We temper the child correctly. When to start and how to temper a child with weak immunity: air and sun baths, water procedures and physical activity

13.08.2019

hardening- increasing the body's resistance to the effects of external environmental factors (cold and heat, changes in humidity, wind).
Unfortunately, most parents decide to resort to hardening their children after they realize that their beloved child began to get sick often, and illnesses are increasingly dragging on for a long time. And the question arises: how to temper a child correctly.

A child is born with a unique ability to adapt to environmental conditions. He is already hardened, and parents only need to strengthen his skills. But most of us immediately begin to protect the baby: close the open windows so as not to freeze; wrap warmer; outside only when it's warm and so on.

And if you properly organize the regime of the day and the surrounding conditions, then you will not have to resort to hardening.

Methods for properly hardening a child

Air baths. It is better to combine them with massage (in young children), gymnastics, active games. Older children can take air baths in shorts, T-shirts and light shoes. Subsequently, you can also remove the T-shirt. Walking barefoot is also recommended for hardening. Which also has a beneficial effect on the formation and strengthening of the arch of the foot. It is very useful to walk barefoot on sand, grass, gravel.
sunbathing. Hardening begins with a stay in the shade of trees, then the child's legs and arms are bared (local sunbathing). Subsequently, games in chiaroscuro alternate with being in direct sunlight for 5 minutes. After the tan has appeared, the child can be stripped down to underpants. The time spent under the rays is increased to 10 minutes (the total time spent in the sun is 50 minutes). When children stay under the rays of the sun, direct or scattered, a headdress must be worn on the head. To prevent overheating of the child, it is necessary to offer boiled water during a walk. It is better to spend sunbathing from 10 to 11 am, when the activity of the sun is not expressed. Symptoms of overheating are sweating, redness of the face. When they appear, the child should be immediately taken into the shade, given water to drink, and washed.
Water procedures(washing, common bath, wiping, dousing). They are the most effective method of hardening. Rubbing is carried out from 2 months. They start with dry rubdowns (rubbing the skin and redness with a terry mitten) - 7 days, after which they move on to wet rubdowns (water temperature 35 ° C, followed by a decrease in it by 1 ° every 5 days). Douche is carried out first at a water temperature of 36 ° C, then gradually reduce it to 28 ° C. During the procedure, most of the body surface is doused with water at once. The average water consumption is about 2 liters. When dousing the legs, water of contrasting temperatures is used: warm - cold - warm. The temperature of hot water is gradually brought to 40 ° C, and cold - to 18 ° C.

The most powerful method of hardening among water procedures is swimming in open water, as this affects the body and water, and air, and the sun. Before bathing, the child needs to be warmed up with an outdoor game. Bathing begins at a water temperature of at least 23 ° C for 5-10 minutes. In the water, the child must move, older children can swim. After bathing, the child must be wiped dry. Staying in the sun after that is unacceptable.

Symptoms of hypothermia - "goosebumps" skin, trembling, increased heart rate. If they appear, then the water temperature is too low or the time spent in the water is too long.

Hardening of children is not carried out during acute illnesses. Air baths and water procedures are indicated for all children, especially those who are weakened or recovering. It is only necessary to take into account the condition of the child when choosing the intensity of hardening procedures. Under the influence of hardening, not only the general condition of the child improves, but also his appetite, mood, and sleep.

Hardening principles.

The strength of the impact increases gradually. It is especially necessary to follow this rule in young children. The rate of increase in the strength of the impact depends on the physical and emotional state of the child. So, for example, you can not drastically reduce the temperature of the water.
Hardening procedures must be applied sequentially. After the child gets used to air baths, which have a less strong effect on the body, they move on to water procedures and sunbathing. The sequence of water procedures is as follows: rubbing - dousing - bathing in open water.
Hardening procedures must be carried out systematically. This helps to consolidate the hardening effect. It is best if these procedures are components of the daily routine. In mild diseases without a significant deterioration in the general condition, procedures of weak action are used. In the cold season, general dousing can be replaced by dousing the legs, general air baths - by partial exposure of the body.
The combination of hardening with other healing activities. For this purpose, mobile games can be used.
The reaction of the child to hardening should be positive. The mood of the child during hardening activities should be good. The reaction of the child and his mood during the first procedure is also important. If the child is calm, then later hardening will be associated with a good mood. If the child is upset about something, crying, it is better to postpone the procedure or abandon it for a while.

