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Health

Why does the child not lose heat and what to do?

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 17.10.2021
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The temperature does not get out of the child - this is the second most frequent problem among childhood diseases. The cause of the rise in body temperature can be a lot, so the reasons for a bad temperature drop can be a lot. You need to know what to do in such cases and how to help the child with non-medicament methods.

Why does your baby's temperature rise?

Before you figure out why the child does not lose temperature, you need to know why and how it generally rises.

First of all, what is fever? When your child is sick, fever usually indicates that his body is working to get rid of the virus or bacteria.

This means that fever can be truly protective and productive. Studies have shown that some children who have a fever throughout the entire viral infection are restored even faster than those who do not.

Most pediatricians consider fever hyperthermia over 38 degrees. Many parents believe, however, that the temperature begins around 37 °, which by definition is simply a fever. Doctors do not really care about a particular temperature increase figure; when you say that your child had a temperature of 37 ° to 38 °, then, in fact, there is not much difference. Fever for up to three days can be normal with infection, especially with mild respiratory illness, but if it does not decrease after three days, then it's worth worrying. Fever is usually a response to infection viral, but sometimes bacterial. The immune system of the baby reacts to this as an "invader" and releases chemicals that signal the brain of an increase in body temperature above normal. Researchers believe that this is due to the fact that most pathogenic agents experience difficulty in surviving at higher temperatures. Some scientists suggest that fever can also boost the body's immune response (although there is no evidence that reducing your child's temperature slows recovery). Keep in mind that fever itself is not a disease, but rather a symptom of the underlying infection.

There is not one correct way to measure your child's temperature, but some methods are more accurate than others.

The best way to know about the level of temperature increase in a child of 5 years or younger is rectally using a digital thermometer. Rectal temperature is the only true body temperature, so parents should use this method. Rectal measurement of older children does not like. But this is the best choice for children under 3 years of age or when an accurate measurement is crucial. To measure, you can put your child as if you are about to change his diaper (on the back with his legs raised), or put it on his stomach, and then insert a digital thermometer half an inch into his anus and wait until the reading is complete. If you are worried about harming your child, remember that the tip of the thermometer is much smaller than the baby's chair. Just do not use a mercury thermometer, because if it breaks, the liquid mercury that flows out is toxic. You can measure no more than five minutes, because for contact with the mucosa and measurement you need a few minutes.

Most children 4 years and older can use the oral method correctly, and there is no need to take off their clothes. To do this, simply place the thermometer under the tongue and measure for at least five minutes. If a child drank a hot or cold drink before that, wait 15 minutes, then take a measurement.

The method of measurement in the field of the axillary fossa is very simple to use. This requires that the child is not sweated, and if the room is cold, you can get the wrong value.

Measurement in the region of the tympanic membrane is quick and convenient. For a more accurate result, pull your child's ear a little up and back before measuring. Such a thermometer measures the temperature for one minute, which is very convenient for young children.

After measuring the temperature you need to determine how much it is increased and whether it is scary for the child. Most of the moms know that the body temperature is 36.6 degrees is normal. But this number can indeed vary to varying degrees, depending on the child. Thus, it is possible to define the concept of a fever, like any rectal temperature of 37.5 degrees or more.

Once your child is older than 2 months, the fever itself ceases to be an emergency. But why does not the temperature of the baby get lost and what are the reasons for this. Most often, fever does not get off if a child develops a bacterial infection that requires active treatment with antibacterial agents. For example, half of children with acute ear infection who are treated without any antibiotics, have a violation in the normal decrease in body temperature.

Ear infections can be caused by viruses or bacteria, when excess fluid enters the middle part of the ear. When this space is filled with mucus or pus, it becomes inflamed, causing pain, and the temperature rises as a response to inflammation. Thus, the best medicine that you can give your child, as soon as you first think that he has an ear infection, is an analgesic, such as ibuprofen or paracetamol. But with severe inflammation, the temperature may not decrease even under the influence of these drugs, so there is a need for the doctor to consider the question of prescribing an antibiotic. It will begin to act in the focus of infection, the number of bacteria will decrease, and accordingly the temperature will gradually normalize.

Often happens, that the temperature at the child at ORVI does not get out. In this case, if the temperature is long, then one should also think about the complications and the attachment of the bacterial flora.

