What do you do to keep children healthy?
Feed them with vitamin preparations mixed with lemon or maybe once a month you pour cold water on your baby? And, perhaps, forcing him to do exercises in the early morning right in the snow?
In any case, you are a caring parent, however, unfortunately, illiterate. To strengthen the immune system of the child, many use hardening. What it is, and how to conduct hardening procedures, we will share with you below, because not everyone understands the meaning of this phrase. Let's make children healthier by doing this carefully and thoughtfully. Today we will talk about how to temper the child.
Hardening of preschool children
Remember the anthem of a healthy person of the Soviet times: "Be tempered if you want to be healthy!"? Do you know why the population of many countries in those days was really much stronger and healthier? Because then we did not have the notorious computers, and in many families, even televisions. Because children and adults spent most of their free time in the fresh air, and, as you know, "The sun, air and water are our best friends."
Modern parents are always busy with work or household chores, and with the growth of crime on the streets of the city, the child simply will not be released anymore, so it’s easier to sit down for a computer game. And then we wonder why this son or daughter suddenly had constant headaches and frequent colds?
A child is born strong enough to withstand colds, and often we ill, we are parents. We try to protect the baby from the slightest drafts, from coughing peers, from cool water. And this is fundamentally wrong, because when the endless diseases of the children get bored, we decide that it is simply vital to temper it. And we begin to perform a set of procedures, after which the baby only gets worse. We should, on the contrary, optimize the way of life without changing it drastically.
Remember one fact: If you start to conduct sessions of hardening, the child will not stop hurting. Hardening procedures have no relation to the complete elimination of human, in particular, childhood diseases. This is not a panacea. There is a simple explanation for this: a huge number of viruses affect our body every day and, having met one of them, the baby will be powerless. He will inevitably get sick. Another thing is that, thanks to hardening, the beloved son or daughter will take the disease several times easier and faster.
Begin hardening with small
Now you understand why your child is sick. His immunity is strong enough to withstand the effects of external factors, that is, drafts, low air temperature, cold water and so on. If you decide to make your baby stronger, so that he has the strength to fight with viruses too, then try to start small: temper, gradually changing your lifestyle.
If you spend once a month douche or a douche, your baby will not become stronger. All procedures should be carried out daily, making a small discount in the period of illness. For example, let's consider how to temper children of preschool age.
Hardening of children with air
Hardening in fresh air should not begin in the winter. Summer is the perfect time for this. Let your baby run barefoot, especially if he used to wear solely slippers and socks.
If you are afraid, then try to take off your slippers first, and after a certain period of time, for example, in a month - already socks. If you have the opportunity to take the baby out of town - even better. Let him run barefoot on the grass. Here you also shouldn’t go to extremes and completely undress the baby, who has been wrapped in a thousand clothes. Undress gradually.
No need to worry about the cold feet of your child. The human body itself is able to regulate body temperature, so when walking on a cool floor, it “closes” the vessels, causing the feet to become red, but at the same time cold. Due to this amazing property of thermoregulation of the body, your baby’s legs will not lose heat and he will not be able to catch a cold.
Let the baby sleep in the fresh air. Remember the first months of his life: little children sleep about 12-16 hours a day, and the street is much stronger than at home. Fresh air helps to fill the lungs with oxygen, the state of the nervous system is normalized and the baby is sleeping much more calmly.
Watch only how the child is dressed. If you notice that his fingers and nose have become a bluish tinge, they are too cold, and the kid himself is turning and often waking up, it means that he is not dressed for the weather and simply froze. Sometimes you see the opposite picture:
• Red cheeks,
• Drops of sweat on the forehead, nose or under the cap,
• Hot hands and feet.
This means that your baby is hot, and overheating is absolutely no good. Try to pick up things for a walk that matches the weather. Look at yourself and dress the little man in the same way, plus one more blouse. Believe me, children do not get sick because they freeze. They fall ill because moms and dads put them on too warm and as a result, the kids sweat.
So, the rule of hardening of children is number one: do not wear extra clothes.
We try to harden actively
In the warm season, you may well try to move the active wellness procedures to the street. Do not try to limit the physical activity of children. Let them not only run, jump, learn about the world around them, but also perform several exciting exercises. Think over independently the gymnastic mini-complex consisting of several exercises, and carry out it together with the child. Here it is, rule number two: do not limit the motor activity.
If you do not have the opportunity to regularly travel to nature, do not be discouraged. Charging can be done in the yard, and during walks be sure to air the room. The baby will be much more comfortable if the apartment has cool fresh air, and parents can open the windows at least for a while. In the presence of a baby, you can air it with a small opening, it will be enough for only 15-20 minutes, and if you are going for a long walk, you should open the windows wide open for the whole time of your absence. For several hours, all bacteria and viruses will simply evaporate from home.
