Temperature due to teething in a child - what to do

The appearance of an infant’s first milk teeth is a difficult period for both him and his parents. The baby often cries, is capricious and demands increased attention from mom and dad. Teething is often accompanied by an increase in temperature. It lasts for 1-3 days, after which the child’s condition stabilizes.

Teething can be called a purely individual process. In some children it is completely asymptomatic, while in others very unpleasant symptoms appear that significantly worsen the baby’s life - diarrhea, hyperthermia, loss of appetite, inflammation of the gums and others. This clinical picture often confuses parents - they cannot understand whether these signs are related to teething or whether the child is developing some kind of pathology.

Parents' biggest concern during teething is temperature. It can rise to dangerous levels - 39-40°C. To alleviate the child’s condition, it is necessary to be able to provide him with first aid, as well as to recognize in time the signs indicating that you urgently need to either call an ambulance or go to the hospital yourself.

Why does the temperature rise

Teething is a traumatic process. Dental units damage the gum mucosa and inflammation occurs, which in medicine is called aseptic (microbial-free). This process is accompanied by an increase in temperature. In addition, during teething, some processes occur in the baby’s body that stimulate hyperthermia:

• at the site of localization of future milk teeth, specific substances necessary for softening the bone tissue of the jaw begin to be actively produced;
• Since all the forces of the child’s body are aimed at teething as quickly as possible, the immune system weakens a little. During this period, infectious agents present in the body may become active and diseases will begin to progress. Many of them are accompanied by an increase in temperature.

Damaged gums are the “entry gate” for infection. Through them, pathogenic microflora can penetrate the body and provoke the development of a septic inflammatory process. The body also responds to such an attack with an increase in temperature. To prevent infection, it is recommended to take more careful care of your baby’s gums during this difficult period for him. Pharmaceutical companies now produce many drugs that have a triple effect - relieve pain, reduce inflammation, fight viruses, bacteria and fungi. But before using these medications, it is recommended to consult your pediatrician.

Teething symptoms

A child's first teeth begin to erupt between 4 and 8 months. There are exceptions. Sometimes children are born with several teeth, while others show them only after a year. Teething is a difficult process for a child. It can be accompanied by various symptoms, but the most common are the following:

• How long does it take for drugs to leave the body?

1. Increased nervousness. The child cries for no reason, whines. Teething may be accompanied by painful sensations that prevent him from sleeping normally. As a result, the regime of wakefulness and rest is disrupted.
2. Heavy salivation. This is a protective process. Saliva has anti-inflammatory and bactericidal properties. Hypersalivation helps protect inflamed gums from infection. Sometimes there is so much saliva that it flows down the chin onto the neck and chest. You should not constantly rub your baby's delicate skin. It is permissible to periodically carefully blot with dry wipes.
3. Loose stools. During teething, the baby may experience diarrhea. It is caused by increased salivation, changes in intestinal microflora, or increased bacterial activity due to a decrease in the body's immune defense.
4. Decreased appetite. Often, due to pain in the gums, infants refuse to eat. In this case, it is a little easier for those who are breastfed, since the sucking process calms and pacifies the baby.
5. Inflammation of the gums. This is the natural state of affairs at the time of teething. If a white stripe appears in some place of the gum, the tooth will soon come out.
6. Runny nose. Sometimes swelling and inflammation from the gums spreads to the nasal mucosa. As a result, the baby begins to snot.
7. Itching in the gums. The baby puts all the objects that come to hand into his mouth. This is how he scratches his gums. To make his task easier, you can purchase special teething toys in stores.
8. Hyperthermia. The temperature rises in 80% of cases. It is important to ensure that it does not reach critical levels. Once every 1-2 hours, it is recommended to measure it not with an electronic, but with a mercury thermometer, since it is more reliable.

All these symptoms frighten parents, as they are similar to the signs of many other diseases of the upper respiratory tract and gastrointestinal tract. These symptoms are typical for teething. But you need to monitor the baby’s condition very carefully, and if the clinic is accompanied by other alarming symptoms, you need to immediately contact your doctor.

Causes of diarrhea in an infant

Teeth coming through can cause diarrhea.