Tempering young children - how to start

It is necessary to start tempering a child from birth. To do this, you must perform the following activities:

Airing the room and the temperature in the room.
Daily outdoor sleep. If the child was born in the warm season, then you can go out with him for a walk immediately after discharge from the hospital. In the cold season, a newborn can be taken outside from two weeks at an air temperature above -5 ° C, and at a temperature above -10 ° C - from three months. You can start a walk from 15-20 minutes, gradually increasing its duration to 1.5-2 hours with a frequency of 2-3 times a day. Thus, a child can sleep in the open air at temperatures from -15 ° C to +30 ° C.
Rational clothing. Don't try to put too many clothes on your child. Children, especially newborns, are sensitive to the ambient temperature. And, by overwrapping a child, you can provoke a rise in his body temperature and regard it as a disease. You can check whether the baby is comfortable by the condition of his neck: if it is wet, then the child is hot; If it's warm and dry, then everything is fine. Cold hands and feet do not always indicate that the child is cold. In newborns and young children, the nervous regulation is still imperfect, and the legs and arms can be cool for this very reason, and not because it is cold.
Daily massage and exercise. From the birth of the baby, it is imperative to lay it on the stomach, change its position while sleeping in the crib, do not swaddle tightly (during wakefulness it is better not to swaddle at all).

Massage begins from the age of one month, gradually increasing the volume of massaging movements. It is better to massage 40 minutes after eating. The child must be calm. The massage begins with the legs, then the arms, abdomen, chest, back, back of the legs. From 6 months, massage is replaced by gymnastics.

Age	Room temperature	Air baths	Water procedures (water temperature)	sunbathing
1-3 months	22 o C	5-6 minutes during swaddling and massage	Washing - 28 o C, general bath - 36-37 o C (5-6 minutes)
3-6 months	20-22 o C	6-8 minutes during swaddling and massage	Washing - 25-26 ° C, general bath - 36-37 ° C (5-6 minutes), then dousing with water at a temperature of 34-35 ° C	5-6 minutes under the scattered rays of the sun in summer 2-3 times a day
6-12 months	20-22 o C	10-12 minutes while awake, gymnastics	Washing - 20-24 o C, general bath - 36-37 o C (5-6 minutes), then dousing with water at a temperature of 34-35 o C	Up to 10 minutes under the scattered rays of the sun in the summer 2-3 times a day
1-3 years	19-20 o C	When changing clothes, gymnastics, washing	Washing - 20 ° C with a gradual decrease to 16-18 ° C, general bath - 36-37 ° C (5-6 minutes), then dousing with water at a temperature of 34 ° C twice a week before bedtime	5-6 minutes with a gradual increase in time up to 10 minutes in the sun in the summer 2-3 times a day
You need to bathe the child immediately after discharge from the hospital. Up to 6 months, bathing a child is necessary every day, after 6 months - every other day. From a year you can reduce the frequency of bathing to 2 times a week.

Thus, the solution to the question of how to temper a child in each case is individual and depends on the age, physical and emotional state of the child, the time of year and the enthusiasm of the parents. In any case, it is important to remember that in the process of hardening a child there is no place for extreme sports: all hardening procedures must be introduced gradually and carried out constantly.

Most often, the question of hardening as a way to strengthen children's immunity before parents arises when the child is constantly ill with colds, flu, acute respiratory infections. Then dad and mom think about the choice of hardening procedures. How to start hardening a three-year-old child? What methods are suitable for such children?

Nowadays, there are many methods and systems for hardening the child's body. But for children of three years it is better to use the following:

Wiping with a wet towel.
Rinse throat and mouth.
Dousing with water.
Walking barefoot.
Beach massage.

How to start using these procedures competently?

Pediatricians advise starting with gargling. For a three-year-old kid, this is interesting and simple. It is necessary to add a teaspoon of natural sea salt to a glass of boiled water (without flavorings and other substances). Another option is to gargle with a decoction of calendula, chamomile, or add ½ teaspoon of an alcohol solution of calendula to a glass of water. The liquid should not be warm, but not too cold. It is better to start with a temperature of 25 degrees and reduce it to 18 gradually over the course of a week. This type of hardening is best suited for those three-year-old children who suffer from tonsillitis.

