Hello mamas,
This morning my son woke up fine. His kindergarten had scheduled to start pool play today. The UV Index was very high, so I was surprised they kept the plan for the pool play activitiy. I made my son wear sunscreen today, even though almost none of the other parents do this. We live in Japan. Japanese women wear sunscreen daily, but for some reason the kids and men do not. The UV rays are stronger here too. Anyway at lunch time, I got a call from the kindergarten saying that my son had a fever and did not feel good. I went to pick him up. He had a low grade fever of 100. After resting for about 6 hours now, it hasn't really changed much. We usually skip the shower when he has a fever, but the fact that he is wearing sunscreen pretty much all over because of the pool play made me question if that is still what we should do? He didn't get in the pool. So, should we skip letting him take the shower because of the fever, or is it better to take a shower to wash the sunscreen off? If the fever doesn't go down by tomorrow, we will go to the doctor. I hesistated today because he didn't have any other symptoms other than the fever.
Thanks mamas!
I went ahead and let my son take a shower. He felt much better afterwards. Actually, I was leaning towards letting him have the shower. It was my husband who wanted to make him skip it because doctors here in Japan will tell you not to take a bath/shower when you have a fever. I think that this has something to do with the style of bathroom here, and the fact that there is no such thing as central heating in homes. In Japan, you wash your body outside the bathtub. The bathroom is divided into two parts. The smaller part has a sink and maybe an area for a laundry machine. The larger part is the shower and bath. There is a drain in the floor and you sit on small stools and wash your body and hair. You rinse off completely before getting into a very high bathtub to soak. There are two sizes of bathtubs: one person size or two people size. You sort of sit with your knees tucked up to your chest and the water comes up to your neck covering your shoulders. The bath water is always on the hotter side. I couldn't hardly sit in a bathtub here when I first moved to Japan because the water was just too hot for me. Most Japanese people wouldn't dream of taking a shower without getting in the bathtub to soak afterwards. The bath is especially important in the winter here. It helps you to stay warm at night while sleeping since there is no central heating used in homes. I often skip the bath soaking and just take a shower like I did when I lived in the States. If I have a fever though, it really is better to skip that shower in the winter because of the fact that there is no central heating and it is very cold in the bathroom. It is easy to get chilled and start shivering. So, that is perhaps the reason for doctors telling you here to skip a shower/bath when you have a fever. Japanese homes are very drafty in the winter. This was the first time my son had a fever in the summer. I didn't think that the same idea would apply in the summer, but my husband was very insistant that we should not take a shower/bath when we have a fever. So, I told him that in the States most people wouldn't dream of not taking a shower. Thanks for confirming to my husband that I was not the only one who thought it was okay to take the shower.
He thinks I am a worry wart about the sunscreen with our son, but at least he let me win that battle. Every time I put sunscreen on our son, he shakes his head, but if it protects our son from getting skin cancer... I wish I could convince my husband to wear the stuff. He comes home from work sometimes completely burnt if he has to work outside during the day.
I think my son was probably a little dehydrated. He hasn't been drinking his water as much at school. I send him to school with a canteen filled with water. It holds 600ml. His kindergarten doesn't have water fountains or water available for the students. They only drink tea. My son doesn't drink tea because of our religious beliefs. He hadn't drank anything yesterday when they called me. It was so hot and the UV index was 11. I made him drink a lot of water, eat a couple popsicles, and I made homemade chicken noodles for him for dinner. He looked much better after the shower. The fever was gone by this morning.
I'm sorry, but why would you skip the shower for a fever? This is new to me. Taking a shower usually makes me feel a little bit better when I'm sick. If he's not feeling quite up to it, is a bath an option?
Shower will be fine. Water needs to be Luke warm, not hot, not cool.
Lots of fluids.
Good for you, getting him to wear sunscreen.
Hope he feels better.
ETA: so glad he is feeling better! It was probably close to heat exhaustion. Scary. Somehow, somebody needs to understand his water needs when he is outside. Glad your H listened to you about the sunscreen and shower.
I always feel better after a shower when I don't feel good. I'd give him the shower.
I've never heard of skipping a bath or shower due to a fever. I would proceed as usual with his shower since he has sunscreen on, but with cooler water than he typically may use. Hope he feels better soon!
I'm the opposite. A lukewarm bath is one of my go-tos if my daughter has a fever and isn't feeling well. As long as you aren't putting him in a HOT shower, or a cold one, he should be fine, and it might make him feel better.
It may help the fever to let him sit in the tub if the water is not hot.
I would have him shower. It might make him feel better and help with the fever.
Push the fluids, it will help with the fever too.
He may have gotten over heated and possibly slightly dehydrated so shower and fluids will probably help him feel better. You can also do cool compresses on the back of his neck, forehead, and/or wrists.
Lukewarm shower (oh, or bath) and lots of fluids to drink. Poor thing, hope he feels better soon. Good job making sure he had sunscreen on. :)
Im thinking he might have heat stroke. I would do a luke warm shower and really push some gatorade to get him rehydrated.
Definitely a shower or bath. Make sure not to get the water too cold or let him get too the point of shivering. If he starts shivering it will bring his temperature right back up, if not make it a little higher than before.
And, just as everyone else has said, lots of fluids and rest.
Maybe just a body bath instead of hair and full body unless he got sunscreen in his hair. At least its just a low fever and nothing else. I hope he feels better and you don't have to go to the doctors.
