Caring for children with febrile seizures at home

Sponge your child with warm water instead of cold or ice water. Do not try to stop the seizure by squeezing lemons into the child's mouth or covering the child with a blanket.

Febrile convulsions are a common condition in young children that occurs when the child has a high fever above 39 degrees Celsius, often occurring in children from 6 months to 6 years old, especially when there are changes in weather and climate.

When a child has a full-body seizure, many parents are often confused and make mistakes such as wiping the child's body with ice water, squeezing lemon into the child's mouth, wrapping the child in a blanket or holding the child tightly, or pressing down on the child's limbs to find a way to stop the seizure...

According to Master, Doctor Nguyen Ba Thang, Head of Neurology Department, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, because the child's nervous system is not fully developed, high fever often stimulates the child's brain and can easily lead to convulsions.



Febrile seizures are common in children from 6 months to 6 years old. Photo: bnjfamily.com

Therefore, Dr. Thang advises that when a child has a fever, the best preventive measure is to quickly reduce the fever. Use a towel to cool the child's entire body and apply a wet towel to areas with large blood vessels close to the skin such as the neck, armpits, and groin. When wiping, do not dry the child's skin too much, but leave the child's skin slightly damp, the remaining water on the skin will evaporate and cool the child.

"Note: Use warm water (about the same temperature as a baby's bath water) instead of cold water or ice water. When using cold water or ice water, the blood vessels constrict, the outside may feel cool to the touch but the baby's internal body temperature does not decrease," said Dr. Thang.

Some notes when the child has a seizure:

- Stay calm and do not panic because most seizures only last about 1 to 2 minutes and rarely harm the child's health.

- The seizures will stop on their own. Do not use measures to control the seizures such as holding the child's limbs or wrapping the child in a blanket. These measures cannot stop the seizures and can damage the child's muscles and joints.

- Absolutely do not squeeze lemon or pour anything into the child's mouth because it will be dangerous, causing the child to choke, suffocate, or get pneumonia, and will not stop the seizure at all.

- If you have a blunt, round object with no sharp edges, such as a wooden tongue depressor, and the child is not clenching his teeth yet, you can put it between his teeth to prevent him from biting his tongue. If you don't have a blunt wooden object, then don't use anything with sharp edges because it will injure the child's lips and tongue. Or if the child has already clenched his teeth, or even bit his tongue, don't try to pry the child's teeth open to put something in because it won't be possible to pry it open and will also tear the child's lips and gums.

- Let the baby lie down normally in a balanced, spacious place, without hard, sharp objects around. The baby lies on one side so that any drool will flow out, not causing suffocation. Keep the nose and mouth clear, and airy for the baby to breathe easily.

- Do not leave your baby alone or in large crowds.

- Do not try to wake a sleeping child after a seizure.

- In case the child has convulsions not due to fever or has convulsions due to high fever many times, the child should be taken to the hospital immediately. It is necessary to remember the time the convulsions started and the symptoms of the convulsions (hands, feet, eyes, mouth) to describe them to the doctor, helping to determine the exact type of convulsion and the time of the convulsions.

According to Vnexpress - NT