Low temperature in a child: 7 possible reasons

Low temperature and vomiting in a child always raise a lot of questions from parents. This condition can be provoked by various diseases, as well as nervous disorders . At the same time, the baby looks lethargic and pale, as people say, he has a loss of strength. In this case, it is necessary to find out the cause of such a violation and, if possible, eliminate it. It should be borne in mind that some conditions require emergency medical attention.

Causes of low temperature and vomiting

Vomiting and low temperature in a child are more alarming than the same condition accompanied by fever. Low temperature indicates poor body resistance, some chronic diseases, infectious processes or endocrine disorders .
The main causes of hypothermia, which is accompanied by vomiting, are:

• An overdose of antipyretic drugs is often observed when the dose is incorrectly calculated or if the baby finds and drinks the medicine.
• The combined use of antiviral and antipyretic drugs can cause such a reaction.
• Post-vaccination reaction. Most often, this phenomenon can occur after 2 or 3 DTPs. The situation can also be aggravated by parents who, just in case, give antipyretic drugs in advance.
• Endocrine system dysfunction. If the production of thyroxine in the thyroid gland is severely impaired, this can also lead to nausea and low temperature. In addition, this disorder can be caused by dysfunction of the adrenal glands and hypothalamus.
• Anemia. A strong decrease in hemoglobin in the blood also leads to a low temperature and periodic nausea in the baby.
• Various brain tumors. Neoplasms compress the hypothalamus, resulting in low fever and vomiting.
• Vegetovascular dystonia.
• Severe stress. Helps reduce body temperature and the appearance of vomiting. For children, this often happens when parting with relatives or changing the children's team.
• Poisoning. A child may have a temperature of 35 and vomiting due to severe intoxication and dehydration.
• Stomach diseases - chronic gastritis or peptic ulcer.

In addition, parasites in the body can cause low fever and vomiting . With helminthic infestations, loss of strength and vomiting are very often observed.

A doctor can determine the exact cause of a child’s health disorder after conducting an examination.

Low temperature in a child under one year old

A person is born with an imperfect thermoregulation system, so 3 months after birth the temperature can fluctuate over a fairly wide range. As a rule, a decrease in temperature is considered normal if it lasts no more than two days.

Temperature norm table

The most common reason for a decrease in temperature in a child under one year of age is hypothermia. Since thermoregulation is impaired, babies need to dress a little warmer than adults. Otherwise, even the smallest draft can negatively affect its condition. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the air conditioner does not blow in the room where the child sleeps; it is also necessary to wrap him in a diaper.

For your information. The optimal room temperature is 22-24 degrees. At night it is permissible to reduce it to eighteen.

Some devices may display a false low temperature. A mercury thermometer gives the most correct result, but giving it to a child is a little risky.

Should I sound the alarm?

In all the cases described above, there is no need to worry. Most often, low temperature is associated with the individual characteristics of the child and the time of day, and not with the disease. So, at night or early in the morning it usually decreases (as with all people). It is important to keep the little man active and maintain his appetite. If a child refuses to eat, cries a lot and does not want to play, it is better to consult a doctor. Reinsurance is also necessary if it is impossible to increase the temperature with an additional layer of children's clothing.

There is no need to worry about a drop in temperature after taking antipyretic medications. If the child has been sick for a long time before, then a low temperature for several days is also allowed.

Impact of drugs

If a child is poisoned by antipyretic drugs, then it is necessary to rinse the stomach and then give an adsorbent that neutralizes the remaining medication. But it is advisable to do all this only if no more than an hour has passed since taking the medication.

After providing first aid, be sure to show the baby to the doctor, as there may be late complications, and the doctor must also be shown the medicine that caused the poisoning.

It must be remembered that Nurofen has a stronger effect than paracetamol, so the dosage should not be exceeded.

Antiviral drugs

For the treatment of respiratory diseases and flu, doctors often prescribe Viferon together with antipyretics. In case of individual intolerance to these drugs, loss of strength and vomiting may occur. If such a condition occurs in a child, treatment with these medications is canceled and the attending physician is consulted .

