When Your Child Gets a Fever - a Homeopath's Guide

For many of us, the sight of our child, flushed with a fever and uncomfortable, makes us quite anxious. Our instinct is to act immediately, to cool them down, to bring relief, to do something to break the fever and make them feel better. But what if the fever isn't something to fear but rather a sign that your child's body is doing exactly what it's meant to do?

The holistic and homeopathic perspective is not to view fever as an enemy that needs to be suppressed, but rather as a self-regulating response — a sign that your child's immune system is strong, robust, and capable of mobilizing a defense against invading pathogens or an internal infection.

Fever Is a Healing Response

A fever raises the body's temperature to create an environment where viruses and bacteria have difficulty surviving. It also enhances immune function, helping white blood cells move more efficiently to do the job they were designed to do, namely, to fight infection.

Each time your child is exposed to an invading pathogen, the specific immune system learns to recognise that pathogen and instructions are set to respond to future invasions, protecting your child from further attacks. Suppressing this perfectly designed system is an understandable mistake, but it is a mistake.

Children tend to spike fevers quickly. They also respond well to a fever and recover quickly when the fever runs its course. But parents have been trained to suppress fevers because they make us feel uncomfortable and helpless. So I ask parents to look at their own triggered response before rushing to suppress their child's fever. Surprisingly and more often than not, it is the dads who step in and give the child Motrin with fear-driven beliefs about illness or simply because they dont know wht else to do.

Sleeping child with fever

However, healthy children generally manage fevers very well. And if suppressed, the fever will inevitably return to try to finish its job. In a healthy child, when a fever is allowed to run its course to completion (even if it takes a few days), it rarely returns. But if you suppress it, it will keep coming back because it has an organism to protect. And if you keep suppressing it, the defense mechanism, now in a weakened state, will allow the pathogen to move deeper into the body, for example, from the throat to the bronchi or lungs.

Know When to Interfere?

Knowing when to interfere and when to step back and let the fever run its course, will give you the confidence to be able to support rather than suppress your child's fever. Here are some things to observe.

How Is Your Child?

Are they alert and responsive, even if lying on the sofa half asleep, moaning and groaning for attention or desperately clinging to you for dear life? How is their life force? If you ask them if they are thirsty, do they respond? If you suggest putting on their favourite show, do they get excited? If you call them from the other room, do they respond with groans or ignore you as usual ;)

Is Your Child Hydrated?

A sick child doesn't need to drink a gallon of water a day, but we want to avoid dehydration. If your child is sipping on tea or ice, or having small drinks throughout the day, feeding regularly, or eating small serves of broth or chicken soup, and urinating as usual that may be enough. Be sure to keep their electrolytes up with regular pinches of a good quality mineral-rich salt, which you can add to their juice, broths or soups. This will also encourage them to drink more. Honey will do the same thing.

How High Is The Fever?

You know when your child is sick, and when they are hot just by feeling them on the forehead with your cheek, well before you've taken their temperature. You know when they are burning up or just feverish. The number is of less importance than their state of being. We have been misled to believe all fevers are dangerous, mostly by the advertising industry. But even a febrile seizure occurs from the speed at which a fever rises, not from the temperature of the fever itself.

• However, if your child is having febrile seizures, you should take them to a doctor. They are usually harmless, but they should be watched - the seizures too ;)

• If the fever is over 104°F (40°C) and is not responding to your attempts to reduce it with holistic or pharmacuitical methods, contact your doctor or seek emergency care.

• An acute and sudden rise in temperature in a child under three months old, who is listless and nonresponsive, is a medical emergency and should be treated as such.

• An acute and sudden rise in temperature in a child having trouble breathing, in severe pain, and/or showing any other signs of crisis, should be taken to Emergency Care.

Now that we have that out of the way, some important things to cultivate.

