remember that any fever in a newborn infant (under 3 months of age) needs prompt medical attention because at that age it’s hard to tell when a serious infection might be present. a fever is the body’s natural response to infection or other illness and will subside when the underlying process gets better. other than treating the infection (or other condition) causing it no home treatments can shorten the duration of a fever. also remember that fever doesn’t always need to be treated. if a toddler is acting normally and unbothered by her fever and her temperature is less than 104 degrees (40 degrees celsius) there’s no need to treat the fever. for a fever that’s high or is bothering your toddler either acetaminophen (mapap tylenol) or ibuprofen (advil motrin) are good treatments. you’ll need to know your toddler’s weight (don’t guess) and use the dosing guidelines on the package. it’s best to stick with one medicine if you can. if you feel you need to use multiple drugs call your pediatrician’s office. don’t ever use aspirin to treat a child’s fever as it increases the risk for reye’s syndrome. if sponging with water helps your child with a fever feel better use a warm bath (not cool) with water around 85 degrees. i know it sounds weird but my great granny used to cut an onion in half and put one half on the bottom of each foot then cover with socks and leave them on me all night. (in addition to tylenol or advil) when i would wake up in the morning my fever would be gone (or at least drasticly reduced) and the onions in my socks would be black. she said the onions drew the fever away from the brain and other vital organs. i don't unserstand how it works but i used this on my children and now on my grands and it works every time. it helps to understand what a fever is. some of the answers on here are very misleading and aren't factual at all. a fever occurs when the body increases in temperature. most common cause of this is an infection of some kind. the white blood cells that eat the infection release chemicals that go to the brain and tell it to raise the temperature of the body. the brain has a set point for our temperature 98. 6f. it is like a central heating/cooling system with a thermostat in a house. if the temp gets hot the a/c turns on. if it gets to cold the heater kicks on. and the temperature stays at 98. 6f. what these chemicals from the white blood cells do is they increase the thermostat. so the brain now has a set point of 101 f. but the body is still 98. 6 f. so the heater kicks on. you get shivers moving of muscles fast makes heat. you feel cold and you get under covers to get warm. this is why people say they are so cold when their temp is 100 because the thermostat is set to 101 or higher. the body does this because some of the bodies defenses are activated at higher temperatures and some bacteria don't function well at higher temperatures. so they die or we kill them better with a higher temperature. so what is it when a fever "breaks"? well eventually your white blood cells kill everything and they stop releasing those chemicals that changes the thermostat. so the thermostat changes back to 98. 6f. now you have a temperature of 101f and your body is set to 98. 6f. it is too hot. turn on the a/c. so you start sweating to cool yourself off. this is a fever "breaking". so when the person with the fever is sweating like there is no tomorrow it is a good thing and you can probably expect the fever to start going back down. fever is a natural defense mechanism against foreign invaders of your body. it is very normal. as long as my fever isn't over 102f it makes sense to me to not interfere with the natural process. even help it. if i'm running a little fever i'll get in the hot tub or a nice hot bath. fevers can be very dangerous and you should ask your doctor when those dangerous temperatures are. they are different for kids and adults. to answer the question the fastest easiest way to break a fever is with anti-inflammatory medications like tylenol and motrin. but that doesn't mean everything is all better. and by the way: water is zero calories! (in case you read the other post) don't believe any of that stuff. what i do is rub my baby down with green rubbing alcohol. it works every time. a fever is not your body fighting an infection. anything that heats up your body including heat and induces sweating causes a fever. fevers cause heat exhaustion and heat stroke as heat heats up the body inducing sweating wich causes water to be ejected from the body. you may induce a fever and prove this by simply visiting a steam room and when your sweating check your temp youll have a fever. you may also go out jogging and see when your hot and sweating you have a fever with a fever thermometer. if you do either for long periods youll eventualy drop from exhaustion enjoying before that mild to severe dehydration symptoms heat exhaustion and heat stroke and possible mild heart attacks. cardio excersize and steam rooms have been around for centuries inducing fever and not cured any disease other than treat obesity. your heartrate can generate heat and cause a fever by pumping friction wich happens during jogging just like shaking a pop can or rubbing your hands generates warmth. make sure you maintain bodyweight during a fever. if food poisioning is suspect having a person stomach pumped and an enema given may be needed if fatigue sets in. fluid calories are better during a fever its important to maintain heartrate as lowering your heartrate also induces fatigue. if a fever is starting with no fatigue water may be ok. its important to keep dry and keep cool (keeping dry to avoid chills). humans thrive in cool temp climates of 55-65 degrees thier is little life in deserts do to heat heat starves an area of water. for children its important that children playing maintain thier bodyweight during excersize/play and eat and drink and take rest breaks and normalize thier heartrate reducing sweating. if people have to loose weight then i recommend simply getting out and walking bringing food fluids before or during thier walk to avoid dehydration with rest breaks. obesity causes fever and dehydration by carrying around 50-100 lb weights. you may simulate obesity by carrying a backpack of 50-100+ lb barebell weights and grow it daily and see what affects that has on your health. weather and activie levels can affect weight loss. people eat drink and rest to maintain thier heartrate and energy levels. in a virus or poision a fever is a response to excess blood volume wich causes your heart to pump harder and faster generating heat. you may simulate this by giving an unnecessary blood transfusion wich will likely cause a fever and may cause a mild heart attack so i wouldnt advise it. water causes weight gain at 1/2 lb a cup its a myth its zero caloric. overdrinking from dehydrationcan cause excessive urination in addition to lowering your heartrate further so cold water if a fever has started with no fatigue otherwise fluid calories.
how do you break a fever in a toddler?