Little B’s First Fever!!

Maybe some of my Twitter follower knew that B had high-grade fever a few days ago 😦 For a doctor, fever is easy to treat.. simple and straight forward.. I know what to do.. But!! When my own child has fever.. I was SAD and WORRY!! That was my first “mommy reaction”. I prayed to God to just let me have the fever instead of Bella. She doesn’t have to go through this. She is just a baby.. (again, my emo mommy moment!!)

She was OK the whole day, very active and eating well, until about 10pm, I noticed her whole body was really hot (insert SAD and WORRY feelings here). Normally, if someone has fever, a doctor would have check the temperature straight away.. but me, emo mommy went straight to my husband mengadu Bella is feverish and busy worrying about her.. After a lengthy talk about how worried I am, then my husband said “What’s the temperature?” Gulp. Lupa nak check!!

I took her temperature using ear canal thermometer.. she was 38.6’C *almost fainted!* What?? Why? Then I look for any signs of infection (doctor mode is ON!)

  • Cough and runny nose.. checked!!
  • Skin.. checked!!
  • Ear, mouth (tonsils).. checked!!
  • I listened to her lung (yes we have stethoscope at home).. checked!
  • Tummy feels soft.. checked!!
  • Urine colour looks clear.. checked!!
  • Last time vaccinated was almost 3 weeks ago.. impossible for her to get fever now.. checked!!

So what’s wrong with her?? Almost blaming her play school dah at that time 😀 I double checked with her teacher, she said all her babies were well.. so, checked!!

Then she said, maybe teething kot.. usually teething demam malam…

Owh ye ke? Heheheh.. So, that’s the culprit… Blame it on teething!! Hahaha…

OK, the most likely culprit recognized.. Now I have to bring down the temperature as most of you have already know.. high-grade temperature can cause a child to have fit!! It’s called febrile fit..

So what to do when you have a febrile child in front of you?

Remove all clothing that can make her warm.. I only left Bella in her diapers.. This is to allow heat to escape from her body. Keep the room cold (air-cond on!)

See, she doesn’t look sick at  all!! Happily playing and babbling to us.. Trying to chew the thermometer..

Then I took a few ice cubes.. and added with some water.. and cover her with cloth soaked with cold water. That is actually not advisable to do anymore as immediate drop in temperature can also cause fit in children. So I only put the cold cloth on certain areas like the forehead, underarms, neck and groins. And constantly check her body temperature..

Do not leave the cloth at one site for too long as it actually trap the heat inside her body.. What you should do is just lap, lap, and lap.. After half and hour on lap-ping.. I took again her temperature and it has dropped to 38.2’C.. and mommy feels better 😉

After that, I feed her with more milk because fever cause increase in metabolic rate,  and of course she will be hungry. As long as she is drinking milk or water, I should be happy..

That is Bella enjoying she ice-cold sponge bath..

After almost 4 hours of frequent intermittent sponging, fever still hasn’t subsided.. we decided to give her Paracetamol (PCM) via suppository. I just don’t want to disturb her sleep to give her the syrup version. Besides, the suppository supposed to work faster than syrup PCM… and her temperature slowly cools down after that.. but Bella didn’t had a good sleep that night. She woke up quite a few times, feeling disturbed by the temperature probably, and demanded continuous feeding.. I was just glad she still wants to drink. That’s a good sign..

The next day, there were only low grade temperature but otherwise she is a happy baby. Slightly tired because she didn’t have a good sleep the night before. Owh, and yeah, didn’t go to school of course!! By evening, her body temperature is back to normal 🙂 Alhamdullilah..

That was our first experience with Bella having fever (fever jer.. symptoms lain tader pun.. :D) Semoga Bella dikurniakan tubuh badan yg sihat, dan sentiasa dalam lindungan Allah SWT..

32 thoughts on “Little B’s First Fever!!”

  1. Alhamdulillah..gud baby Bella coz u r strong enough to fight with that fever! yeah! hehehe.. Congratz Dr.Halina coz u really applied your skills to baby Bella..great! hehe

    Reply

  2. bella: mommy, bella nk tumbuh gg la mommy… t boley la bella ggit mommy.. =)

    org tua2 ckp, klo budak tumbuh gg dlu.. budak lmbt jalan.. erm betol kew??

    ceria muke bella walaupon demam…

    Reply

  3. MY BABY AISY PUN TGH DEMAM SKRG..DEMAM NAK TUMBUH GIGI..SATU BAWAH SATU ATAS,,….JAP PANAS BADANYA..JAP OK…TAPI AKTIF MCM BIASE…CUMA NAK BERGAYUT NENEN IBUNYA YG LAMA..(AMIK KESEMPATANLA BILA BADAN DEMAM2 NIH..!!)

    Reply

  5. …hopely Bella get well soon and be more and more happy little girl..~ cute la little B, even demam.. 😀 and her mommy, not to worry much.. ;;) da ad banyak2 gg nnt, hbs la sume kna gigit.. haha

    Reply

  6. doc..can i ask u smthing..rmai org ckp,bila kite demam,selain dr mkn ubat..kite kena selimut byk2,,biar bpeluh..then demam akan hilang..betul ke?

    Reply

    1. Sue,
      As far as I know, tak boleh buat mcm tu. That’s very wrong. Sebab the heat will be trapped and nanti lagi teruk and the baby boleh kena sawan (the febrile fit). The best way is to bogelkan terus (mcm Bella pakai diapers je). Baby’s brain tersangatlah sensitive. The brain cannot tolerate to any increase in temperatute. Temperature naik sikit macam mana pun akan affect to the brain. Itu yang kita kena elak tu.

