What Fever Should Children and Babies Have?

Wondering what to do when your baby’s body temperature is higher than usual? In this article, what should be the fever in children and babies? We answered the most frequently asked questions such as what causes head fever in babies.

1. What should be the fever in babies?

If “How many degrees should the fever be in babies?” If you’re asking, let’s say it right away: Body temperature is normally at its lowest between 02.00 and 04.00 and is 35.8ºC. It is also relatively low when getting out of bed, about 36ºC. It rises gradually during the day and reaches the highest level, ie 37ºC, between 18.00-22.00.

• A young child is generally not considered to have a fever until the rectal temperature reaches 38ºC-38.4ºC. A normal temperature in infants is considered to be between 35.8ºC and 38.4ºC.
• If the body is fighting infection, it rarely exceeds 41ºC and usually does not exceed 42ºC.
• Fever may rise up to 45.5 ºC only if it occurs as a result of a deficiency in the body’s heat regulation mechanism, such as sunstroke.
• Also, fever is high in hot weather and low in cold weather. It is higher during exercise than at rest.

2. What causes fever in babies?

Like many moms, you might be worried about what causes a head fever in babies. However, fever is a defense tool developed by the body against infection and actually provides more benefit than harm. High body temperatures help the immune system fight infection.

The most common causes of head fever in infants are infectious diseases and viral infections. Some microorganisms cannot survive at these high temperatures. However, the values ​​considered as high fever are no longer beneficial for the body, and even begin to harm the body. We can list the factors that cause fever in infants and children as follows:

• A simple cold
• bacterial diseases,
• severe meningitis,
• Angina,
• otitis media ,
• Diarrhea ,
• urinary tract infection ,
• heat stroke,
• Teething (The fever rises a little, but teething does not cause a high fever, so the breech measurement will be a maximum of 38ºC.),
• rheumatic diseases,
• Autoimmune (autoimmune) diseases,
• Tumor ailments.

What causes fever in a newborn, let’s say that too. Insufficient nutrition or even fluid loss in the newborn period can cause fever. Babies younger than 1 month old have difficulty balancing their body temperature. For this reason , we can count factors such as high ambient temperature or over-dressing among the causes of fever in babies only .

3. Where is fever measured in babies?

It may not be easy for you to hold your child, who is restless and in pain due to illness, in a certain position and wait 2-5 minutes to get the correct measurement. However, measuring your body temperature correctly is very important in determining what needs to be done to control the fever.

So how is fever measured in babies ? You can measure fever in babies and children from 5 different body parts.

1. from the breech,
2. under the seat,
3. by ear,
4. Oral,
5. from the forehead.

However, you should pay particular attention to the following items when measuring fever in babies:

• You should prefer the rectal measurement until the age of 2, and the armpit measurement after the age of 2.
• It is recommended not to measure from the ear before the sixth month , and not to measure from the mouth before the age of 4-5 years.

4. What is the fever limit in infants?

One of the most curious questions is, is 35.5 degrees fever normal in babies ? We can say that body temperature up to 37ºC can be considered normal. You can check the table below between which values ​​your child’s body temperature will be considered normal and which value will be considered fever.

Body Temperature Evaluation Chart

body area	Normal body temperature weight ((ºC)	Fever (ºC)
Underarm measurement	35.7-37.3	37.4
Breech measurement	36.6-37.9	38
oral measurement	35.5-37.5	37.6
ear measurement	35.7-37.5	37.6

5. What to do to reduce fever in babies?

When the child has a fever, that is, when his body temperature starts to rise a few degrees more than normal, he goes into chills and starts to shiver. This may inevitably cause you to hug your child. However, overdressing your child, wrapping him in a blanket, and putting another blanket over him is definitely something that should not be done.

You can reduce your baby’s body temperature to normal with some home fever reduction methods such as wet diaper treatment, warm shower and rest.