There are cases when you can independently rid a child of an illness such as diarrhea, but some situations require medical intervention. Below are the main causes of diarrhea in infants:

1. Nutrition for a nursing mother. It happens that after using some new product, a mother notices changes in her child’s stool. Diarrhea can be caused by eating fresh fruit, vegetables, herbs, or too fatty foods. Treatment is limited to correcting the feeding mother’s diet and eliminating the “provocateur product” from the diet.
2. Baby food. Cases when a child experiences diarrhea due to dietary habits: an allergic reaction to an adapted formula; start of complementary feeding (4-6 months); consumption of a previously unfamiliar product; untimely introduction of the product (the child’s digestive system is formed gradually, so it is advisable to introduce the products, following the advice of the WHO); insufficient amount of enzymes. This problem can also be solved by adjusting the diet.
3. Lactase and gluten deficiency. This problem is a child’s intolerance to cereals and dairy products. Recently, such cases have become more frequent; children do not have enough enzymes necessary to digest this kind of food. If the problem of lactase deficiency arises during breastfeeding, then the mother needs to exclude dairy products from the diet, and if with artificial milk, transfer the baby to low-lactose adapted formulas. If you have gluten deficiency, you need to exclude cereals such as wheat, semolina, barley, as well as bread, buns, cookies and other baked goods from your baby’s diet. Signals for testing for lactase and gluten deficiency (in addition to constant diarrhea) are skin rashes and insufficient weight gain in the baby. The problem of milk intolerance may disappear on its own after the baby is four months old, as his body will be prepared to produce the necessary enzymes required to digest mother's milk.
4. Teething. When a baby gets a new tooth, he may experience diarrhea. There is no need to treat it; after the tooth hatches, the problem will disappear. Reasons: excessive secretion of saliva and its entry into the gastrointestinal tract, impaired peristalsis, weak immunity, infection in the intestines, irritated intestinal walls.
5. Intestinal infection. This is the most common cause of diarrhea in infants. It is not at all difficult to get an intestinal infection, since the baby puts everything that comes to hand into his mouth, so it is important to monitor the cleanliness of foods and objects that are accessible to his eyes. In a mild form, such an infection is not dangerous and goes away on its own in a short period of time. If everything is much more serious, then you can observe an elevated temperature and severe diarrhea. An intestinal infection can cause acute diseases such as dysentery, amoebiasis, salmonellosis, etc. These diseases lead to fever, vomiting, critical dehydration, and weight loss. If you have such signs, you should immediately consult a doctor. In particularly difficult situations, you will have to go to an infectious diseases hospital.
6. Dysbacteriosis. The very concept of dysbiosis does not imply a specific disease; it is a kind of violation of the proportions of beneficial microflora to pathogenic ones. Dysbacteriosis in infants is very common, which is explained by the incompletely formed organs of the digestive system. There is debate about whether it is worth taking measures for a child who is 2-3 months old? Some doctors prescribe taking probiotics, which should restore the balance of the intestinal microflora, while others are convinced that the baby’s gastrointestinal tract is immature for natural reasons, so interfering with the microflora of a child under 12 months is more likely to harm than benefit.
7. Congenital intestinal pathologies. This phenomenon is very rare, but it still occurs. Acute surgical pathologies: appendicitis, peritonitis (inflammation of the abdominal cavity), intussusception (gastrointestinal obstruction). Symptoms of acute pathologies: sharp pain in the abdominal area, elevated body temperature, vomiting, bloating. You should not put off visiting an ambulance if your baby has similar symptoms.

Symptoms indicating pathology

An increase in temperature during teething is a natural process. This is a kind of protective reaction of the baby’s body. At this time, it is necessary to carefully assess the general condition of the child. Sometimes dangerous pathologies can be hidden behind teething syndrome. Therefore, parents should know the symptoms indicating the progression of the pathological process:

1. Vomit. Single vomiting can occur at high temperatures. But if it recurs, the baby feels very bad and has diarrhea, you need to see a doctor as soon as possible. These are signs of intestinal infection or poisoning.
2. Nasal congestion or discharge of thick yellow-green snot. This is not the norm, it is a pathology that requires adequate and immediate treatment.
3. Coughing. During teething, a lot of saliva is released. Often children simply do not have time to swallow it, and they may choke. A cough appears reflexively, which is not pathological. But if wheezing is heard and a certain amount of sputum is released during coughing, this indicates the development of diseases of the upper respiratory tract (tracheitis, bronchitis and others).
4. Stomach ache. With normal teething, this symptom should be absent. If the baby is restless, capricious, cries, or pulls his legs toward his stomach, these are alarming signs. Especially if the abdominal pain is accompanied by repeated vomiting. This symptom complex indicates the development of an intestinal infection. The child could pick it up through toys and other objects that he pulled into his mouth.
5. Red throat. Swelling from the gums does not spread to the palate. It can spread to the nasal cavity. If the throat and palate are hyperemic (reddened) upon examination, this is the first sign of the development of pharyngitis.

