Sci/Tech

Is Bathing Your Feverish Child Helpful or Harmful?

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8 years ago

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Apr 01, 2016 11:53pm EDT

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Wendy Rimes

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For years, people are accustomed to the idea that if someone is feverish, he or she should turn to fever-reducing medications, followed by a tepid sponge bath just so the body’s temperature will be reduced. The common notion is to treat the fever, but according to many medical experts, there is no need to do so because fever in itself is not an illness.

In fact, fever is part of the body’s defense mechanism; it’s a way of telling you that the body is doing something to fight off an infection. For most adults, having a fever can be uncomfortable but most of the time, it shouldn’t be a cause for concern, except when body temperatures exceed 39.4 C.

On the other hand, little children with high temperatures indicate that there may be an underlying infection.

Generally, if your child has a fever, it’s recommended not to treat it completely. So what should a parent do? According to pediatrician, Dr. Jo Ann Rohyans, a child with a high fever is usually given a dose of acetaminophen to bring down the temperature, but it sometimes take time for the fever to dissipate.

Source: Dr. Ron Oberstein

Grandparents or even some relatives may even advise you to give the child a bath, but according to Rohyans, doing so could only make the little one shiver, which will increase the temperature all the more.

If you want to give a bath to your kid, make sure to use lukewarm to warm water. Rohyans also advised that alcohol baths should no longer be given to kids because they easily cool down the temperature, which is not good.

To wrap up, keep in mind that most of the time, a fever is not something you should worry about. In kids, it’s actually a good sign that the body is working its defense system. Unless your child feels uncomfortable (such as loss of appetite, unable to sleep well), then you really don’t need to do something to reduce the body temperature. However, babies or infants should be an exception since their immune systems are still not fully developed and a fever can signal something serious.

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