Natural Remedy for a fever

Some may know and some may not that I am a footzone therapist. I am not able to dedicate as much time to foot zoning as I would like because of my full-time job and being a mom but I try to live as naturally as I can within my time and money limitations.

Now that I am a mom I am more concerned about what I expose Olivia too. And I thought other people might be interested too. My doula is absolutely fantastic and I have called her with many questions. She is a mom of 9 and she has natural remedies for almost everything. This is what I did for Olivia's fever instead of using Tyenol and/or Motrin. Obviously I am not a doctor but this has worked for me.

**When anyone has a fever, the body is fighting off an infection. It takes a lot of energy to increase your body temperature but it is the body's natural immune reaction. Bacteria and viruses have a difficult time surviving in a temperature that is higher than 101. So instead of suppressing the fever with modern medication you want to manage it so it doesn't get too high. You want the body to naturally fight the infection but you should always call the doctor when the fever gets higher than 103 degrees because it could be something more serious and to avoid seizures.**

If your child has a fever here are the steps she told me to go through:

1) Is your child constipated? Constipation can make a fever worse so by having a bowel movement that can help the fever break. For little babies do a water enema. You can use the small nasal bulbs that you receive from the hospital and label it for enemas only and fill it up with some water (it doesn't take much).
2) You want to keep your child hydrated. If you are using formula or milk you will want to stop and use less because the milk product increases the production of mucous which is bad for the fever. Try giving juice instead.
3) Give your child a dose of vitamin C, garlic, goldenseal (fantastic for immune system) and/or echinacea. I give Olivia a tincture of goldenseal and echinacea. You want to help your child's immune system fight off the infection with these supplements.
***Continue the tincture for 7-10 days (similar to giving an antibotic) because if you don't your child can get a secondary infection i.e. ear infection. I learned that first hand with Olivia
4) Wipe your child down with a wet wash cloth and cloth them in light clothing. The wet wash cloth cools the skin when evaporation takes place.
5) A fever should break within 12 hours.
6) As noted above call the doctor if the fever is higher than 103. Children obviously don't feel well so they will act sick but if they are unusually lethargic or have a glazed look in their eyes, call the doctor.

On a side note, sometimes immunizations have a delayed effect because it takes the symptoms a while to manifest in the body or the vaccine lowers the immune system and that makes your child more vulnerable to other illnesses.