If you have at least one of these symptoms, you should immediately contact your doctor or go to a medical facility. There the child will be examined by a pediatrician and prescribed the correct treatment. It is prohibited to give any medications (except antipyretics) at home without prior approval from the doctor.

How long does the temperature last

During teething, the temperature rises on average to 37.7°C. This has practically no effect on the general condition of the child. He is active, eats well, plays. But hyperthermia can also reach high numbers - 39-40°C. In this case, the baby is lethargic, capricious, and refuses to eat. It is better to take measurements every 1-2 hours. If the increase is critical, an antipyretic drug should be given. Normally, the temperature during teething can last up to three days. If hyperthermia is present even on the 4th day, you cannot do without the help of a doctor.

When to lower the temperature

There is no need to lower the temperature to 38.5°C. If it rises higher, you need to take action. Hyperthermia affects many processes in the human body. During fever, the water-salt balance is disrupted and the load on the heart increases. In severe cases, convulsions may occur that can lead to respiratory arrest. In no case should this be allowed to happen, as this would pose a threat not only to the health, but also to the life of the little patient.

• How many days does a baby's teething temperature last?

When to give antipyretic drugs:

• temperature exceeded 39°C;
• breathing rate increases;
• the baby sleeps for a very long time;
• the child is restless, cries, cannot calm down;
• drying of mucous membranes, redness of the skin;
• the occurrence of convulsions (in this case, they give an antipyretic and immediately call an ambulance).

If the child has already had convulsions once, the temperature must be brought down when it exceeds 38°C.

Supplementary feeding and complementary feeding.

Two very commonly used words that require explanation because they are not the same thing at all.

If there is not enough mother's milk, the child is supplemented with either formula, donor milk, or milk from farm animals (cow, goat). All these products are supplementary foods . Fundamental point: supplementary feeding is when there is not enough mother’s milk, i.e. supplementary feeding occurs only with mixed feeding.

Everything that a child of the first year of life receives in addition to milk and formula is complementary feeding . That is, the child is deliberately fed, prepared for adult life and adult food.

Taking into account the above definitions, the topic of supplementary feeding can be considered exhausted. We have already figured out what to give.

***

Now more about complementary feeding. So, the true essence of complementary feeding is that you won’t be satisfied with just your mother’s boobs for the rest of your life.

When to start complementary feeding?

Parents, as we have already mentioned, will repeatedly (from medical workers, from friends and neighbors, and from grandparents) listen to advice that, they say, it’s time - it’s time to give juice, puree, yolk... They will hear these advice both at one month of age and at two months, etc. The older the child is, the more people around him will express their indignation and point out to parents their greed, laziness and pedagogical failure. Those around you are not to blame - they all want what’s best. You just need to know that the very practice of feeding infants with juices and yolks originated precisely in those times when without this it was impossible to provide the child with adequate nutrition.

In the recent past (some 30-40 years ago!), in the absence or shortage of mother's milk, the child received various dilutions of cow's milk or donor milk. Both the first and second needed processing - first of all, boiling. Most of the vitamins were destroyed. It is not surprising that under these conditions, a lack of vitamins, iron, and mineral salts very quickly manifested itself in the form of various diseases - hypovitaminosis [1], decreased hemoglobin, poor weight gain, rickets, and developmental delays. And in response to this, competent and reasonable recommendations for those times arose - about juices, and about vegetable purees, and about yolks, and about fish oil.

We must not forget that the nutritional characteristics of the inhabitants of the country of victorious socialism did not always make it possible to provide a nursing mother with nutritious, high-quality and varied products. In such a situation - when mother's milk simply could not satisfy all the children's needs - the early administration of juices, purees and yolks to the child was quite logical and completely justified.

We repeat once again:

if a nursing mother can afford a nutritious and varied diet (i.e. vegetables, fruits, meat, bread, and fish), if parents are able to purchase high-quality adapted milk formula for their child, then if all these are observed conditions

There is no need to feed anything until the baby reaches the age of six months..

Regarding the timing of the start of complementary feeding, a few more additional paragraphs as food for thought.

The author’s opinion may well seem controversial, especially taking into account the fact that the “Guide to Children’s Diet,” which we have already cited, indicates: from the age of one month, apple juice should be given, and from four months, a vegetable decoction.