Sometimes persistent nausea occurs when antiviral drugs are taken incorrectly, when the time interval between meals is not observed.

Post-vaccination reaction

Most often, the human body reacts to vaccines with a rise in temperature, but sometimes the situation can be radically different. A decrease in temperature after DPT in children is uncommon, but this can also happen and is considered a response of the immune system to the introduction of foreign microorganisms .
Hypothermia may be accompanied by general weakness, dizziness and nausea. If the child’s condition does not stabilize one day after vaccination, then a consultation with a pediatrician is necessary. If hypothermia is too severe and there is profuse vomiting, you should call an ambulance.

After any vaccinations, the child should remain under medical supervision for about an hour!

Prevention of low temperature in a child

Well-known pediatrician , Evgeny Komarovsky , gives the following recommendations on what to do to prevent low temperature:

1. Monitor your lifestyle: nutrition, physical activity. It is important to give your son or daughter rest. Studying is not the whole life. If a child fails at something, there is no need to make a tragedy out of it and turn his life into an educational hell.
2. The child should live in a room with an air temperature of 20-22 degrees and a relative humidity of about 60%. It is also necessary to regularly ventilate the room.
3. Hardening is good. There is no need to wrap the child up too much, because this will worsen his immunity.
4. Try to provide your child with positive emotions. Of course, he can feel differently, but we must try not to make things worse for him with our actions.

These recommendations are useful for the prevention of many diseases.

Thermometers show 35 degrees

Everything must be done to prevent the causes of low temperature described above. If there is a risk of disease, it is necessary to prevent it. If the cause is not related to the disease, then it should be addressed. For example, always pay close attention to how your child is dressed. He should not be overheated, but he should not dress too lightly either. It is necessary to adapt to its thermoregulation system.

Anemia

A child may have a low fever and vomiting even with a strong decrease in hemoglobin in the blood. This condition may be the result of serious illness or poor nutrition. Children suffering from anemia look pale and weak, and their appetite and general condition are often impaired.

For treatment, iron-containing medications are prescribed and the child’s diet is adjusted. The diet should contain a lot of greens, fruits, vegetables, beef, liver, buckwheat and fish.

If the child's anemia is too severe, a blood transfusion is prescribed.

The process of treating illness in children

Since a low temperature of 35.9 has a bad effect on the functioning of the entire body, it is important to promptly seek help from a qualified medical professional. If treatment is not timely, problems may arise in the functioning of the nervous system, which often leads to the development of serious complications, including death. Depending on the severity of the patient’s condition, the doctor prescribes therapy. First of all, it is necessary to conduct a thorough medical examination in order to identify the factor that provoked the appearance of such an unpleasant symptom. Based on the results obtained, the doctor prescribes the appropriate treatment.

Brain tumors

Brain tumors can be benign or malignant. This disease can be suspected based on specific symptoms. The child often complains of nausea, vomiting, dizziness and headache . Upon examination, you may notice pallor of the skin and unstable temperature, which at times drops greatly or, conversely, rises. Sometimes fainting occurs and coordination of movements is impaired.

To correctly make a diagnosis, a series of examinations are prescribed, which necessarily include x-rays and tomography. When performing these procedures, you can see not only the location of the tumor, but also identify metastases, if any.

In the early stages, oncological diseases are successfully treated; the main thing is not to miss the first symptoms.

Physiological changes in the body with stages of hypothermia

The degree of hypothermia corresponds to the body’s physiological reactions to cold:

• In mild hypothermia, the body tries to fight heat loss by shivering, vasoconstriction, and increased metabolism.
• Moderate hypothermia covers a narrow range in which these compensatory mechanisms begin to become exhausted and stop working. Changes include respiratory failure, decreased metabolism, circulatory failure and instability, vasodilation, decreased circulating blood volume, and altered mental status.
• In severe hypothermia, the metabolic machinery that underlies the body's functioning is suppressed or stopped by cold. Metabolism slows by about 6% for every 1ºC drop in body temperature, so at 28ºC the basal metabolic rate is about half normal. At this temperature, all body functions begin to weaken, including the function of the central nervous system.