If the temperature of a year-old child does not get knocked down, then the frequent reason is an elementary incorrect dosage of medications, which is given by the mother. When prescribing a medicine that lowers the temperature, be sure to read the dosage instructions carefully. After all, often the age of the child and his weight do not correspond to the norm, which is an average in the instructions, so it is better to calculate the drugs for the weight of the child. Especially at the age of one year, when the average weight of the child should be 10-10.5 kilograms, and there are children in the year for 14-15 kilograms.

 When the child does not lose the temperature during teething, it can be considered normal, in the case that this increase is not more than 38 degrees. When the teeth begin to erupt, it is always perceived by the body as a stressful situation. This process is allocated a lot of biologically active substances and vitamins, which can cause a little activation of the center of thermoregulation. But such temperature should not exceed subfebrile digits, no matter what tooth is erupting. Therefore, if you are trying to bring down the temperature with teething, and it does not exceed 38 degrees, then this is normal and should not panic.

When the temperature does not get out after vaccination in a child, this is the most common reason for panic in young mothers. Therefore, you need to carefully understand why this is happening. Vaccinations are given to babies to protect them from diseases. The vaccination schedule starts at birth and continues into adulthood. Although some vaccinations carry the risk of certain side effects, the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. Parents need to know and understand how to manage side effects. The overall side effect of vaccination is fever after vaccination. Usually the doctor warns that there can be such a reaction. In that case, you can come home and give the child immediately after the vaccine an antipyretic. All the time you have to control the temperature, and if the temperature is above 38.5 ° C, Paracetamol (not aspirin) can be used to lower the temperature. Additional fluids are recommended (for example, water, milk). If the temperature is kept within 38-38,5, then this is the expected reaction to the inoculation. But if the temperature does not get off, but rises significantly and there are other symptoms - vomiting, convulsions, then you need to urgently consult a doctor.

Frequent to date, the infection causes a significant increase in temperature - this rotavirus infection. What to do, when the temperature does not get out of the child with rotovirus and diarrhea? Rotavirus is an intestinal infection, which is primarily accompanied by intestinal symptoms. High body temperature is a concomitant symptom. Therefore, if the temperature does not get off, then it is necessary first of all to restore the child's water balance - to give him water. When the volume of fluid is normalized and the child stops losing it, the temperature should be restored. 

It often happens that the temperature without symptoms does not stray in the child, then you need to look for the cause of this. If we talk about older children, they need to think about systemic diseases with connective tissue damage. Such diseases are often manifested by a prolonged rise in body temperature without other manifestations, and after a while there is a rash, joint pain and other characteristic symptoms. Therefore, if the child does not have symptoms, and there is a temperature that does not go astray, then these pathologies must be ruled out, as well as tumors of different localization.

How to knock down the temperature in a child?

What to do if the temperature does not get off at the child. When the fever in the child does not lose its febrifuge: nurofen or paracetamol, then other non-medicamentous agents can be used.

First of all you can undress the baby, open, ventilate the room and give access to fresh air. Since water removes heat from the body faster than air, the bath is an effective method of lowering temperature and works faster than medications. You can also use a bath to reduce fever while you wait for the action of paracetamol. Use warm water. Never use cold water to reduce temperature. The water temperature, which is not much lower than body temperature, ensures a rapid temperature drop.

You can also put a cool and wet napkin on your forehead or your baby's body to reduce fever.

Ask your baby to drink plenty of fluids. Fever can lead to dehydration, which can become a serious illness, and it is therefore important that you offer your child plenty of fluids. Clean water is always the best choice, but other options also work if your child is picky. Offer your child fruit juices diluted with water or water flavored with fresh fruit. You can also offer icy, decaffeinated teas (such as chamomile and peppermint) or electrolyte solutions. The liquid helps to lower the body temperature, being excreted by the kidneys.

If your child has cold hands or feet against the background of fever, you can rub them with your hands.

What if, the child does not get a high temperature of 38-39? In this case, most likely you should call an ambulance, because the child will need to do an injection of antipyretics. You can do this yourself if someone helps you, and if you know how to do the injections. More often use analgin with diphenhydramine, and also add papaverine with a white type of fever.

Than to knock down, if for a long time the temperature keeps? You can give an analgin injectable to drink to a child, which can be an effective means of lowering body temperature when others are less effective.

In cases where the temperature does not get out of the child, the parents must certainly exclude the threat to the life of the child, so with high figures - use all non-drug methods and call an ambulance. After this, you need to look for the cause - more often it is a complication of the disease with the development of a bacterial infection. In any case, a doctor's consultation is mandatory.

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