Studying such instructions, you constantly experience the deepest doubts. It is completely incomprehensible how other mammals manage to exist to this day? No, we can, of course, assume that the mother wolf uses some unknown herb in order to help the wolf cubs get on their feet (more precisely, on their paws). Having read science fiction, you can even imagine how a wolf father brings valuable vitamin-containing vegetables from a hunt to a two-week-old wolf cub. But even with maximum mental effort, it is not possible to understand where the polar bear “gets” vitamins? Why did smart Nature punish human children so much, where does this inferiority come from? Why can all other animals live without vegetable soups, but our children cannot? But the author cannot admit that the Creator was mistaken.

And further.

• The science of vitamins, their deficiency and the need to correct natural feeding arose many years ago, when no one had ever heard of adapted milk formulas.
• Reworking existing guidelines and challenging nutrition academics has never been easy.
• Remember: juices, vegetable purees, fruit cereals are not just complementary foods. This is a very serious business.
• In an unfortunate developing country, when a nursing mother is starving and/or eats a monotonous diet (for example, only rice, or only dates, or only fish, or only bread), giving the child vitamins makes perfect sense.
• If you can buy one chicken egg per week with your salary, it is quite logical to give a four-month-old baby a quarter of a yolk. But if you can buy a dozen eggs, then it’s better for a nursing mother to eat a fried egg of three eyes.
• It is impossible to see the benefits of early complementary feeding. By and large, parents simply put a bold tick on their own conscience, saying, “We did everything right.” But thousands see the harm - the appearance or intensification of allergic reactions, bowel disorders. In short, everyone is busy: academics write instructions, the industry produces juices, pediatricians recommend juices, mothers give juices, children drink juices, pediatricians treat diarrhea and allergies, mothers buy medicines and other juices - “the main thing, guys, is not to grow old in your heart”...

How to start complementary feeding?

Any new food is included in the diet gradually and with caution. First, a few spoons (option - a few sips) and supplement with the usual food (mother's milk, formula). Assess the reaction - behavior, skin rash, sleep, stool. If everything is fine, then increase the dose. Something is wrong - wait a while with this product and do not start new experiments until the painful manifestations disappear. Never feed your baby anything new if he is sick, or for three days before and three days after any preventive vaccination.

If a child refuses any complementary foods, do not insist! His body knows better than you whether it is necessary or not. Although it is not difficult to deceive Nature. After drinking tangerine juice (for example), the baby will probably smile. It’s just too likely that after some time all family members will have no time to smile.

It should also be taken into account that complementary feeding is not only a change in the composition of food, but also a change in its physical characteristics - that is, from exclusively liquid food we move to denser and often heterogeneous food - with all sorts of lumps and other inclusions. Hence the need for spoons, bibs, cups, plates, etc.

Complementary feeding products: where to start and how to continue?

Neither pediatricians nor nutritionists have a single, agreed-upon opinion on this matter, although the composition and possible product options are generally defined and generally accepted.

This:

1) vegetable purees;

2) cottage cheese and fermented milk products;

3) milk and cereal porridges;

4) meat (fish) dishes and egg yolk.

Each specific author of any “nutritional” recommendations quite convincingly substantiates the correctness of his particular scheme. Consider the following example. In terms of the amount of iron, mineral salts and vitamins, vegetable purees are noticeably better than, for example, fermented milk products. The conclusion suggests itself - start with vegetable purees. On the other hand, the child does not tolerate sudden changes in the composition of food very well. It is clear that the difference between milk and fermented milk products is noticeably smaller than between milk and vegetables. Consequently, vegetable purees are theoretically more useful and more advisable, but in practice the likelihood of intestinal disorders, in turn, will be noticeably higher. The author, being a practicing doctor, offers readers a certain course of action. The main, again practical, advantage of this particular option is the least likelihood of unwanted reactions.

So, the strategy and tactics of complementary feeding or, more simply, a specific sequence of actions with explanations and comments.