Very small children - babies - are allowed to arrange air baths. Putting the baby on the tummy before bathing, or changing his diaper, do not rush to put it on as soon as possible. Give the skin of your child to "breathe." If possible, combine air treatments with sunbathing. This is an excellent prevention of rickets in newborns, as well as one of the methods of jaundice treatment. Just do not allow the child to overheat, the first laying out in the sun can be carried out for about 2-3 minutes, gradually increasing the time interval to 10 minutes.
Important advice: if the baby is sick, his stomach hurts, his body temperature is high, something is bothering him or he is just annoyed, tempering procedures can be postponed until his condition normalizes.
It is also worth noting that premature babies do not have adequate thermoregulation, so you need to temper them, just do it carefully and gradually, preferably under the supervision and with the permission of the pediatrician. One caveat: tempering procedures are recommended only for babies weighing more than 3 kg and aged over 9 months.
Running in the sun is useful and older children, only on their head must be a cap or panama, and under the scorching rays in the period from 12-00 to 17-00 it is better not to be.
Water hardening
Water procedures, whether swimming in a pool or contrasting douches, have always been considered the most effective means of enhancing the immunity of adults and children. Introduce your baby with cool or even cold water should be gradually, without forcing these activities. Always pay attention to the state and mood of the child, because he may be afraid to tell you that he is too cold or uncomfortable.
If you do not want to try independent procedures, you can send your baby to the swimming pool, where, under the supervision of an experienced trainer, he will develop physically and heal. But on your own you can do without, for this, use the hardening system, applying water procedures with contrasting douche. So, the method number 2 in hardening: exposure to water:
1. Initially try to drench the legs and arms of the child. This should be done slowly from elbow to fingers and from knees to feet. The water temperature during the first session should be equal to 30-32 degrees. Each time with an interval of 1-2 days, reduce this threshold, eventually reaching a temperature of 18 degrees.
2. Now you can go to the douche plots more. Offer the child a contrasting shower of the legs and arms, reaching the hips and shoulders. With equal intervals, lower the temperature of exposure to the skin from 30 degrees to 180 C. At the same time alternate douches alternately in time, for example, today you need to pour 30-degree water onto your feet for 10-15 seconds and then water for about 5-7 seconds , temperature 22-24 degrees. After 1-2 days, the lower threshold must be reduced, thereby increasing the temperature spread.
3. If the baby has transferred the first two stages well and got used to contrasting the limbs quickly enough, you can try pouring the whole body over. Use for this shower or basin with water. Just be sure to prepare the child for this procedure and in any case do not do it too sharply.
Older children take the douche more calmly, but kids can cry and be afraid of cold water. Never do anything under duress, otherwise the exact effect can be obtained from hardening. Stress your child is absolutely not needed.
Extreme hardening methods and contraindications to them
Hardening procedures such as diving into an ice hole or charging in the snow, followed by dousing should always be available only to trained children. Of course, we are not talking about babies and children under the age of 2-3 years. The child must be prepared for a long time, sometimes it takes even years to train.
An excellent option for hardening in older children will be the Russian bath. Not a sauna with dry hot air, but a bath. Also for children of school age is perfect Turkish hammam with massage and a cold pool. Due to the effects on the skin, during the massage, the pores open, blood circulation improves, the body relaxes and fatigue goes away.
Daily walks in the fresh air at any temperature and weather conditions, contrast pouring in and "street" gymnastics try to teach your child to practice hardening. Only the systematic implementation of these procedures will help to effectively influence the immune system, but not one-time sessions. Hardening can not save anyone from a viral infection and never, but, thanks to the activities that have become habit, the baby will suffer any ailment at times easier, and recovery will come much faster.
Unfortunately, the systems of hardening and strengthening the body's defenses have contraindications:
1. CNS diseases with severe neurological symptoms (epilepsy, encephalitis, head injury and others),
2. Pathological neoplasms in the body,
3. Primary immunodeficiency,
4. Heart defects,
5. Serious diseases of the digestive tract,
6. Diseases of the endocrine and urogenital systems
7. Viral infections accompanied by high body temperature and severe severe condition.
Any procedures associated with the increase of the immune forces of the body should be carried out gradually. These actions are always associated with a certain stress for the child, and you, as a loving parent, are obliged to reduce all discomfort to a minimum. However, if children endure hardening well, they are not afraid of a contrast shower or exercise outdoors, rejoice! Your babies will become much stronger, stronger, stronger and healthier.
