Question
The newborn was born about ten days ago and had a normal body temperature until today, when it was measured at 37.2 degrees. Could it be due to wearing too many clothes? Today’s weather is warmer than yesterday, but the baby is dressed the same as yesterday. How should one handle a newborn’s elevated body temperature?
Answer
Newborn fever refers to a baby with a body temperature higher than 37.4℃. A newborn’s fever may be caused by high environmental temperatures or illness. Treatment for newborn fever should be based on different situations. Newborns with low-grade fever do not require fever reduction. If the body temperature is below 38℃, physical cooling methods can be used, such as wrapping the baby to cool down or lowering the incubator temperature. It is not recommended to give newborns fever-reducing medication, as commonly used fever-reducing drugs may have some toxic and side effects on newborns. When a baby has a fever, parents should find out the cause of the fever. If the environmental temperature is too high, adjust the environment so that the temperature does not exceed 30℃; for dehydration fever, supplement with 5% or 10% sugar water, and intravenous fluid administration may be necessary if required. Infected infants