• Let us emphasize once again (and readers will forgive me for repeating myself many times, but due to the importance of the issue, it simply cannot be done otherwise): the topic of complementary feeding does not exist until six months. Nothing! Not at all! We feed my mother - high quality and varied. There is no or not enough milk - we strain the family’s material resources and buy a good adapted milk formula. It doesn’t matter what this mixture is called and doesn’t matter, it’s a standard formula, so to speak, or a special formula for a problem child - soy, low-lactose [2], hypoallergenic, for premature babies, etc. If a child under six months has problems , requiring the use of special mixtures, this means that we choose them (those mixtures that are suitable) and do not conduct any experiments.
• Let's start with fermented milk products: optimally - low-fat kefir or kefir from a children's dairy kitchen. The best time is the second feeding (approximately 9 to 11 o'clock in the afternoon). Why exactly fermented milk products? Because there is no fundamental difference in composition compared to just dairy products. Because, and this is already important, any fermented milk products in general and kefir in particular contain fermented milk bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria, firstly, are antagonists (in other words, enemies) of many harmful microbes that can cause intestinal infections, and secondly, they form substances that are actively involved in the digestion process and, as a result, improve it (digestion); thirdly, they reduce the load on the child’s weakest and most immature organ - the liver.
• The first time we will give it very little - two or three teaspoons (and we will give it from a spoon). Then we will supplement with the usual product - mother’s milk from the breast or formula from a bottle. We will have the opportunity to observe during the day. Provided that everything is in order, the next day we double the dose and so on. This, as you remember from the school mathematics course, is called a geometric progression. Its peculiarity is that everything increases quite quickly: the first day - 10-15 ml, the second - 20-30 ml, the third - 40-60 ml, the fourth - 80-120 ml. Stop. If any problems or suspicions of problems arise on any day, pause. Do not increase the dose, maybe even reduce it, and if the problems really bother you, then stop altogether.
• On the fourth or fifth day of using kefir, add cottage cheese directly to it and stir well. You can make cottage cheese yourself (there is little science), you can buy it. The main thing: confidence in quality - purity and shelf life. The first day - one spoon, the second - two, etc., the total amount at the age of six to eight months is 30 g, after eight months - 50 g. You can add a little sugar to both kefir and the mixture of cottage cheese and kefir. The decision whether to add or not depends on the taste of the kefir itself and whether the child agrees to eat unsweetened kefir.

Any prohibitions on the use of cottage cheese (the most common motivation is the rapid overgrowth of the fontanelle, you cannot have too much calcium, and cottage cheese contains a lot of it) do not have any logical basis. In 30 g of cottage cheese the amount of calcium is approximately 47 mg, and in 50 g, respectively, 78 mg. Compare for yourself: 100 g of cow's milk contains 120 mg, and 100 g of human milk contains 35-50 mg.

• Thus, it takes an average of seven to ten days for one feeding to be completely replaced - 150 g of kefir + 30 g of cottage cheese. And all other feedings are still the main product: mother’s milk or an adapted milk formula. And in this mode, without twitching and stubbornly repelling the attacks of advisers, it is advisable to spend three to four weeks.
• We begin to replace one more feeding - preferably the very last one, before bedtime. We use milk and cereal porridges. Three types are the most rational - buckwheat, oatmeal, rice. You can buy porridge - there is a huge amount of milk porridge for baby food on sale, but you can cook it yourself. When preparing it yourself, we use flour (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal); If you don’t buy flour, we make it ourselves using a regular coffee grinder. Regular cow's milk is most often used as the main solvent. Flour and sugar are added to milk. It should be noted that instead of cow's milk, it is often better to use milk formulas intended for children over six months old (the same “follow-up formulas” with number 2, which we have already written about).

Recipe : PORridge

Dissolve 10 g (approximately 1.5 teaspoons) of the appropriate flour (buckwheat, rice, oatmeal) and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in 20-30 ml of boiled water at room temperature. Pour the resulting solution into boiling milk with constant stirring (the amount of milk is 100 ml). Cook for 3 minutes. Ready. Since sugar is not standard, you may have to add a little more.

Regarding the preparation of porridge based on the mixture. Cook the porridge from the appropriate flour in water, and when it cools down, add the mixture in half proportion: that is, if 3 tablespoons of the mixture are needed per 100 g of water, then 1.5 tablespoons per 100 g of porridge in water. That's all the wisdom.

Readers will most likely be surprised not to find semolina porridge on the list of recommended products. But it is semolina porridge that was used most often before, and perhaps even now, and remains the most beloved, truly popular children's porridge. Everything about it is good: price, ease of preparation, consistency, taste. And the children love her. One small problem: semolina is rich in gluten. Gluten protein - in smart medical language it is called gliadin - sometimes provokes the occurrence of quite serious intestinal diseases. This occurs in situations where there is gliadin intolerance. Keeping this information in mind, one should not, however, deny semolina. It’s simply safer to feed other cereals, and use semolina a little later - after eight months.

• So, we are already eight months old. We eat four to five times a day: once kefir, once porridge and two to three times the main food - formula or mother's milk. The long-awaited time for vegetables and fruits has come. It’s time to come, but we haven’t figured out yet whether we have teeth or not. If there is at least one, no questions asked, let’s start with the vegetables. If not, which doesn’t happen often, let’s wait a little longer. First, test feeding - how our child will generally react to vegetables. Prepare vegetable broth. On the first day we suggest 30-50 g, on the second - twice as much. If everything is fine, we switch to vegetable soup or vegetable puree and, gradually increasing the dose, completely replace one of the feedings with vegetables.

