due to various things, ranging from viral or bacterial infections, fever after immunization, too long outdoor activities when the weather is hot, to wearing clothes that are too thick.

How to Reduce Fever in Babies At Home

Actually heat in babies is normal and mostly nothing to worry about. This is because fever in babies is a reaction from the immune system that is good when fighting off attacks by germs that cause infection, such as bacteria or viruses.

Therefore, as a parent, you should remain calm so that you can provide the treatment and attention needed when your baby has a fever. How to treat fever in babies at home that you can do is as follows:

1. Give compress

One way to reduce fever in babies is to compress the forehead area using a wet cloth while the baby is sleeping. If the fever is high enough, you can also apply compresses to the neck, armpits, and groin areas. To compress make sure you use warm water or plain water.

2. Give enough milk

When the baby has a fever, the baby will lose some fluids through evaporation from the skin. To prevent dehydration, you must provide fluid intake such as breast milk or give him formula milk in sufficient quantities.

3. Wipe or bathe the baby using warm water

If you want to clean your baby's body, you can wipe or bathe the baby using warm water. You should avoid bathing the baby using cold water because it can make the baby's body temperature rise afterward.

4. Wearing thin clothes

When the baby has a fever, you should wear thin clothes. Make sure that the clothes are comfortable for the baby to wear. If your baby looks shivering you can give him a blanket.

It's best not to wear layered or thick clothing. This is because it can make the body heat trapped in the clothes so that the fever becomes more difficult to subside.

5. Keep the room temperature cool

Try to keep the room temperature of the baby's bed in a cool state. If the room temperature of the baby's crib is hot, you can use air conditioning or a fan, but don't point it directly at your baby.

Fever to Look Out For

What to watch out for with a fever? Most fevers in babies are nothing to worry about and can be treated with the above methods of reducing fever in babies. However, you must remain alert for signs that a fever in infants requires examination and treatment from a doctor. These signs include:

• Babies who are less than 3 months old have a fever with a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or more.
• Babies aged 3 to 6 months have a fever with a body temperature of 39 degrees Celsius or more.
• The baby has a fever that doesn't go away and has been going on for more than 5 days.
• Babies experience symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea when they have a fever.
• Symptoms of a red rash appear in babies when they have a fever.
• Babies are dehydrated when they have a fever with symptoms of a dry mouth, dry diaper, and crying without tears.
• The baby looks very weak when he has a fever.
• The baby has febrile seizures and loss of consciousness.

By practicing how to reduce fever in baby at home, usually fever in babies can subside within 3 to 4 days. If that doesn't work, you can give your baby a fever reducer, such as paracetamol, which you can buy at the pharmacy. However, before using, make sure you read and follow the instructions for use listed on the packaging.

If the fever does not subside with taking medicine or your baby shows signs of alert as mentioned above, then immediately take your baby to the doctor for examination and appropriate treatment. Also read articles about: How to Reduce Fever in Adults.