Can a child sleep on an ice pillow if he has a fever?

The traditional method of reducing fever (for adults) is so-called forehead ice compress or sleeping on an ice pillow. Does it also apply to children? Infants with fever should not sleep on ice pillows for the following reasons:

1. Uncomfortable: Although skin contact with cold things can temporarily cool down locally, it will cause tingling and numbness after long contact. Adults can move their bodies or heads spontaneously to avoid uncomfortable cold things because of their full muscle activity, but in young children (babies less than six months old or babies wrapped in swaddling clothes), their ability to move autonomously is very poor, especially when they are sick. Even though the baby may not struggle and cry at this time, it is already very weak.

2. Hypothermia: The child has a small body size and a large body surface area, which is easily affected by external temperature. When they have a fever, their body temperature is changing. If you use ice to compress your forehead or sleep on an ice pillow, it is easy for your body temperature to drop too fast at once, but it will cause more problems. Hypothermia is more dangerous to the body than hyperthermia.

3. Poor blood circulation: local cold for too long, in addition to feeling uncomfortable, nearby blood vessels will also contract, hindering blood circulation and affecting body function.

4. Causing cramps: Fever and ice compress, the skin with high fever suddenly comes into contact with cold objects, and the reaction will be fierce, especially for young children, which is easy to cause convulsions of the whole body muscles, the so-called cramp phenomenon. Therefore, children with high fever should not use ice to compress their foreheads or sleep on ice pillows.

Mild methods can be used to reduce fever, such as

1. Wipe the whole body with warm water (about 37 degrees Celsius) to gradually reduce the high temperature of the skin (about 39 degrees Celsius).

2. Wipe your forehead and face with a cool towel (about 25 degrees).

3. Drink more warm water to increase the water content of tissues in the body, which has a stabilizing effect on the body temperature and prevents the body temperature from rising rapidly again.

4. According to the time (about four to six hours), use (oral or anal plug) antipyretics. The most fundamental way to reduce fever is to wait until the condition is relieved, and the high fever will gradually decrease, which usually takes about three to five days.