Recipe : VEGETABLE BROOCH

Potatoes + carrots + onions + cabbage: cut finely, pour boiling water over it, cover with a lid and boil until completely boiled. Strain through cheesecloth, bring to a boil again and pour into a bottle. The approximate proportion is as follows: for 50 g of vegetables, 100 ml of water.

Recipe : VEGETABLE PUREE

We cut various vegetables, added a little boiling water and simmered; As the water boils, add boiling water. Rub ready-to-eat hot vegetables through a sieve, add hot milk and a pinch of salt. Beat well and bring to a boil. Add vegetable oil to the finished dish. Vegetables - 100 g (potatoes - at least 20 g); milk - 25 g; vegetable oil - 3 g.

• For two or three weeks we feed a vegetable dish (soup or puree, it doesn’t matter), then, by analogy with vegetables, we test for meat - cook the soup not in water, but in meat broth (ideally chicken). If there are no problems, add the pureed meat directly to the soup; after another couple of days, again directly to the soup, add a hard-boiled chicken egg yolk - first 1/5, then more. In any case, until the age of one, you don’t need more than half a yolk.
• Now about the fruits. We will give them on the day when we see the first “hatching” tooth. And if this tooth shows up before six months, we’ll be patient. It is not at all necessary to start with juices - fruit purees or the pulp of a baked apple are no worse. Juices and fruit purees do not replace the main meal; they are given in addition after breastfeeding or formula feeding.
• At nine months of age, three feedings are completely replaced by complementary foods. Let's repeat: once kefir + cottage cheese, once porridge, once soup. Porridges are very diverse. Soups are very diverse: both in the composition of vegetables and in the type of meat, as long as they are not very fatty. We already eat both the yolk and vegetable oil. We drink juices - 30-50 g.
• What else can you do? Add crushed cookies to kefir and cottage cheese. Mashed potatoes with milk and mashed meat. Baked apple. The bread crumb is in the soup, and the bread crust and a piece of apple can be given to the hand to suck (gnaw). From 10 months you can prepare soup not with meat, but with fish broth.
• What to do with the main food, which by 9-10 months seems to have ceased to be the main one? It is clear that we mean adapted milk formulas and (or) mother's milk. If the mother has milk, it is advisable to feed the baby at least once a day until the child is one year old. After a year, this no longer makes much biological sense[3]. High-quality milk formulas, which are certainly no worse in composition than cow's milk, can be given up to two or three years.

***

When carrying out any “nutritional” tests and innovations, remember:

Our main task is to keep the baby healthy, and the older the child, the less dangerous experiments related to nutrition are for him.

But always be very careful with genetically non-genetic foods (remember, in the chapter “Pregnancy” - what my great-great-grandmother did not eat, and we do not need). Children in low-income families get sick less often, primarily because there is not enough money for overseas delicacies.

A child’s liver is one of the weakest organs, and even in an absolutely healthy and normally developing child, it finally “ripens” and becomes like an adult’s by about 12 years of age. Any undigested particles (the same ones that cause allergies) must be neutralized and eliminated from the body. And the liver plays a primary role in this process. As the child grows, many foods that previously caused severe allergies begin to be tolerated quite normally - the liver matures. Grandmothers say: “I’ve outgrown it.” They say it right. Therefore, if a child develops signs of an allergy from chocolate, strawberries or orange juice (rash, itching, intestinal upset at normal body temperature), this does not mean that the baby is doomed to be separated from chocolate for the rest of his days. Be patient. And you don’t have to look around, lamenting: “Why is it possible for everyone, but not for me?”

Any pediatrician knows: on Mondays children get sick more often. Do you know why? Because on Sunday they go to visit their grandmothers, and, unfortunately, we consider food to be the measure of love.

[1] Hypovitaminosis is a disease caused by insufficient intake of any vitamin into the body.

[2] Soy mixture, as we already know, is used for intolerance to cow's milk protein. Not often, but more often than we would like, another type of intolerance occurs - intolerance to milk sugar (lactose). Low-lactose and lactose-free mixtures have been created for such situations.

[3] The lack of biological meaning reflects the fact that stopping breastfeeding does not in any way affect the growth and development of the child. However, many mothers continue to feed their children with great pleasure for quite a long time, finding many conveniences and advantages in this (all the conveniences and advantages are described in the section on feeding on demand).

author Komarovsky E.O. book Child's health and the common sense of his relatives published 02/26/2010 16:25

What can you do to bring down the temperature?