Trust your Instincts

If you feel something is not right, trust that. You are the mom, you know your child best. But also watch your anxiety and learn to differentiate between your anxiety, their discomfort, and a medical emergency. A call to an expert, a nurse friend, your mother or sister, an older mother in your community, or an experienced aunt can do wonders to alleviate your fears. And also be brave. You only have to let your child ride a fever once in their lives to understand the immense benefits of supporting their immune system. They will recover stronger for it.

Slow Down

Spend some quality time with your sick child. Show them that it's ok to step away from the demands of everyday life to rest and recover. A sick child presents an opportunity for you, too. It's a reminder that, primarily, we are caretakers, and that our attention is now being directed towards our child. We have to switch gears and go into nurse/caretaker/healer mode and cook them broth, make them comfortable, hydrate them, hold their hand during the fever, bring them a cool cloth, wash out the bucket, and nurse them back to health. That's what mothers do. Leave the mess and surrender to the process of simply being present to your child. It's very empowering when done consciously and with your permission.

Cool Them Off

Dress your feverish child in lightweight, cotton or natural fibre clothing and don't smother them in heavy blankets. Stabilize the room temperature and don't cool them down too quickly or heat them too fast. Turn the air con off, open the windows, and let some fresh air in. Give them some ice to chew on or a cool compress. A tepid bath can do wonders to bring a high fever down if they are struggling. Maybe you need a bath too. Add some Epsom salt and a few drops of your favourite oils. You've got this, mamma.

Homeopathic Remedies for Fevers

ACONITE - sudden onset after exposure to cold wind; fever comes on rapidly; the child is anxious or fearful.

BELLADONNA - high fever with flushed face, intense picture. Hot skin, dilated pupils, glassy eyes, often with intense throbbing headache, cannot bear light.

FERRUM-PHOS - early stage of fever, vague symptoms, slow onset, child is pale with low vitality GELSEMIUM - drooping eyes, heavy muscles, weakness, chilled, no thirst.

CHAMOMILLA - teething fevers in children who are very sensitive to pain and cranky, irritable, and want to be carried all the time.

Give a single dose of a well-matched low potency remedy (30c) and wait and watch. You can repeat after a few hours.

Reframing the Fever - Moving from Fear to Trust

Take a deep breath, it's all ok. Remind yourself that you are strong and grounded and that you can care for your child. That you have an inherent wisdom and inner strength that directs you to make healthy and informed choices, and that you are not the first mother to let a fever run its course and nor will you be the last. Observe the voices in your psyche that speak the language of fear, thank them for their concern, tell them you will certainly give them a place when they are needed, but for now, you are managing well. Sit them down quietly in the back of your psyche and give them a cup of assurance and a quiet place to rest assured.

Understand that holistic parenting is not about your child never getting sick. Children get sick, they are adapting to their environment and programming their immune system.

Its ok that your child is uncomfortable. You cannot protect a child completely from pain and discomfort. They will get splinters and break limbs, they will fall off bikes and get stung by wasps, and their little hearts will get broken too by harsh words and careless friendships. What we are teaching them is resiliency. We are teaching them to listen to and respect their body, to slow down, to allow time to be sick and to recover, and to find the inner strength and tools to manage discomfort. We do not need to suppress symptoms to show our love. Sometimes, the deepest healing comes from doing less, watching more, allowing time, and trusting that Nature knows what She is doing.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about homeopathy and how it can help your family -

Leave a comment or reach out. I work with mothers every day to help them navigate their fears around fevers and common childhood illnesses.

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Rebecca Bermeister is a certified Classical Homeopath available for online consultations or treatments from her home clinic in Pardes Chanah, Israel.

She can be reached via her webpage www.rebhomeopath.com 

email - rebhomeopath@gmail.com 

Whatsapp - +972(0)547793606

Her books, A Very Beginner's Guide to Homeopathy and Family Health 

And Homeopathy for Acute Family Care may be purchased here.

Or on her website shop, where you can also find and purchase or download Learning Cards for acutes.