Vegetovascular dystonia

Vegetative-vascular dystonia includes many symptoms that indicate a disruption of the autonomic system. Dystonia leads to disruption of the thyroid gland, heart and blood vessels, and also impairs the functions of the digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems . With vascular dystonia, the following disorders are observed:

• frequent headache;
• abnormal sleepiness;
• loss of appetite;
• nausea and vomiting;
• pale skin;
• dizziness;
• atypical sweating;
• low pressure;
• decrease in temperature.

In addition, a child suffering from VSD often experiences fainting and darkening of the eyes . If any of these symptoms appear, the child is examined by a cardiologist and neurologist.

The danger of low body temperature

How much should a 6 month old baby eat?

It is believed that the optimal body temperature is 36.6 degrees. In practice, this ideal value is not always maintained at the same level. Even in adults, fluctuations of 1 degree are possible, and even more so in children.

Hypothermia can be dangerous in the following situations:

1. The thermometer value drops to 27 degrees and below. This condition requires immediate hospitalization because the risk of coma is high.
2. 29 degrees. The level at which a child may become faint.
3. 33 degrees. Such thermometer readings are no longer so dangerous, but require a solution to the cause that caused this symptom.

There is no need to panic when the thermometer reaches 35 degrees. If the temperature stays at this level for a long time, you need to consult a doctor.

Stressful situations

Frequent stress, anxiety and internal tension can lead to hypothermia and vomiting. For young children, this often happens when parting with relatives, for example, when the baby is sent to kindergarten, or when changing the usual children's team .
In older children, this condition is observed before various performances, exams or other events that are important to them. In young children, the nervous system is still poorly formed, so any things they do not understand often lead to hysterics. So, small children are terribly frightened by a change of environment. If for any reason you have to change kindergarten, this can lead to severe stress, an increase or decrease in temperature, and vomiting.

In this case, it is necessary to explain to the child that interesting games and new friends await him in kindergarten. If the baby categorically refuses to go to kindergarten, you should not force him, it is better to let him sit at home for a week with his beloved grandmother .

It must be remembered that severe stress in a child can lead to nervous tics and stuttering!

Reason 7: Stress and fatigue

This most often concerns schoolchildren, especially teenagers. Excessive intellectual and emotional stress, stress and fatigue can provoke a drop in temperature. Do not underestimate these reasons, as they can provoke more serious disorders in the body than hypothermia.

Katerina Spektorenko

Pediatrician at the Children's Clinic "Mali"

To stress and fatigue, I would also add such a reason as lack of sleep. Compared to the first two reasons, this is one of the most common among children, and especially schoolchildren, who pore over homework until midnight. It is worth considering that children adapt to various situations, including stressful ones, much better than adults. And if a child really experiences so much stress that it manifests itself in physiological changes, then a visit to a specialist should be planned immediately.

Poisoning

If a child develops cold sweats and vomiting due to food or other poisoning, then we can talk about dehydration and severe intoxication. In this case, it is necessary to call a doctor or take the child on your own to the infectious diseases department of the hospital. Symptoms of dehydration include:

• dry mucous membranes;
• strong thirst that is very difficult to quench;
• rapid heartbeat and heavy breathing;
• general weakness and severe drowsiness;
• lack of urination for more than 4 hours;
• retraction of the large fontanel in infants.

As first aid, the patient is given an adsorbent - atoxyl, polysorb, enterosgel or regular activated carbon . To replenish the volume of fluid in the body, the baby is often given various drinks, but in small portions. You can give your child clean water, sweet tea, compote, rosehip infusion or rice infusion.

In a hospital setting, the patient is prescribed intravenous infusions of glucose and sodium chloride to replenish lost fluid. Usually, after the first dropper, the sick child’s condition stabilizes a little.