An increase in a child's temperature is always a reason for panic among his parents. But it is important to control yourself and be able to properly help your child. To normalize body temperature, you can resort to methods of traditional and folk medicine.

Medications

For young children, it is best to give the medicine in syrup form or use rectal suppositories. Both the baby and the older child will refuse to take the bitter pill, and giving it to him will be problematic. If you don’t have anything else at hand, then you can try mixing the medicine with something tasty - honey, fruit puree.

Medicines for fever in a child

To normalize a child's body temperature, medications based on paracetamol or ibuprofen are used in pediatrics. The first can be given to a baby from the first days of life, the second - from three months. Before use, you should consult with your doctor, and also study the instructions for the drug in detail, paying special attention to side effects and dosage.

Traditional methods

If you don’t have the required medications in your medicine cabinet at the right time, you can resort to traditional methods of lowering your temperature. They allow you to reduce the heat by 1-2 degrees. This is often enough to stabilize the child’s general condition.

Effective methods:

• Toothache and fever

1. Physical cooling with a diaper or sheet. This method can hardly be called purely folk, since it is also used in medical institutions. Its essence is to cool the “burning” human body. It is necessary to wet the diaper in warm water and wrap it around the baby.
2. Rubbing with warm water. It is necessary to prepare a sponge and a deep container with water. Her temperature should be 36-37 degrees. Water that is too cold can cause chills and even trigger cramps. Hot water will not bring the expected effect. Take a little warm water into a container, moisten a sponge in it and carefully wipe the child’s feet and hands, elbows and knees, and armpits.
3. Cabbage leaves. They need to be kept in boiling water, and then beaten a little, cooled and applied to the baby’s body.
4. Linden blossom. It can be given even to children under one year old. It has a pronounced diaphoretic effect. As a result, the child sweats and body temperature decreases. Use after consultation with a specialist and in the absence of an allergic reaction to this plant.

It is best to use traditional methods of treatment in tandem with traditional ones. This will not only achieve the desired effect, but also quickly improve the child’s condition.

How to introduce complementary foods to your baby?

The introduction of complementary foods is an important and integral part of the child’s nutrition process. New parents inevitably have many questions about complementary feeding: when to introduce, what to introduce, how to introduce, etc. In this article we will try to answer the most frequently asked questions regarding this topic.

At what age should you start introducing complementary foods?

The World Health Organization recommends introducing complementary foods to children at 6 months of age.

Is it possible to start complementary feeding before 6 months?

Since all children develop at different rates, there are children who are ready to introduce complementary foods at an earlier age. If there are signs of readiness for the introduction of complementary foods, it can be administered to children over 4 months. The child is ready for complementary feeding if:

• shows interest in food (looks at parents with interest when they eat, reaches out to food and cutlery)
• holds his head confidently, sits with support
• opens his mouth when he is given a spoon with food, does not push food out with his tongue

What if the child is bottle-fed?

The recommended time for introducing complementary foods is the same for both breastfed and bottle-fed children.

Should I continue breastfeeding after introducing complementary foods?

The World Health Organization recommends continuing breastfeeding until 2 years of age or beyond. American Academy of Pediatrics - up to 1 year or more.

How to start complementary feeding?

Start with half a teaspoon or less. At the same time, talk to your child while feeding (“try it, see how tasty it is,” etc.). At first, the child does not understand what he needs to do. He may shrink or refuse to participate in this process altogether. In this case, you can offer the baby breast or formula, and then try again to give half a spoonful of complementary foods, then breast or formula again. During the first feeding, most of the food will most likely end up on the baby's face and arms. You need to be prepared for this and not be nervous if this happens.

Note that when introducing complementary foods, it is not recommended to force a child to eat if he turns away from food or cries. The process of introducing complementary foods is gradual, and if it doesn’t work out today, it might work out tomorrow.

What is the best way to eat?

Children eat much better together with the whole family than when they are fed separately. Regular family meals together have a positive effect on children's development. Offer your child a variety of healthy foods. As for the volume of food, let your baby decide for himself how much food he will eat at one time.

In what form should complementary foods be given?

For children under 8 months of age, complementary foods are usually given in the form of purees. From 8 to 10 months, it is enough to mash the food with a fork. And for children over 10 months old, food can be cut into thin strips.

What type of complementary feeding is best to choose for the first time?

