babymum I don’t give paracetamol to my baby if is her fever below 38. The body actually needs to fight the virus and that is a good thing. If she has 37,8 for two days then I would go to see the doctor. I would make sure she drinks warmish tea and rests.
If she gets cold we wouldn’t use antibiotics if the mucus is clear. If it changes to green then it needs to be cured. Luckily we have never had green mucus probably becouse we use Echinacea drops after I hear her sneezing more often during a day.
my child was very healthy until 2 years when she got 5 bronchitis within one winter (our winters are below 0 degC). While she was sick I “studied” medicine, every new bronchitis was easier and finally I stopped them. next 2 winters were healthy. both my kids have had some “fast febers”. my experience:
-
avoid too warm clothing. it is ok to have “cold hands” sometimes. for immunity.
-
be suspicious when doctors prescribe antibiotics. usually they are useless in case of common cold which typically is caused by viruses.
-
I allowed temperature until 39.0. after that, I decreased temperature just by sprinkle hands, legs and face with cold water. very effective. if your kid does not have cramps at high temperatures (which is rare), you can do it. with temperature, body is fighting against the viruses. it “burns down” them.
-
now I fight cold mainly with inhalations of tea tree oil.
-
and I do not trust our pediatrician. you as a parent can observe your child and see what works and what do not work. pediatrician can offer only the “one size fits all” solution, and often it is antibiotics.
google hygiene hypothesis 
I don’t use anything for fevers either. Let Em get hot. Let Em get cold at times too. Obviously you need to be sensible. I don’t own a thermometer. So my theory was if they actually got so hot that I didn’t want to touch them then we would go to the hospital. I cooled them usually with iced fruit drinks or cool splash in the bath or pool, if they started to get too hot.
I don’t give my kids anything more than chicken soup for a cold. Rest, cuddles, and home made chicken noodle soup are as good as anything the doctor provides. The green snot didn’t change my remedy. If I could hear noise in their lungs when they breathed ( put your ear to their back and listen) then I would consider a trip to the doctors. Usually I could tell when they were really going to get worse and when they were on the mend. I can’t recall one occasion that they needed antibiotics…
My kids aren’t perfectly healthy. One has a lactose intolerance ( and drinks lactose free milk) but due to strong immunity can handle other dairy products with lower lactose ( cheese, cooked dairy, ice-cream) and one of my kids has skin rashes ( which sadly have had to be cleared up using cortisone at times) which we can usually keep at bay by being careful to keep her skin in tip top shape with moisturizer and no soap.
Overall avoiding drug use does seem to work on a long term basis. It’s nice to hear other mums agree with me on this. It’s hard to find much support on avoiding drug use in little kids.
YES!
Alex was somewhat premature, considered high-risk due to my Medical conditions, and worried about as we are vegetarian and ‘whole foods’. We consulted several pediatric dietitians ( more for the record then anything, one dietician laughingly told me I was much more informed than her!)
Whilst she does have some food allergies (most likely genetic:() she is one of the healthiest children we know!
Paying attention to what they eat, how much and of what variety of things they eat, is a HUGE determining factor! Alex has had only a couple of vaccinations (we were flying transatlantic!) and one bout of antibiotics (we discontinued as she was allergic!) we NEVER use antibiotic soaps, wipes, etc, instead introducing her to local bacteria and viruses with vigorous hand washing…
I believe her exposure has greatly contributed to her virtual immunity to common illnesses and increased tolerance to allergens!
Plenty or organic,LOCAL produce, avoidance of unnatural chemicals, pesticides, additives, etc., common sense and exposure to a reasonable amount of ‘nature’? With more than a anything you can imagine!
Early Learning is easy, fantastic, amazing!!! Why risk all you have worked so hard for with mediocre nutricion?!
Early Learning is a unique, multifaceted coin!
wow I hope i can be as brave as you all to let your kid cure herself whenevever she’s got fever…
Mandabplus3 , i’m not sure how to do it. Whenever she has fever, i gave her paracetamol every 6hours till the fever goes down 
as I’m afraid the fever might go high up passed midnight… Got one time her fever reachese 40degC, and thats where we rush to the hospital… I admit she did drink alot of medicine since infant. I am really guilty :ohmy: Can you teach me what to do when kid got fever above 37.5degC? Tap body with cool water is one way rigtht … but I am also not sure how the fever thing actually happens and how it can goes away itself… I read that the fever is somehow a good thing… Could you enlighten me …I am a new mum and i do not know much how to treat a fever or boost her immunity…, most of my friends around me uses paracetamol thus i just follows…
:wacko:
I am very thankful that all of you all very helpful and giving alot of sharing in boosting immunity. which i would like to try on some of the suggestions… roasted garlic, parsley, acerola powder, grapefruit seed extract
I understand it does take a certain amount of bravery and self confidence to treat a fever naturally. A fever is the bodies way of making conditions uncomfortable for viruses and bugs to breed. The heat and cold slows their breeding and multiplying giving the body a chance to heal itself. For the record I am not a nurse or doctor.
