Your baby’s skin is burning up and you know you’re in for a long night. So what can you do to make your baby more comfortable and boost their immune system at the same time? Read on for 3 natural remedies for fever.

The first thing we often do is reach for medication, like Acetaminophen (Panadol/Calpol), which may reduce the symptoms but might not be the best way to get our child better faster.

The fever is actually the body’s way of fighting the virus. An article in the journal Pediatrics states; ‘Fever actually stops the growth and reproduction of bacteria and viruses… Most fevers are of short duration, are benign, and may actually protect the host.’

So when should you seek medical advice?

*When a child is under three months old and has a temperature over 38C (100.4F)
*When your child displays other signs of being unwell such as persistent vomiting, floppiness
or drowsiness.

For the full list you can go to the NHS advice page.

However when the temperature is not extreme and your child does not seem distressed, there is no need to give medication or bundle them up and take them to your local GP.

But what can you do to soothe your little one and help boost their  natural defences? Here are my top three suggestions.

Bone Broth or Chicken Soup

When your body is working overtime to fight an infection you don’t want to overload the system with hard to digest food and bone broth is very easily assimilated. In addition, the gelatin in bone broth helps soothe the intestinal lining which may compromised by the virus Finally, bone broth is rich in the amino acid glycine, which is really important for detoxification.

Warm Bath

When you emerge from a a warm bath, your temperature naturally drops. So, it’s great to pop your little one in a warm bath before bed. A cold bath, although it might seem to make sense when your child is burning up, can actually shock the body into trying to raise the internal temperature even more. You could also try adding 1 cup of apple cider vinegar to the bath; an old wives tale for drawing out a fever naturally  – not scientific but certainly not harmful!

Viburcol

‘This literally was the remedy that kept my kids well and me sane, a total godsend,’ says Naturopathic Iridologist Lucinda Miller (NatureDoc.co.uk).

When my first child was 8 weeks old a leading Naturopath recommend this remedy and I’ve been using it for the last 7 years. First for colic, then for teething and finally, fever. It contains a combination of homeopathic remedies including Belladonna – well known for use in fever as well as chamomile, which you’ll find in common chemist teething remedies. This is hard to get hold of in Australia, but widely available in the UK. (1)

Children are usually very resilient and often surprise us with how quickly they can bounce back. But I’ve found that using mother nature’s pharmacy, makes the recovery that much quicker.