Fever
Fevers are a healthy body response to pathogen contact. It is a good indication that your immune system is doing its job because you get fevers when your body is trying to kill the virus or bacteria that caused infection. Because of this, my advice is to typically let it burn, however, as a mom to a child who exhibits febrile seizures/ fever dreams, here are some products I keep on hand to help manage it.
*Note- Research suggests that febrile seizures are harmless and scarier for the person tending to the child experiencing the seizure than the actual child exhibiting symptoms (they usually do not even recall it happening.) However, if you have witnessed one, they can be alarming and if you still feel anxious when your child spikes a fever in fear it will happen again, know that you are not alone and find peace in these options to keep on hand when one spikes.
I will start with the least invasive approach to most invasive. From my research, evidence suggests many children exhibit these seizure-like responses to fevers not from the fever itself, but from the quick spike from either regular body temperature to fever or from fever to fever breaking and body temperature cooling very quickly. My goal is to manipulate the body temperature to come down in the slowest progression possible.
That leads us to the first stage- temped bath (you should be able to put your hand in the water and essentially not feel anything. It sounds like it doesn't make sense, but if you get the temperature right, you will know exactly why it is described this way.) In the bath is when I offer homemade ice pops with immuity boosting vitamins dropped in that I keep in the freezer, but even a Johnny Pop or any other organic frozen treat will get some hydration in while cooling them down. The sugar in the pops helps them feel a bit better temporarily, too.
Always clothe in cool breathable clothing. The days of “sweating out” the fever are not for the children who exhibit these symptoms. I also put cooling patches on once back in bed, either on the forehead or the back between the shoulder blades. This spot on the back is incredible for reducing fevers and I will even palpate it throughout the night when I am lying with my son. Acupressure is phenomenal for children as they need much less to stimulate their body systems than adults, and fever points, like this one, are often successful. Skin to skin to help regulate body temperature and monitor the rise and fall in temperature is also why I will typically sleep with whichever child is presenting a fever.
Next phase of defense in my home is magnesium l-threonate. I open the capsule and sprinkle half of its contents into juice or an electrolyte mix. Borion beads for fever and calcium lactate powder are beneficial for aiding fever reduction very slowly as well. I will introduce those if the fever is persistent, but I also believe having options to see what the body responds to best is critical when it comes to medicine, even homeopathy. None of these will illicit the experience of a sweaty fever break and then fever-free for four hours until you re-dose cycle, that we are trying to avoid.
Lastly, and to be honest I very rarely reach for this, but I do keep a cleaner version of acetaminophen in my home. Sometimes risk verse reward is a personal choice you have to make when a child or loved one is extremely uncomfortable. With that being said, dye in fever reducers is mind- blowing to me, so if you choose to keep a reducer like acetaminophen in your home, there are cleaner options available. I suggest you order ahead of time as not all stores carry it.