How to temper a child

If your child is often sick, you need to take action. Prevention of colds is very effective, especially hardening, which strengthens the immune system and helps to maintain health. When hardening children, it is important to observe several principles.

Firstly, it is systematic. To achieve the effect, hardening procedures must be carried out regularly, every day. In this case, laziness and various excuses are unacceptable, especially if you have just started hardening activities. Even with a mild cold, the hardening of a child of 6-7 years continues, only at the same time the temperature of water and air in the nursery does not decrease during the procedures. It is necessary to stop at the mark that was before the onset of symptoms. An exception is an increase in body temperature in a child.
Secondly, you need to gradually increase the time of the procedures. You can’t start hardening abruptly, moreover, a long-term effect of low temperature on the child’s body is unacceptable, so you will only harm your baby. In order for the body to adequately respond to hardening procedures, it needs adaptation to new conditions.
Thirdly, in order not to cause a negative reaction of the child, you need to start the procedure in the form of a game and always in a good mood. Remember that no sudden temperature changes should be allowed. If you decide to harden your baby, you should start with air baths and always in the summer. It is unacceptable to start procedures if the child has a respiratory disease.

How to temper a frequently ill child

First, the most important rule is to start any hardening procedures after consulting a doctor, which will determine the need for activities for your child, as well as help you choose individual methods. Your task is to ensure the safety and usefulness of hardening procedures.

It is necessary to start filling up a child of 6-7 years old in warm weather, in summer. In winter, you can maintain the health of a child who is often ill by regular walks in any weather and air baths in a room at a temperature of about 18 degrees. At the same time, the hands and feet of the baby should be warm.

In summer, it is imperative to sleep in the open air, take air and sunbaths, which are especially effective in the morning, walk barefoot, and you need to choose a route away from the road where the child will not hurt his feet with glass or rusty nails. It is ideal to walk on pebbles, grass, gravel or sand. No need to wear tights or socks in the summer, even in the evening. should be open to avoid overheating.

For a constantly ill child, the most ideal, effective method would be to harden the legs.

To do this, you need to arrange a daily contrast shower for the legs. At the same time, hot water, the temperature of which should be about 40-42 degrees, not higher, so as not to burn the child, must be changed in a minute to barely warm, with a temperature not exceeding 30-32 degrees. At the same time, every week, the lower temperature limit must be reduced by 1 degree. When you reach 22-25 degrees, you can switch to a general contrast shower in the same way.

The room where the child sleeps should be ventilated at least twice a day. Ideally, if the temperature in the baby's bedroom is about 17-18 degrees. This will provide the child with healthy sleep, which is especially important for the student.

Procedures should be carried out regularly, a break of more than 5 days requires starting all over again. In this case, the hardening rules apply, as for beginners.

Hardening is an extremely useful procedure that will help your child strengthen immunity. It is very important that hardening activities are carried out regularly, and it is not necessary to focus on only one of the factors. Remember that your helpers in this are air, water and the sun at any time of the year.

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The fact that hardening is useful, we all know from childhood. But many parents refuse to harden their child, believing that for this it is necessary to douse the baby with ice water, bathe in an ice hole or walk barefoot with him in the snow. Is it so? What is hardening, really?

Hardening is a complex of recreational measures aimed at increasing the body's resistance to the adverse effects of environmental factors, and primarily to cold, since it is hypothermia that most often causes colds. For hardening procedures, the main natural factors are used - the sun, air and water. The hardening methods are based on the gradual training of the adaptive capabilities of the child's body by systematically dosed exposure to these factors or their combination. As a result, there is a gradual restructuring of thermoregulation processes (coordination of the processes of heat production and release improves), allowing the baby's body to quickly adapt to changes in external conditions without harm to health.

