I spent the whole night sponging my little Rachel to bring down her high fever. Of course, she didn't like that coz it was wet and she was half asleep. But it is important.
After administering medicine... normally I go with paracetamol or Neurofin first and if it gets worse, I'll go for Rectal Suppositories (past 39 degrees). I have earlier asked my pediatrician about this - thank God! And it's better to get the medicine from pediatricians so that they can advise you the right dosage and timing.. as well as if there is any possibility of allergic reaction - you'll never know!
During a fever, sponging is important to bring down a child's fever. Here's what I normally do:
- Administer oral medicine first, if it's not done already
- Switch off the air cond but keep fan on at low.
- If there is shivering, I'd cover him/her for a very short while coz the fever will follow very soon. Then take off the blanket.
- Prepare a bowl of luke warm water and 1 or 2 soft face towels.
- Then soak the soft towels in the luke warm water and remove excess water.
- Place the towels on the forehead covering the eyes (very important), neck, body and back until towels are dry or become hot.
- Then rinse the towels in the bowl of luke warm water again and repeat. I'd sponge the palms of hands and base of feet if they are hot too.
- Keep the thermometer handy to see if the fever is coming down
- Repeat until fever is low or gone.
- Change the child to dry light clothing. Do not overheat him/her.
- Feed plenty of liquid
- Then go to the doctor to check out the cause once available. In my case, most high fever happened past midnight. So I had to take time to bring the fever down. If it happens to you, don't wait. Go immediately.
Someone used to tell me to use ice cold water for sponging. No go! Do not sponge with ice cold water or alcohol. Alcohol would bring down the heat too fast.
I read somewhere that if the fever gets too high, then strip the child and put him in a tub of waist high warm water and sponge him down. I haven't tried this yet, rather I'm not brace enough to try it ye :( , as most of the time, the sponging works for my kids but I have to be very patient. It takes me more than half an hour to an hour to bring down the fever, and until my pediatrician is available.
Ya, I know some of the older folks would think that this is nuts! Some of them think that covering up the person with loads of thick blankets until sweat breaks is the best way to cure. Now, that is nuts! DON"T ever do that! It can fry the brains! That's why we have some mental retards due to high fever!!
Another strange advice from one of my doctors. You know the Kool Fever pack that is available in pharmacy? It seems that it doesn't work. Go for sponging instead. Well, it was an advice anyway. I have no idea! Why not check with yours? Let's share views.
Most important is to check if the child is active/alert, eating and drinking well. If he shows signs of lethargy, can't eat, can't drink and running a high fever.. or worse still, having a fit, that's a real danger sign. Rush him to the hospital immediately.
At the end of the day, I'm no doctor. Best ask your doc for advice in the event of emergencies. From my experience, not all doctors share the exact views. Happy to hear your feedback :)
6 comments:
Hope baby Rachel's fever will go away soon... Take good care, ok?
hi there.. thanks for sharing. :)
I heard from my PD to sponge the area back of the head and the spine area to slightly near the backside as that's where it's hot as we lie down on that part most often. At home, we buy something similar to the water pillow so that if someone catches the fever, we just place them under the head and on the back. Saves a lot of effort on sponging those parts..
LilHypPo Mummy - thanks vm but she's still running a fever. Sigh! Hopefully gone soon.
Ling - thanks for the tip. Why can I get one of those water pillow pls?
Joanne, I've no idea where can you get it in Malaysia. :( In SG, i bought from the hospital as i wanted a better quality one. I heard the normal ones are not as durable, so might leak after using a few times or if the little ones were rough in handling it.
Thanks Ling ... perhaps I'll ask the pharmacies and see if they have it. They have what we call the cool and heat pack. The ones that you put in microwave for heat and fridge for cold. I presume that that's not what you're are saying, right?
Joanne, nopes.. This one is like the water bed, but is smaller in size. It need not be kept in the fridge. Just normal room temperature will keep it just nice when the fever comes along.
I think the heat and cool packs are some kind of gel inside. Whereas these are just CaCO3 + H2O
Post a Comment