At the first symptoms of dehydration in young children, you should immediately consult a doctor. Due to low body weight, irreversible consequences quickly develop, which can lead to death.

Symptoms

Different levels of hypothermia cause different symptoms.

Mild hypothermia:

• refusal to eat;
• the child is cold to the touch;
• redness of the skin or slight pallor;
• weakening of the voice when crying, which can be caused by decreased energy and oxygen supply in young children;
• cardiac arrhythmias, irregular heart rate;
• lethargy due to low energy levels;
• episodes of lack of breathing are possible;
• dizziness and trembling;
• shortness of breath due to decreased oxygen supply;
• narrowing of peripheral vessels due to contractions of the muscle layers of their walls. This can be caused by many reasons, including decreased oxygen supply and decreased temperature both inside and outside the body. This is a reflex mechanism that helps retain heat.

This reaction is associated with physiological mechanisms designed to maintain body temperature. It should be noted that infants generally retain heat with intense peripheral vasoconstriction, have a limited ability to shiver, and are less able to maintain body heat than older children.

Moderate hypothermia:

• mental function may deteriorate. Slurred speech, clumsy movements, and poor thinking may be taken as signs of poisoning, making it difficult to identify hypothermia.
• agitation and irritability give way to confusion and lethargy as body temperature continues to drop.
• As hypothermia progresses, shivering stops and heart rate and blood pressure become variable and then decrease.

Deep hypothermia:

• manifestations become less obvious as trembling and pallor give way to muscle stiffness and redness of the skin.
• bradycardia and hypotension progress until the pulse disappears.
• stupor gives way to coma with fixed and dilated pupils.

Thus, severe or profound hypothermia can be fatal.

Stomach diseases

Gastritis or stomach ulcers can lead to a decrease in body temperature and vomiting. This happens especially often in the acute stage. Treatment of all these diseases must be comprehensive. The treatment always includes antibiotics, antispasmodics, drugs that reduce the acidity of gastric juice, decoctions of medicinal herbs and vitamin complexes. In case of exacerbation, the child is treated in a hospital setting; in the remission stage, it is permissible to take medications prescribed by the doctor at home.

Diet plays an important role in the treatment of these diseases. A sick child needs to be provided with meals that include the following products:

• viscous porridge with water or skim milk;
• baked apples and ripe bananas;
• boiled fish and meat;
• boiled eggs;
• biscuits;
• vegetable soups;
• jelly.

All food for a sick child is boiled or steamed . In exceptional cases, you can bake meat and vegetables in the oven. A minimum of fat is used for cooking so as not to burden the digestive system and liver.

Types of Hypothermia

Normal body temperature is a reflection of the delicate balance between heat production and heat loss. Many chemical reactions necessary for human survival occur only in certain temperature ranges. The human brain has a number of ways to maintain vital temperature. When these mechanisms fail, heat loss occurs faster than heat production, resulting in hypothermia.

Primary hypothermia is caused by exposure to cold. With this type, there is no disease that causes a violation of temperature regulation.

Sometimes body temperature control is impaired by illness. In this case, body temperature can decrease in almost any environment. This condition is called secondary hypothermia. In secondary hypothermia, the influencing factor disrupts the thermal balancing mechanisms of the body.

There are three types of hypothermia, depending on the degree of decrease in body temperature.

These ranges may vary slightly, but they provide a guideline for determining and assessing a child's level of hypothermia.

1. Mild hypothermia. The child's body temperature drops slightly and ranges from 32 to 35 ºC.
2. Moderate hypothermia. The child's body temperature ranges from 28 to 32 ºC.
3. Severe hypothermia. Body temperature drops below 28 ºC. Some experts define body temperature <20 ºC as deep hypothermia.