So what do you do when you are hot? Shed clothes. Take a bath. Swim. Eat ice. Eat jelly. Cool drinks. Keep up the fluids. Step outside into cool air. Cool cloth on the face. Mostly I just let the kids alone. It’s OK if they get hot. If they get slow and listless then take one or two of the above actions. If they are still playing leave them be. Just monitor each hour or when you can feel them getting hotter. if you child appears to be fading from consciousness then call for help immediately. 37% is not hot enough for paracetemal. 40% you get help. But the only time I called for help ( for a friend) the ambulance came and they told us baby was better off with us at home as we were doing a great job and to call them back if she became unconscious or hotter. :huh:
If my kids have a fever at night I sleep with them. Then I will know how hot they are, I find mothers instinct kicks in and those are the nights I sleep lightly. I usually sleep like a log! I am realistic some mums just can’t handle this. But there is no reason you can’t at least go without the drugs during the day, that at least will drop the dosage they get by 2/3rds and give their natural immunity a fighting chance.
here are my fever tips.
======
do not touch temperature if it is below 37.5 (this recommendation comes from pediatrician in our local forum).
If it goes higher: slake child. wet cloth on forehead, legs, hands.
but be aware. if legs and hands are cold than it means that temperature continues to rise. than it is not allowed to slake. give socks and blanket to child because cramps often start because of temperature difference between head and extremities. you can start to lover the temperature if legs are not cold anymore.
much drinks.
call first aid if it goes close to 40.
======
some mothers use 50/50 water and alcohol. I used only water and it was very effective (one degree per hour).
when my son had “three days fever”, temperature raised until 39.8. I measured temperature after every half hour (I slept with alarm clock which waked me up every 30 minutes, and slept together with child). our cousin used medicine to lower temperature, at the same virus, and they had fever for 5 or 6 days.
probably you can find your local parenting forum with much experience. and I agree to every sentence of Mandabplus3 .
Thanks Mandabplus3, i hope i can be as confident as you. When my kid got fever more than a day… haha i get panic
A friend of mine was ill very often and then she left out all diary products and she is a new person now :yes: - she said she wasn’t healthy for three months in a row before.
So maybe you could try to change some food in your baby diet.
Just a thought.
And I also agree that we always need to double check peadiatricians advices.
I personally read a lot of books either in my own language or English and chose what ever I feel comfortable with doing as there is no advice which would fit all. Sometimes the advices even change from one year to another!
In our country we wrap babies in wet towels ( no arms or legs) or give them a bath but not in a cold water but warmish ( to prevent shock).
One mother in our community told me that if her little boy gets high fever she wraps his feet in milk wrap , I haven’t tried that but this was the only thing that helped him :mellow:
Lelask, sorry for delay with reply 
Here is the link to the most comprehensive (IMO) site about kefir – http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html#what-is-kefir; http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html, it has lots of information on practical how to’s, links, etc – we mainly followed his practical advice. We purchased a little bit of kefir grains on the ebay ( they did not have them locally), and the person shipped it to us in a little ziplock bag. We put them in fresh milk, and it took them a few days to get back to normal. We have been using the same kefir grains for the last 3 years, they grew and we shared them with others :yes: We even took them cross-atlantic with us 
Hope this helps.
I think one of the best ways to boost up a baby’s immunity is to ensure the he spends enough time in fresh air, even if it’s cold outside.
One of my friends lets this baby sleep one hour outside in the garden even in the winter (of course warmly dressed, covering him with thick blankets in the stroller).
Sorry, just reviving this thread as I wanted to add things that we are doing with my 14 month old daughter.
- For vitamin C - we are giving her some acai berry powder + camu camu powder mixed with drinks or food
- Spirulina - we have included this as a part of her diet by adding it into a smoothie
- Fish oil - aside from eating oily fish at least twice a week, she has some fish oil
- gelatin (great lakes unflavoured kosher gelatin) - before bedtime she has a teaspoon of gelatin mixed in water. Whilst I dont know if this builds immunity or not, gelatin is good for health (http://wellnessmama.com/7419/12-uses-for-gelatin/) and it helps with digestion.
We cook food for her in avocado oil or coconut oil as it is high in ‘good’ fats.
My daughter is allergic to dairy, and we avoid wheat/gluten based products as much as possible. There’s a small bit of gluten/wheat left in our diet (oats + wheat flour for making indian flat breads i.e. chapatis) but the wheat flour is a very small portion in order to assist with getting the right dough consistency for rolling them out.
We eat a lot of amaranth (including amaranth flour for flat breads), quinoa, buckwheat, wild rice, millet etc. aside from as much organic vegetables/fruits as possible. I prefer using homeopathic medication as much as possible instead of conventional medication.
We had a tough time with my daughter in the initial 6 months since birth as we were dealing with reflux due to allergies towards milk which wasn’t detected until she was 3 months and it took a while for her gut to repair. But she’s hardly ever been ‘ill’ i.e. with flu/fever etc. and since turning 6 months and her gut being fully back to normal, we have never had to deal with reflux either. She’s exposed to all sorts of oudoor elements - we don’t stop her from exploring things, putting things in her mouth within reason etc. There was only 1 time at 9 months when there was an epidemic of vomitting bug in the UK which she picked up but even that went away within a week on it’s own and she was active the whole time and happy most importantly.
We have included flax/hemp seed, dates, walnuts, almonds, cashew nuts, sesame into her diet and that has also helped. M is a very active and happy girl and I feel all of the above has helped in staying healthy.
I recommend breast feeding as my #1. If you’re past that, probiotics and yogurt as a natural source. As preventative, hand sanitizer as your best friend, hand washing, and avoiding germ centers like nursery at church.
Sorry if I sound like a broken record, but for flu, please do vaccinate. It is shown to be effective at boosting their immune levels, and NOT weaken them.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/children.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/infantcare.htm