      Sorry doc, I mencelah. Just sharing what I learned from my kids’ paed. Correct me if I’m wrong ya?

      Reply

      1. you’re right.. you gotta leave them in open air.. jgn balut2.. thanks Puteri for your answer. Thganks for sharing 🙂

  8. Assalamualaikum, Dr. Halina.

    Bezakan, anak sendiri dengan hanya merawat pesakit. he…he…

    Bella tu senyum je, walaupun demam. Comel tengok dia senyum. he….he..

    Alhamdulillah, Bella dah sihat seperti biasa. Saya pun tumpang gembira.

    Terima kasih kerana membaca.

    Reply

  9. Salam doc,maaf ggu..ni nk bg petua ckt la..petua ala2 kmpung..hehehe,biasa nya kami org kmpung ni xnk la bg ank2 kcik tbiasa dgn ubt..jd kalau dmam dan bdn ank tlalu pns,sy akn basahkan kain batik/sarung..pastu balut 1 bdn ank dgn kain bsh tu..kira biar kain tu kering kt bdn ank la..esknya confirm dah xde demam lg..lg 1 blh jgk mndikn ank,letak ais dlm baldi ke ape,campur dgn air..mndikan ank dgn air sejuk tu..mmg cepat la sihat..hehehe..

    Reply

  10. Hi Doc,
    Thanks for the tips. Ada new ones yang I tak penah tau like jgn leave the kain too long tu.I once took my son to the toilet and mandikan dia at 3am coz he was burning hot 40C. He cried and I cried. I totally understand the mommy-worried feeling.

    Reply

  13. salam dr
    saya nak tanya, apa pendapat dr tentang ibu2 yang taknak ambil vaksin utk bayi mereka?okay ke if baby tak ambil vaksin? thanks (:

    Reply

    1. vaccinations are for good reason. i have never heard anyone who refuse vaccination.. its a protection for your child. side effects mmg ada tapi kita berserah pada Allah sbb kita dah cuba yg terbaik utk anak kita..

      Reply

  14. See…if a doctor mommy is worried when their child is having fever, apatah lagi us, non doctor’s mommy hehehe. Tp dkt rumah always ada termometer n paracetamol and numbet talipon paed on speed dial ;-). Owh n luckily we’ve google too so boleh jadi instant doctor to google what id, what to do sebelum panic mode on (inipon sebenarnya setelah beberapa kali experience baru agak konfiden)

    Reply

  15. assalamualaikum….

    hi doc lina…sbgai ibu pada 4 cahaya mata, saya amat2 memahami situasi doc bila berdepan dgn anak yg demam…… selain simptom2 di atas…kdg2 baby ni bila nak dapat “upah” dia akan demam…saya amat perasan bila my baby, Auni…setiap kali mau tumbuh gg pasti demam…apapun..moga baby pn bertambah sihat….amin.

    Reply

  16. Bella demam ka? tapi muka punya dok kerenyih elok ni..ha ha ha…pandai nooo …dia gempaq mommy dia…hehehehe..so cute..

    Reply

  19. Salam Dr Halina,

    Seronok baca blog…dah jadi blogger skang. Interesting!
    Jusy nk tanya short question n opinion as a doc….
    Do you believe in ‘Cool Fever’ patches?
    As for me, seldomly use it to my kids…is it OK?

    Reply

    1. as far as i know, it gives cooling effect. but doesnt cure the fever.. I pun pakai jugak sbb dah desperate sgt.. hehehe..

      Reply

      1. Mom and Medic Dr adalah insan yg berbeza walau pun jasad yg sama. You dah rasakannya kan? Same goes to my cousin. Anak 3. Tindakan tak macam Dr bila anak sakit. However, Allah lah Yang Maha Perancang dan Penyembuh segalanya.

  20. my hubby always suruh minum air barli (homemade) baik baby atau org tua. The best cure for demam as told by our Prophet Muhammad SAW. It a must have item at home…poor bella…as long as she is playful during fever..its a good sign. Anak2 akak kalau demam, akak mandikan sampai biru bibir utk coolkan badan…

    Reply

    1. Suhu memang turun kak noura.. Tp takut kalu sudden drop in body temperature buleh dpt sawan jugak.. Sbb tu kena hati2.. Terlampau panas dpt sawan, turun cepat sgt pun buleh dpt sawan..

      Reply

  24. Assalamualaikum Dr. Just to share my experience for 3 kids. If my kids demam, first thing yg I akan buat adalah I solat dan berdoa kepada Allah, semoga Allah sembuhkan demam my kids. After that I akan dapatkan ubat, coz itulah Sunatullah (Kena ikhtiar untuk sembuh). and last sekali, at that night, I akan tanggalkan baju dia dan baju baju dan I akan peluk dia semalaman. Alhamdulillah, esoknya dia punya body temperature kembali normal. Pada my wife pun I buat the same thing. Alhamdulillah, berkesan. Kalau nak kat buat kat wife tu, make sure pintu bilik ditutup, nanti anak nyanyi lagu……. Ibu dan ayah buat apa tu? Itu dipanggil ancient touching.

    Reply

  25. Does teething cause high grade fever? It may cause a low grade fever …probably a viral or bacterial infection.

    Reply

What's your thoughts...