An increase in body temperature in a child is always a cause for concern for parents. Most often, this indicator indicates a disease, but you should not panic. Antipyretics for babies will help keep the situation with body temperature under control and prevent the development of complications.
Causes of fever in a child
Elevated body temperature means that the body is fighting an infection or an inflammatory process is taking place. In fact, fever is a kind of protective reaction of the body, which is present not only in children, but also in adults until the end of life. Sometimes it is not necessary to bring down a high temperature with antipyretics.
For babies today, a whole list of drugs is being sold that help improve well-being and prevent a critical rise in temperature, but the purchase of any of them must be agreed with the doctor. The treatment regimen should be determined only by a specialist, based on the specifics of the disease and the individual characteristics of the child.organism. Therefore, first of all, if the baby has a fever, you should not run to the pharmacy, but urgently call a doctor at home.
How to recognize a fever in a child
All parents know about the state of he alth at a high temperature, but just in case, let's briefly dwell on this moment and present the main signs of a fever:
- Normally, a baby has a pinkish skin, but with an increase in temperature, the body becomes red or, conversely, pale.
- Child's behavior changes - he becomes capricious, lethargic, irritable.
- May dry mouth mucous membranes.
- Fever can occur simultaneously with symptoms of the underlying disease (runny nose, cough, earache, painful urination, etc.).
To make sure that the child really has a fever and needs to take an antipyretic (for babies, drugs are produced in a minimum dosage, but they can also have side effects), it is necessary to take a body temperature with a thermometer.
When to give medicine and when not?
Antipyretics for infants up to 1 year of age should be given if the body temperature is above 38.5 °C. If the skin of the baby is pale, and the body temperature exceeds 38.5 ° C, which indicates a vasospasm, you need to knock it down immediately. Otherwise, seizures may occur.
It is worth noting that in babies of the first year of life, the temperature regime is at the stagebecoming. For infants, antipyretics are not used if this indicator is in the range of 37.0-37.5 ° C, because for children in the first months of life it is considered absolutely normal. Usually, during the first six months, the temperature drops to 36.5-37.0 °С, and the usual value of 36.6 °С for all of us becomes stable by 12-18 months.
Where to measure the child's temperature
Before choosing a baby antipyretic for babies, make sure you measure correctly. In addition, it must be borne in mind that not all places on the body have the same temperature. The following values should not cause concern:
- in the armpit - 36, 0-37, 3 °С;
- in the mouth - 36, 6-37, 2 °С;
- in the rectum - 36, 9-38, 0 °С.
Antipyretics after vaccination and teething
Even if a child's axillary temperature does not exceed 38 °C due to vaccination or teething, most pediatricians allow the child to be given medicine. It is recommended to bring down such a temperature immediately, without waiting for an increase, since it does not bring any benefit to the body and does not contribute to the development of immunity, does not fight infection.
No medication is needed to prevent fever. If the temperature has risen to subfebrile values (about 37.5-38 ° C), instead of a children's antipyretic for infants, it is better to use simple home methods. For example, wipe with warm water, give the baby more liquid and do not dress too warmly.
In what forms medicines for children are produced
Antipyretics for infants up to 3 months are prescribed exclusively in liquid form. No tablets should be given to children of this age. For babies, sweet medicinal syrups and suspensions are produced, which are used orally according to the instructions or dosage recommended by the pediatrician. For ease of use, each package includes a measuring spoon or a special dosing syringe.
Also, antipyretics for infants from 0 years old are produced in solid form. Candles from high temperature are selected depending on the dosage. Suppositories are used rectally, carefully inserted into the baby's rectum.
Fever Medication List for Infants
All antipyretics for infants under 1 year of age are conditionally divided into several categories depending on the type of active substance. Paracetamol-based drugs are considered the safest and most effective. Among the drugs that are used for children in the first year of life, the most popular are:
- "Efferalgan";
- Panadol;
- "Kalkol";
- “Paracetamol for children.”
Medicines with paracetamol are available in the form of rectal suppositories and tablets, liquid syrups and suspensions. Such medicines are contraindicated in children with liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes mellitus or viral hepatitis.
The second commona group of drugs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs based on ibuprofen. Children are most often prescribed Nurofen, Ibuprofen, Ibufen. Unlike the previous group, these have more restrictions and are only allowed for use by babies older than three months, while paracetamol and its derivatives can be given to children from the first days. The following disorders and diseases are contraindications for the use of ibuprofen:
- asthma;
- pathology of the kidneys and liver;
- hearing impairment;
- blood diseases;
- ulcer, gastritis.
