A medical center in Germany offers ways to combat dehydration in children, recommending the use of compresses on the legs and warming preparations. Compresses help reduce high body temperature. For this, it is recommended to use clean kitchen towels or larger fabric napkins made of cotton or linen, instead of a thicker fabric or scarf.
However, synthetic materials are not suitable for compresses, as they do not allow air and moisture to pass through in sufficient quantities. Furthermore, one of the lightweight pieces of fabric should first be soaked in warm water and slightly wrung out before covering the child. It is important to ensure that the wrapped leg is not too tight or too loose, and then place a second dry and softer piece of fabric on top of the first, after which everything should be covered with a thick terry fabric.
The child should remain lying on the bed during the compresses, which need to be removed as soon as the body temperature decreases. For infants, the compresses should be removed after a maximum of 10 minutes, while for older children may last 20–30 minutes. It is not allowed to use compresses on the legs if the child has cold or freezing extremities, as they are only applied to warm parts of the body. Moreover, to fight high temperature in children, warming preparations such as paracetamol and ibuprofen can also be used.
"Synthetic materials are not suitable for compresses, as they do not allow air and moisture to pass through in sufficient volumes," emphasized at the German medical center.