Worm infestations

Constant nausea, frequent vomiting, constipation and low temperature may indicate parasites in the child's body . Children attending kindergarten and school periodically undergo routine stool tests and smears, which detect worms. Children who do not go to kindergarten should also undergo such an examination at least once a year. When worms are identified, treatment is carried out aimed not only at removing parasites from the body, but also at restoring the immune system.

There are many reasons why a child may have a low fever and vomiting. Sometimes an accurate diagnosis can be determined only after an extensive examination, which includes tomography and cardiogram. To prevent complications, you must strictly follow all the doctor’s recommendations.

Most likely causes

The baby has cold hands and feet at normal temperature

A temperature of 35.5 in a child (any temperature, up to 35 degrees) may or may not indicate illness. It is very important to analyze accompanying symptoms. If you know the reasons, you can often immediately understand why the baby has a drop in temperature. If you influence the root of the problem, then increasing the thermometer readings will not be difficult.

Development of internal diseases

Diseases are a possible reason why a child has a low temperature 35. What to do in such cases? Contact your doctor immediately.

Hypothermia in a child

Diseases in which the thermometers drop to levels below 35:

1. Poisoning. Intoxication, in which the temperature drops to 35 degrees, is possible, but very rare. Usually the thermometer rises to 38-39 degrees.
2. Overdose of vasoconstrictor nasal drops. If these drugs are used incorrectly, poisoning can lead to fainting. This is especially true for one-year-old children.
3. Reduced function of the thyroid gland and adrenal glands. This is a common cause of hypothermia at any age.
4. Diseases of the respiratory and blood organs.
5. Avitaminosis.
6. Oncology.
7. Diabetes.
8. Iron-deficiency anemia.

Sometimes a low temperature may indicate the hidden occurrence of serious diseases. Therefore, if it does not return to normal for a very long time, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

Non-painful causes of low temperature

There may be the following reasons for a temperature drop below 36 degrees that are not associated with diseases:

1. Dream. If a child has a temperature of 35 in a dream, this may not mean anything bad. Every person's body cools down a little at night. The only thing needed is room temperature control. If it is less than 20 degrees, it is much easier to freeze during sleep, even if the cold is not felt during the day due to constant activity. Temperature can drop by 35.5 degrees during sleep. If there are no other symptoms, there is nothing to worry about.
2. Taking antipyretics. In young children, the thermoregulation system works very delicately, so it is generally quite dangerous for them to give such drugs. The dosage and choice of medication to relieve fever should be carried out exclusively under the supervision of a physician. In this case, the child may be lethargic and pale. Active games tire him, so he tries to avoid them. Also, during hypothermia caused by taking antipyretics, the child sleeps a lot. The condition goes away over time as soon as the medicine stops working.
3. Overwork. Thermometers may show 35 degrees due to the child's fatigue. Therefore, it is recommended to monitor your child’s daily routine. If it studies a lot and attends a million clubs, it can get quite tired. It is important not to forget about the child’s leisure time, otherwise some children work more than adults.
4. Emotional stress. Overwork is one of its varieties. If you turn a blind eye to excessive stress on a child’s psyche, various diseases, including mental ones, may appear.
5. Hormonal changes. In this case, the reduced temperature is part of the norm. Its cause is uneven development of organs. In adolescence, even loss of consciousness can be normal.
6. Loss of strength after an infection. This is also part of the norm. Within a few days (maybe hours) everything should return to normal.
7. Poor nutrition. Very often this reason occurs in adolescence, when the child goes on the wrong diet. It is necessary to normalize nutrition. In some cases, this same point may be a manifestation of anorexia, which is a disease and requires the intervention of a psychotherapist.
8. Reaction to the vaccine. This is an absolutely normal reaction of the body. It is strictly forbidden to give an antipyretic before taking a vaccine. This can cause a drop in temperature and also prevent the body from developing immunity.
9. Congenital hypothermia. It happens quite rarely. The main criterion is that it is observed from the first days of life. It is important that sleep and appetite are normal.

Important ! All this information is provided for informational purposes only. If you have any suspicious symptoms, you should consult a doctor.