To understand how hardening works, you need to know what processes occur in the human body under the influence of cold. In the body's response to cooling, 3 stages can be distinguished:

- at the 1st stage, there is a strong narrowing of the vessels of the skin and mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, the skin turns pale, the temperature difference between the skin and the surrounding air decreases, thus, the heat transfer decreases;

- at the 2nd stage, the body adapts to the cold - the vessels expand, the skin becomes warm, while blood supply and tissue nutrition improve, metabolism is activated, the body's defenses are mobilized;

- at the 3rd stage, with prolonged exposure to cold, the body exhausts its protective capabilities - the skin turns pale again, acquiring a bluish tint, hypothermia sets in and the child may get sick (hardening at this stage will have the opposite effect).

In an unhardened or weakened child, when cooling, the stage of adaptation to cold may not appear at all, then the 3rd stage immediately sets in - hypothermia, a sharp narrowing of blood vessels leads to poor blood supply to the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract, local immunity decreases, and the body becomes vulnerable to viruses and bacteria . As a result of training the ability of blood vessels to change their lumen, after a short-term spasm, a hardened child experiences a sharp expansion of blood vessels, thanks to blood flow, defenses are activated, and the baby's body as a whole becomes more resistant to adverse factors, including various types of infections.

Hardening can only be effective if the following principles are observed:

— individual approach. When choosing a set of hardening procedures for your baby, it is necessary to take into account his individual characteristics and capabilities, as well as his desire to engage in one or another type of hardening.

- systematic. Hardening procedures should be carried out daily at any time of the year without interruption. They should become a natural component of the child's lifestyle and be performed along with other activities of the usual daily routine (washing, walking, bathing, sleeping). The training effect of hardening is achieved in a few months, and when the procedures are stopped, it disappears much faster, within 2-3 weeks, and in children of the 1st year of life after 5-7 days, therefore, starting to harden your child, it is advisable to carry out hardening measures for throughout his later life.

— gradualness. The intensity of the impact of the hardening factor must be increased gradually, avoiding sudden jumps, moving from mild to more intense procedures (for example, rubbing - pouring - showering - bathing). When moving from weak hardening procedures to stronger ones, it is necessary to focus on the condition of the child and his reaction to this effect. Also, you should gradually increase the duration of the procedures and the area of \u200b\u200bimpact of the "irritant" on the baby's body.

— safety. Do not allow hypothermia or overheating of the child from excessively prolonged exposure to low or high temperatures. You can start hardening procedures only if the body, arms and legs of the baby are warm, otherwise it will not be possible to get a positive effect from hardening, and the child may get sick from hypothermia. The skin of the baby during hardening procedures should be pink (not pale and not cyanotic), and the child himself should be active and cheerful.

— positive attitude of the child. The results of hardening largely depend on how the child relates to these procedures. Hardening procedures should bring joy and pleasure to the baby, so children are recommended to harden in the form of a game.

- complexity. Hardening can be effective only in combination with other components of a healthy lifestyle: adherence to the daily regimen, a full and balanced diet, adequate physical activity. The combination of procedures with massage and gymnastics significantly increases the effectiveness of hardening.

As a result of properly conducted hardening, the immunity and resistance of the child's body to drastically changing environmental conditions increase, the baby easily and painlessly passes from one season to another, it is easier to adapt to new living conditions, and suffers from chronic diseases, the child improves sleep and appetite, increases endurance to physical and mental stress.

The right approach

Many mothers and fathers, long before the birth of a baby, dream of how they will treat him with reverence, run with him in the morning, temper himself with the baby, and actively develop physically and mentally. But, unfortunately, statistics show that only a small part of conscious parents fulfill their plans. Often we feel sorry for waking up a child early in the morning for a run, we are afraid that he will get sick from cold water when pouring. Paradoxical as it may seem, but by such actions we do not protect children's health, but on the contrary, we make the baby's body hothouse and vulnerable. Any temperature difference or external influence ends with a cold, and sometimes more serious diseases.

It is important to understand that young children get sick and this is normal. The child's body is faced with a huge number of viruses, fungi, bacteria and other infectious agents. This is how a person’s immunity is formed - he learns to resist external factors. Therefore, it is simply impossible to completely exclude diseases (especially SARS). But how these colds will proceed depends on the parents. Why does one child have a cold that certainly ends with bronchitis or sinusitis, and the other kid gets off with only three days of transparent snot? It's all about two factors - the method of treatment and the state of the child's immunity. Everyone has long known that it is not necessary to fight a simple virus, it is enough to provide cool moist air, give the child plenty of fluids and rinse the nose with salted water. But how to strengthen the body's defenses? An important, and sometimes the main factor in building strong immunity is hardening. Today we will talk about ways to properly harden a child.

