What to Know When Your Child has a Fever

Several factors can affect a child’s normal body temperature (98.6°f), including time of day, age and activity level. While slight variations can be normal, any body temperature above 100 °f is considered a fever.

 

Symptoms

- Higher-than-normal body temperature

- Hot, dry skin

- Sweating, shivering and/or chills

- General weakness

- Muscle aches

- Loss of appetite

- Headache

- Dehydration

 

Understanding fevers

As a parent, you may feel distressed when your child has an abnormally high body temperature. In most cases, however, a fever alone does not pose a serious health threat to an otherwise healthy child. Most often, a fever signals that your child’s body is fighting off an infection — the most common cause of fevers. It is also normal for your child’s temperature to rise at night. This natural increase, combined with the higher temperature associated with a fever, can cause additional discomfort during the night. To check your child’s temperature, you can use digital or infrared thermometers.

 

Treatment

Treatment may vary depending on your child’s age and body temperature, but in most cases, parents should begin by addressing their child’s heat-related discomfort. Dress the child lightly and avoid tight clothing and heavy blankets. Make sure that the child is drinking plenty of clear liquids, such as water. For comfort, you can also give your child a lukewarm bath or place a cold washcloth on his/her body. If your child is older than 3 months of age with a temperature above 100°f, you may give him/her acetaminophen (paracetamol). Children older than 6 months of age may take ibuprofen under supervision of pediatrician. In most cases, the fever will self-resolve within three days and your child can return to school or daycare after being fever-free for 24 hours.