In fact, it doesn’t matter where exactly complementary feeding starts. Traditionally, porridge is introduced first, then vegetables, fruits, and lastly meat. In practice, you can follow this scheme, or you can choose any other sequence.

If you start complementary feeding with fruits, what if the child then won’t eat vegetables?

Often, pediatricians recommend introducing vegetables before introducing fruits, because after the child tries fruits, he will not want to eat vegetables. In fact, such assumptions are unfounded. Almost all children love sweets, and the order of introducing complementary foods cannot change this.

Is it possible to start complementary feeding with meat?

Yes, you can. Meat is especially beneficial for children fed exclusively on breast milk. Meat contains a large number of important elements for children - iron and zinc.

Which porridge is better to start with?

With almost any - buckwheat, rice, corn, oatmeal, etc. It is better to opt for porridges fortified with iron.

Is it possible to give semolina porridge?

Semolina porridge contains a huge amount of carbohydrates and is low in fiber and vitamins. You can give it, but there is no need to use it.

When can the next type of complementary food be introduced?

Gradually increase the volume of complementary foods and, if it is well tolerated, begin introducing the next type of complementary foods after 3-4 days. New complementary foods can be given along with those already introduced. Introduce one complementary food at a time.

When to introduce fish, eggs, nuts, berries, citrus fruits and legumes?

These types of food are somewhat more likely (compared to others) to cause allergic reactions in children. However, there is no need to delay the introduction of these products until later. Research suggests that early introduction of these foods may reduce the risk of allergies in children.

How can you tell if your child has a food allergy?

Food allergies can be suspected by the following symptoms: vomiting, diarrhea, blood in the stool, rash after introducing complementary foods. If these symptoms occur, it is necessary to show the child to a doctor.

In what form should nuts be given?

Nuts can be given in powder or paste form. You can add them, for example, to porridge.

Is there too much for complementary feeding?

About a couple of months after the start of complementary feeding, it is desirable that the child’s diet include food with a variety of tastes, smells and textures: cereals, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, fish, cottage cheese, etc.

Can children have honey?

It is not recommended to give honey to children under one year old, as it may contain spores of bacteria that are dangerous for infants and can cause botulism.

What changes will occur after the introduction of complementary foods?

After the introduction of complementary foods, the baby's stool usually becomes denser, may change its color and acquire a more pronounced odor. Green vegetables and peas can turn your stool greenish, while beets can turn your stool red. If pieces of undigested food appear in the stool, this is normal and is not a cause for concern.

Should children be given juice?

In the first year of life, drinking juice is not recommended. Older children can be given 100% juice in a volume of no more than 120 ml per day. However, there is no need for this.

What not to do when teething

It’s hard to look at a child when you know that he’s feeling bad right now. Therefore, many parents try to take some measures to somehow help their child. But not everything goes to his advantage. During the teething period, you cannot rush the course of events. Teeth will erupt in any case. If you try to speed up this process, you can only do harm.

What not to do:

• give adult medications to bring down the temperature;
• wipe the child with vinegar or alcohol;
• massage the gums;
• make cuts on the gum so that the tooth emerges faster;
• give the child dry bread crust (it can scratch the swollen tissues in the mouth and infection can penetrate through the wounds).

Now in children's stores there are a sufficient number of various “rodent” toys, as well as pain-relieving gels that will help simplify the teething process and reduce pain and inflammation. It is to them that you need to resort if there is a need to help the baby.

“Rodents” for teething children

When should you start taking care of your teeth?

Most dentists agree that the start of brushing a baby's teeth should coincide with their appearance. Most often, the first tooth erupts in babies' mouths at six months. However, in some children, the first incisors appear earlier, and some delight their parents with their first tooth only at one year of age.

An erupted tooth is a tooth whose tip has already emerged from the gums. Caring for the baby's first incisors should be carried out as carefully as possible - often a real wound forms around the cutting pearl and cleaning can be very painful for the baby. In addition, we should not forget that during teething, the baby’s local immunity decreases and the risk of contracting an infection increases.

Some dentists are convinced that oral care for infants should begin before teeth appear. The fact is that even in the absence of incisors and molars, and even in the absence of complementary foods in the diet, microorganisms accumulate on the baby’s oral mucosa. These bacteria can cause unpleasant diseases such as stomatitis, gingivitis or candidiasis.

In addition, such early care of your baby’s gums will help him form a habit of hygiene. And at the age of 5-6 months, when the baby begins to distinguish between “his own and someone else’s,” a toothbrush and special pastes will no longer cause him to panic and protest. According to dentists, infants should start brushing their teeth at the age of 3-4 months.