Home remedies · Children & infants
No home remedy here replaces treatment, and none is talked down. What has done good for generations does good — even if no one ever measured it. Where something is well studied, it says so. Where it is only experience, it says that too.
Dress lightly, offer frequent drinks, offer rest; only measure the temperature when it changes something.
Fever is a defence, not damage. More important than the number is how the child seems: is it drinking, playing in between, responsive?
Bringing the fever down does not shorten an infection; it serves comfort.
See a doctor at once: an infant under three months with fever, a child no longer drinking or listless, a stiff neck, skin spots that stay under pressure, breathing difficulty, a seizure.
At once: any fever in an infant under three months, a child who is apathetic or has stopped drinking, skin bleeding that does not fade under pressure, breathlessness or drawn-in ribs. A first seizure is always looked at. Refusing to drink for hours counts for more than the temperature.