An antipyretic at high temperature for infants in the first month of life should be prescribed exclusively by a specialist. Parents should not experiment with their child's he alth and administer fever medications on their own to avoid overdose, side effects, or an allergic reaction.
Heat Relieving Suppositories
When it comes to choosing antipyretics for babies up to 3 months, doctors most often opt for rectal suppositories. The advantage of this dosage form is a minimum of contraindications. Suppositories are absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestines and do not affect the gastric mucosa, unlike syrups with flavors and dyes in the composition. Candles usually do not cause allergies, which cannot be said about the suspension. To lower the body temperature of a nursing baby, the following suppositories are prescribed:
- "Tsefekon". Can be given to children older than one month, having a body weight of 4 to 6 kg. One suppository contains 50 mg or 100 mgparacetamol. No more than three candles can be used per day with an interval between doses of 4-6 hours.
- "Panadol". Suitable for children over 6 months old. During the day, the child can put a candle no more than four times. The maximum duration of the course of treatment is 7 days.
- Nurofen. These suppositories, each containing 60 mg of ibuprofen, are shown from the age of three months to infants weighing over 6 kg. You can give the drug no more than 3-4 times a day.
Among the antipyretics for babies at 2 months, homeopathic preparations deserve special attention, one of which is Viburkol. This medicine is also available in the form of rectal suppositories. "Viburkol" has no age restrictions, but it cannot be used in case of individual intolerance to at least one of the components in the composition.
Suspensions and syrups for children from one month to 1 year
Many mistakenly believe that medicinal syrups and suspensions for children are one and the same. The syrup is based on a concentrated aqueous solution of sucrose or its substitutes, and the suspension is a kind of liquid medium containing a powder mixture of particles of the active substance. Sediment often forms at the bottom of the suspension bottle, so the bottle must be shaken before each use.
Syrups are as sweet in taste as suspensions, but sucrose is most often present in the first preparations, and artificial sweeteners in the second. If the child is prone to allergic reactions,it is recommended to opt for a drug that does not contain sucrose.
Suspensions and syrups with ibuprofen
As well as suppositories, liquid preparations for temperature from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed from the age of three months. You can give your child another dose of medicine, if necessary, every eight hours.
Nurofen Suspension is the most common remedy for fever and pain in children. It is given not only to infants, but also to older children. Analogues of the drug are suspensions "Ibufen", "Bofen". An important condition for the use of such antipyretics is the weight of the baby at least 5 kg. At the age of three to six months, babies are given 2.5 ml of suspension, after six months you can increase the number of daily doses to four.
Liquid medicines for fever with paracetamol
Fever suspensions and syrups are considered safer than ibuprofen preparations. For children older than three months, the medicine can be given in the amount of 60-120 mg of the active substance. Moreover, this amount of paracetamol is allowed to be used at a time. If an antipyretic is required for a child younger than this age, the dosage must be calculated according to a special formula: for each kilogram of the child's weight, 10 mg of paracetamol. During the day, you can give no more than four times.
Suspension "Paracetamol for children" is given in 4 ml with an infant weighing 6-8 kg and 5 ml if the child's body weight exceeds eight kilograms. According to the same scheme, an analogue is used - Panadol syrup. The dosage of the Efferalgan suspension does not need to be specially calculated. In each package, a measuring spoon is attached to the bottle of medicine, on which there are divisions corresponding to the weight of the baby from 4 to 16 kg. It is necessary to dial the amount corresponding to the body weight of the baby. Efferalgan is not recommended for children who weigh less than 4 kg.
Another antipyretic for babies in the first year of life is the Kalpol suspension. It also contains paracetamol. It can be given to children older than one month of life weighing more than 4 kg. For infants whose weight has not yet reached 8 kg, the optimal single dose is 2.5 ml. As body weight increases, the dosage increases. The maximum amount of the drug that can be given to a child at a time is 5 ml.
What not to give to babies
First of all, it is worth noting combination drugs that combine both ibuprofen and paracetamol (for example, Ibuklin Junior). The drug is available in the form of tablets and is considered very effective for adults and children over three years old. Babies should not be given it.
It is undesirable to give babies drugs with "Analgin". And although the possibility of using this substance as part of a lytic mixture is not excluded, it can only be used in extreme cases when it is not possible to bring down the temperature by other methods.
Also, children under 12 years of age, including infants, should not be given Aspirin. This drug can lead to serious complications. Acetylsalicylic acid strongly irritates the gastric mucosa,can cause the formation of ulcers and erosions, provoke bleeding.
