Re: 5yo tired with mild fever...

Got Dr. Spock?

Look for a 'Wet Rub'.

Instant fever reduction.

It's been 30+ years since the one time I needed it.

Lay the babe, naked, between sheets.

Have a bowl of lukewarm/warmish water beside you. This is to keep your hands wet.

Take one of the little one's limbs out from under the sheet and with wet hands gently rub the skin...only enough to bring a little rosy color to it.

This is what happens...

...The water on your hands keeps you from hurting the baby's skin with rubbing, as gentle as you will be...so dip your hands frequently.

...Then the rosiness is the blood coming to the surface of the skin...

...Where the evaporation of the water cools it, naturally.

Then, put that limb under the sheet, and take another.

The cooling effect will have the little one screaming by now, from the sudden change from hot to cool. The sheet slows down this action just a little.

Once I had done all four limbs (it goes quite quickly), I didn't know when to stop...so I did just a bit on his back and made a tiny dab at his tummy.

I was so astonished that it took about one and a half minutes to break his teething fever. (The lady next door had been an emergency room nurse for five years. She took one look at my boy and said, "This kid needs a wet rub." I bless her to this day.)

Doctor Spock, or your local hospital, or a nurse's association, should be able to tell you when to use a Wet Rub...what temperature is too much for his age and size...when to stop, etc.

Good luck!

Fledgling Tweet