This blog post is not intended to cure, diagnose or treat any illness or disease. Neither is it meant to replace a physician’s advice.

Who’s been there before? It’s 2AM, and you wake up, realising your baby suddenly has a fever. You don’t know what to do if the fever happens to increase. How do you keep it low enough to be safe for baby, while high enough for their little body to fight whatever they’re fighting? They look in discomfort – how do you get them to sleep so their body can heal?

I was there one night. My little girls fever was approaching 39˚C. But within a minute, I managed to drop it down a whole degree. Without even getting out of bed!

Research has shown that fevers are beneficial. They have a negative effect on the grown of bacteria & replication of viruses. [1] So you don’t want to get rid of a fever completely. But a fever that’s too high can be dangerous. Especially for little ones.

When I started sharing this newfound knowledge with other parents of small babies I knew, I almost couldn’t believe no one had heard of this as a way to reduce fever!

Skin to skin.

Yes. That’s right. That skin to skin, that’s so beneficial to babies straight after they’re born, can also reduce their fever.

That first time my girl had a fever, I touched her, and almost freaked out, as I wasn’t sure what to do as she’d never had a fever before, and she was hot! So after taking her temperature, I stripped all her layers off, and thinking, well, my body is cooler than hers, I put her on my bare chest, covering us both under the blankets.

And sure enough, you could feel her instantly cool down. So I took her temperature again. A whole degree Celsius cooler! Wow.

And so she went back to sleep.

She was happy, as she was cooler – although being a paranoid mum, I kept checking up on her, and taking her temperature every half an hour – just to be sure! And by morning, and a coffee later, you almost couldn’t tell the night we had had.

At almost 2 years old, this is still our go-to method of cooling down a fever when my daughter has one. Besides, when she has a fever, she only wants cuddles anyway! Just make sure that the room is warm enough for skin-to-skin contact, and cover both you & your baby in a blanket to keep warm if need be.

So go forth, and share the knowledge! 

1. Fever management: Evidence vs current practice

In the situation that your baby isn't at their best, some of our herbal producuts may also help in recovery:

This post is not intended as medical advice. It is best to check in with your medical professional if your child has a fever. If you have any questions on your childs fever, or any other health issues, Healthline is a free NZ service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.