For babies under the age of five, getting sick is common, especially in the summer when hand, foot, and mouth disease is a frequent illness. This disease is highly contagious and can be difficult to treat. So how should we handle it in our daily lives if our baby gets infected?
1. Light diet
It is best to have a light diet, choosing low-temperature foods and avoiding drinking raw water or eating raw and cold foods.
2. Trim nails
Trim your baby's nails in a timely manner and wrap their hands to prevent them from scratching the blisters and causing further infection.
3. Physical cooling
If the child is listless, sensitive to cold, shivering, has cold limbs, rapid breathing, or a flushed face, measure their body temperature immediately. For high fever, use warm water to wipe the child and reduce clothing and bedding to physically cool them down. The room temperature should be kept around 20°C. During the epidemic, check the child's skin (especially the palms and soles) and mouth every morning for any abnormalities and pay attention to changes in their body temperature.
4. Maintain environmental hygiene
The key to preventing hand, foot, and mouth disease is to pay attention to household and surrounding environmental hygiene and personal hygiene. Wash hands with soap or hand sanitizer before meals and after going out. Ventilate the living space regularly and sun-dry clothes and bedding frequently. During the epidemic, avoid taking children to crowded places with poor air circulation and avoid contact with infected children.
5. Disinfect utensils
Keep the clothes, toys, utensils, pillows, and bedding of the sick child clean and disinfect the child's daily items. If a child who goes to kindergarten gets sick, inform the teacher early and do not rush to send the child to kindergarten. Wait until all symptoms have disappeared for a week to prevent infecting other children. If the symptoms are mild, hospitalization is not necessary. Home treatment and rest are sufficient to reduce cross-infection.
The treatment time for hand, foot, and mouth disease is generally about one week. Therefore, during this week, parents must take care of their child's daily needs and not take this illness lightly. Neglecting it will only delay the optimal treatment time for the baby.