You may wonder if vinegar reduces fevers in babies and children. A number of methods are often used, such as making the child drink vinegar or making vinegar water and rubbing it with a cloth to reduce the fever. Acid-containing substances such as vinegar and lemon suddenly constrict veins. That’s why the fire goes down immediately. But later, when the veins expand, the fever rises more than before. In other words, it is a wrong method to put a cloth dipped in vinegar water on the child’s forehead or to drink vinegar water when the child has a fever.

6. How should the baby use antipyretic drugs?

The following 4 groups of drugs can be used as antipyretics for children and infants.

1. Paracetamol group drugs: Calpol, Minoset, Paronax and Pyrofen are paracetamol group drugs and their duration of action is 6 hours. It can be used from the newborn period.

2. Ibubrofen group drugs: Dolven and Ibufin are ibubrofeb group drugs and their duration of action is 6 hours. Can be used from 6 months.

3. Metamizole group drugs: Nolgine and Geralgine are metamizole drugs and their duration of action is 6 hours. Can be used from 1 year old.

4. The duration of action of Asprin is 4 hours.

Although aspirin is an effective drug, it can reduce the immune response, cause bleeding and inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, impair platelet function, and induce asthma attacks in susceptible individuals.

Care should be taken as a link has been established between the administration of aspirin during viral illnesses such as influenza or chickenpox and Reye’s Syndrome in children.

We recommend that you do not take more than your doctor recommends, as all medications can be dangerous in large quantities.

7. How many degrees of fever is dangerous for babies?

• If the baby is not yet 2 months old and the temperature is above 40.5ºC in the rectal measurement,
• Values ​​called high fever in children, namely; If the temperature is above 38 degrees when it is measured from the anus, 37.5 degrees from the mouth, 37.2 degrees from the armpit, and 38 degrees from the ear, there may be a dangerous situation.

8. In what situations should you seek help?

• If he has a convulsion or has had it before,
• If she cries constantly and uncontrollably and the reason for this crying is not colic ,
• If he is unresponsive or lays loosely,
• Crying as if it hurts when you touch or move your baby
• If you have purple spots on your skin,
• If you have trouble breathing even though you clear your nose,
• If the neck is stiff and resists tilting your head towards your chest,

If you have been exposed to a hot outside environment before you develop a fever (for example, if you have been in a car for a long time when the temperature is high, spent a long time in the sun, or if you have a slight fever but are tightly dressed) you should seek medical attention.

• If the fever does not decrease with medications,
• If there are no other signs of illness, but the fever lasts longer than 24 hours,
• If your baby’s fever, which has been mild for a few days, has suddenly risen,
• If the baby is tugging at his ears and refusing to feed,
• If the child has had a cold for several days and has a fever,
• If your baby has a chronic disease such as kidney, heart, neurological disease, anemia,
• If you urinate infrequently and your urine is dark yellow,
• If you notice that your baby’s tears and saliva secretion are reduced and your skin and lips are dry,
• If your baby has signs of dehydration, such as sunken eyes and fontanelle, you should take your baby to the doctor.

9. What to do in case of febrile seizure?

febrile seizure; It is a neurological picture that is seen during the febrile diseases of the child and at a rate of about 5%. It is seen between 6 months and 4 years and is not seen much above 4 years old.

Generally, “High fever in children is the cause of convulsions.” There is such a thought. However, the risk of convulsions is not directly proportional to the height of the fever.

febrile seizure; It manifests itself as squinting in the eyes, sometimes passing out or unconsciousness, contractions in the arms and legs, and sometimes foaming at the mouth. You can tell if your child is having a seizure when at least one of these symptoms is present. A febrile seizure usually lasts 1-2 minutes.

What should you do when your child has a seizure?

• If possible, lay your child on his side on a bed, with his head slightly lower.
• See your doctor after the seizure is over. Your doctor may suggest that you use antipyretic suppositories or medication.
• If the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes, you should seek help immediately.
• It is not recommended to keep your child in cold water in case of a febrile seizure.

Although febrile seizure causes fear in parents, it does not cause any damage to the brain and does not harm the child.