As the famous motto says - "The sun, air and water are our main friends!". Indeed, hardening is based on three main pillars - solar, air and water baths. But each of the procedures requires special attention and knowledge of many nuances.

sunbathing

Moderate sunlight is incredibly beneficial for health, it is not for nothing that babies are recommended to walk in the sun from the first days after birth. With the help of ultraviolet radiation, vitamin D is synthesized in human skin, which is so necessary for building strong immunity. However, remember that vitamin D is produced only in the first half of the day, until about 10-11 o'clock in the afternoon. Therefore, it is necessary to walk with the child in the morning. It is not at all necessary to expose the baby to direct sunlight, just walk with him on the street, you can even be in the shade. After all, ultraviolet is refracted many times and will certainly reach the skin of your crumbs.

Older children also need sunbathing. However, it is very important to observe the golden mean here, since sunburn is a very unpleasant and dangerous phenomenon. Start solar hardening in the summer, with the advent of the first warm days. It is not worth being under the direct rays of the scorching sun, try to sunbathe before 11 am or after 15-16 pm. So you can avoid aggressive ultraviolet radiation. Do not forget to wear hats - scarves, caps and panama hats, which will protect children's heads from sunstroke. If you have just arrived on vacation, do not rush to expose your delicate, unprepared skin to the sun's rays - try to cover your shoulders, back and face for several days. Otherwise, sunburn and a ruined vacation will be guaranteed.

If you went to the sea, try to spend more time on the beach - sea air is very good for the health of the respiratory system. When the baby gets used to the sun, you can let him go for a walk in his shorts. Offer the baby to walk barefoot more often, but first make sure that there are no glasses and thorns in the area that can injure the delicate skin of children's feet.

Air baths

This is the simplest, but at the same time the most risky way of hardening. It consists in accustoming the child to low temperatures. You can start such hardening literally from birth. Teach the baby to be in a cool room for a while - first 5 seconds, then 10, gradually increasing and increasing this time period. It is best to take air baths before bathing - after bathing, the body is warmed up and it is unreasonable to expose it to cold air currents.

In addition, air baths are also regular airing of the room, especially if the room is hot and stuffy. You need to ventilate the room often, every couple of hours. The temperature in the room should be 18-22 degrees. If the baby is cold at the same time, it is better to put clothes on him, and not put a heater. The fact is that radiators dry the air very much, the nasal mucosa suffers from this - dry crusts appear in the nasal passages. In dry air, dust and allergens rise up, causing coughing and other reactions. In winter, when the heating system works on "Hurrah", it is imperative to install a humidifier or constantly hang wet clothes on radiators.

Pay attention to the hardening of the air in the process of walking. This includes a moderate amount of clothing. After all, babies are more sensitive and painful to overheating than to hypothermia. Therefore, there is no need to wrap the baby. One simple rule should be followed - babies should wear one layer more, children older than one and a half years - one layer less than themselves. Small children hardly move, so they should be dressed a little warmer. For example, put on a thin T-shirt and a light blouse? And for the baby, add another layer in the form of a fleece jumpsuit. But children older than a year and a half need, on the contrary, to dress easier, because they are constantly on the move, they are not afraid to freeze, but it costs nothing to sweat.

water hardening

This is the most extensive and, frankly, the most pleasant type of hardening. It is rare that a toddler does not like to swim, splash and splash. Sometimes there are children who do not like water, but in the vast majority of cases this is due to fears. Often parents are to blame for these fears - when they immerse the baby in uncomfortable water temperatures, when they throw the child into the water without support, hoping that he will learn to swim on his own. Remember that you need to teach to water carefully and without violence, then the baby will love to swim for life.

