Emma Howard: Hello, I am Emma Howard and I am joined by Dr. Su Laurent, who is a consultant pediatrician at Barnet Hospital in Hertfordshire. Hello Su.
Dr. Su Laurent: Hello Emma.
Emma Howard: Got a simple question here that hundreds and hundreds of people want to know the answer, what should I do when my child has a temperature at classic?
Dr. Su Laurent: Yes and your child will at some point inevitably get lots of temperatures and particularly in the first few years of life. I think we should divide them first of all into babies less then six months old. A baby with the temperature less then six months old, you should go and see your GP, because those babies may be bring something that’s hard to define and maybe quite unwell although usually they just have a cold.
Emma Howard: And as a doctor you do always rather see a baby under 6 months.
Dr. Su Laurent: We do always rather see them, we just rather see them. Having said that while talking your baby to your GP you can be starting off a treatment by keeping them cool, say don’t overwrap them, is a great tendency to think a hot baby should be wrapped up and kept warm but in fact we should keep them cool by strip them off and we should give them something like paracetamol or some Ibuprofen in the appropriate dose for their age and it will say that on the packet because if you bring their temperature down and actually by the time you reach your doctors, your babies are happy curing lovely baby will be much less worried.
Emma Howard: And you want to know what the parent has given them.
Dr. Su Laurent: Exactly, its very intreating how often we go to GP, my husband is a GP, he will get a phone call from other side, my baby has got a high temperature and he said have you given some paracetamol and the answer is no. So do always treat, you are not going to do any harm, you are not going to mask anything by treating and often if we see when the babies all the child’s temperature is down that much bettering themselves is a very measuring thing.
Emma Howard: And what are the treatments for temperature?
Dr. Su Laurent: Well, paracetamol you can use both paracetamol and Ibuprofen and the recommendations to use them alternately. So, if you give paracetamol and you got to wait four hours before you can give it again and in the mean time the temperature is still high, then two hours later give a dose of Ibuprofen. So, you can stag at the doses that’s the first thing you can do. Secondly tepid sponging, not cold sponging, but tepid so take some, make it nice and warm and just sponge them down that will -- better.
Emma Howard: Because you just got to think of got flannels on the forehead are what are thing so you will saying a warm.
Dr. Su Laurent: Don’t make them shiver because if a child shivers it will put the temperature up, that’s a natural mechanism, and also make them feel just imagine if you have a high temperature your natural inclination is actually towards wrap up a bit because you often that at a shivering and say what we are going to do is to make you feel comfortable make the child feel comfortable. So, a tepid sponge, when you got water on the skin, the water evaporating from the skin but actually take heat from the body and make the child feel better.
Emma Howard: Yes too scientific for our reactions because we think cold, cold, cold, so that’s a really useful tip.
Dr. Su Laurent: Take them side as well, take them out into the cooler air.
Emma Howard:: Brilliant Su, thank you very much in deed and if you have a similar problem we hope we might have given you some help but remember it is always best to go and see your own doctor for medical advice. Thanks for watching, we will be back with more health questions and answers.
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