When a child has fever certain chemicals (that come from the virus/bacteria infecting the child and from the child’s brain itself) flood the child’s body and cause body ache, tiredness and complete loss of appetite in addition to fever. The same chemicals also cause sadness and irritability which makes the child cranky. This depressed mood, lack of energy and loss of appetite force the child to stop all activity and go to sleep.
To fight the infection your toddler does not need food. Your toddler needs sleep. So if your baby is not eating because of the fever don’t worry. Your child’s body is too busy fighting the infection and has no time to digest food. That is why your child is not eating. And if you force your child to eat she/he will probably vomit.
Rice kanji or ragi kanji or sabudana kanji is the best food for toddlers who have fever. Kanji which is the watery part of an overcooked porridge of Rice or Ragi or Sabudana or Broken wheat is the food that is traditionally given to sick children all over India. It is known by different names in different parts of the country like Kanji, Ganji, Pez, Congee etc.