Cold water. Hardening in water is a gradual accustoming to lower temperatures. Once you have brought your newborn baby home, bathe him only in warm water. Until the navel falls off, the water should be boiled - sterile clean. When the navel falls off, you can use warm tap water, and slowly accustom the body to various microorganisms, because the baby cannot grow in a sterile environment. At first, the water temperature should be comfortable - not hot and not cold - about 36-37 degrees, like body temperature. Over time, you can reduce the water gradually by one degree every 3-5 days. But not immediately, but add cold water in the process of taking a bath. That is, today you bathe your baby at 36 degrees, gradually add cold water and lower the temperature to 35 degrees. Five days later, you also start at 36, but already lower the temperature to 34 degrees. So over and over again you can reach 30 degrees, children older than a year can lower the water temperature to 28-26 degrees. But all processes must be gradual!
Bathing. Many mothers feel sorry for their children and believe that they will freeze in such cold water. In fact, a child in cool water simply begins to move more to keep warm. Cool baths and hearty meals are the best ways for a child to get a long night's sleep. To give the baby the opportunity to move more in the water, put a swimming ring around his neck, some models can be used as early as a month. Such a pleasant device will significantly improve the bathing process - the baby can swim calmly, easily moving around the entire perimeter of the large bath, and the mother does not need to stand with a hook, holding the baby in the water.
Rubbing. If you have not hardened your baby since early childhood, and now he is constantly sick, you need to start doing this gradually and very, very carefully. Take a terry mitten or washcloth, rub it with the legs, arms, back and tummy of the child. After a couple of days of such manipulations, moisten the washcloth in warm water and repeat the procedure. Gradually, the water for wetting the washcloth should become colder and colder. After wiping, let a little moisture remain on the skin - the baby dries, hardening works, immunity is formed.
Pouring. This method of hardening is not for wimps - it is only suitable for children over two years old. Its essence is that you need to douse yourself with warm water, and then gradually reduce the temperature less and less. Experienced parents harden together with the kids at any time of the year. When dousing, do not affect the head - this is important to know. If the baby is not yet ready to completely bathe, you can teach him to wash his legs in warm, and then in cold water. After that, carefully rub the feet and heels with a terry towel and put the baby to sleep.

Toddlers rarely follow parental advice, but almost always follow their example. Therefore, you need to show the child hardening on their own experience. Douse yourself with water and wipe yourself with a damp towel - the child will definitely repeat after you.

cold hardening

Today it is very common to meet children who have a constant sore throat, even from slightly cold food or drink. Unfortunately, this is the result of the greenhouse conditions in which they were driven by their parents. From childhood, you need to teach your child not to drink hot water, but liquid at room temperature. And with age, you need to teach your child to eat fruits from the refrigerator, drink cold water. If everything is done gradually, you are not afraid of angina. If you are just starting this difficult journey, it is important to take the first steps.

In the summer, start hardening with ice cream. First, give the child ice cream in a melted form, like a medicine, 1-2 tablespoons each - he should dissolve, and not swallow the mass. Gradually, the amount of ice cream eaten can be increased, then you can not wait until it completely melts. When the baby gets used to ice cream, you can let him suck on pieces of ice. For taste, you can freeze into cubes not just water, but fruit juices. Give your child small ice cubes at first, then gradually increase the serving size and mouth hold time. You can prepare your throat for the cold simply by gargling. Teach your child to gargle first with warm and then cold water. With a gradual decrease in temperature, there will be no harm, the mucous throat will be able to adapt and harden. All these methods of cold hardening of the throat are suitable for older children, after three years.

How to start hardening

Many parents complain that they cannot start the hardening process, because the baby is constantly sick. If you have never hardened a child at all and you have it quite painful, it is better to start the process in the summer, when the risk of catching a cold is minimal. Be sure to consult a doctor before hardening - he must give consent to the procedures. Start hardening with simpler and more gentle methods - air and sunbathing, gradually introducing more and more new procedures. Make sure your baby is used to the water temperature before you decide to lower it one more degree.

Remember that hardening is a regular and permanent procedure. Only with daily rubdowns and air baths can you strengthen the immune system and achieve a good result. All procedures must be voluntary - only with the consent and mood of the baby. Good immunity is not only hardening, but also a varied diet, frequent walks in the fresh air, a competent sleep and wakefulness regimen. Follow the simple rules of hygiene, and your baby will not be afraid of illness!