Hardening - strengthening immunity in children


How many books, brochures and articles are written about hardening! It seems that no one doubts the obvious benefits of these procedures. But this is only theoretically. In practice, everything is quite different: even the most convinced mummies lose all their arguments, encountering a common cold after the first licking with cool water. Obviously, hardening is the strengthening of immunity in children. But how to start applying it correctly, so as not to spoil the health of your beloved child? About this and talk.

AU, SEAMS!

Personally, I'm not familiar with any family that practices active tempering in real life. Approve - yes, they want to join - yes. But for some reason none of my friends experiment with their own child and did not dare. I read a lot about parents who are throwing buckets of ice water on the heads of their children. And about the children who take these procedures with pleasure every day. About these guys are usually told that they never get sick, are always cheerful and cheerful, and also unusually efficient. In this very much want to believe, but doubts still prevail.

So which side of us, inexperienced parents in this matter, to approach the quenching of precious children? After all, I do not want children to grow up, "like a mimosa plant in a botanical garden."

SUN, AIR AND WATER

The first air baths the newborn receives from the first days of his life, remaining for a couple of minutes naked when changing diapers. The older the baby becomes, the more prolonged its contact with the air. This includes daytime sleep in the open air (both in summer and in winter). This is the basis of traditional methods of air quenching.

But along with them there are also not quite ordinary ways. For example, Dr. VL. The swan offers such a system: in a room with an air temperature of 18-20 ° C, a room fan is installed at the breast level of the child at a distance of 5 meters. Then the undressed (!) Baby stands up to his face, and after 10 minutes turns his back. Gradually, the duration of the procedures increases, and the distance to the fan decreases. The doctor claims that after 24 days of training the body adapts to drafts. But, frankly, I have never met such brave souls.

The approach of summer again gives us the opportunity to pamper the children's body with sunbathing. "Solar" hardening can begin with the first few days and continue until the beginning of autumn. However, it should be remembered that there are a number of age restrictions - children under one year are not recommended abundant sunbathing. Children under three years of age should also be released under affectionate, but treacherous direct rays with great caution. Such children are best confined to light-and-air baths - under diffused sunlight. And those who are older, before replacing the back of the open sun, you need to allocate a week for adaptation. The air temperature should not exceed 30 ° C - this is another indispensable condition. Do not forget about it.

BOSICOM BY BRIDGE

If we talk about water procedures, then hardening will be effective only when you pour cold water on a warm baby. This means that first you bathe the baby in the warm water that is habitual for him, and then pour out the previously prepared, slightly cooler water. Begin with the legs and gradually increase the area of ​​exposure. Every week you need to lower the temperature of the water, removing one degree. Very effective is also a contrast shower. To start warming up the child under warm, even hot water. Then quickly douche feet, palms and collar zone of the back with cold water - and again under warm water. So the change of temperatures can be brought up to seven times.

Walking barefoot is another great way of hardening. After all, there are a large number of receptors on the feet that react to heat and cold. With the constant wearing of shoes, we create a special microclimate for our feet. A sudden violation of it leads to a sudden hypothermia, and as a result to an illness. That's why it is worth the uninhibited child to wet his feet - he immediately catches a cold. You should gradually begin this kind of hardening, as well as to any other. You can start by walking on the rug at home. Grass, asphalt, sand will be the ultimate goal.

WHO IS THIS APPROPRIATE?

Hardening does not have categorical contraindications. All kinds of fever, skin lesions, some traumas and a number of chronic diseases during the exacerbation are temporary limitations. In the event that the hardening process has been interrupted, it is necessary to start again from small.

Pay close attention to the individual reactions of the child, starting to harden. Procedures should be stopped immediately if you notice a shortness of breath, a rapid increase in heart rate. Excessive arousal or lethargy, a violation of appetite and sleep can also become negative symptoms. The main thing to remember: you need to temper the child under the constant supervision of a pediatrician.

EVERYTHING IS NOT SO TERRIBLE

Common sense must be present in everything. There are no clear "common use" recommendations. That is why we do not publish specific instructions: the duration of the effect of a particular procedure, the temperature of the water. Everything is selected individually. The main thing is not to go to extremes. No matter how the supporters of the "stressful" hardening have reacted to my statement, I am convinced: it is as harmful to dip a child in an ice-hole as it is to clothe him in a hundred clothes.

RULES OF SCALING

There are several principles of hardening - strengthening immunity in children, strict adherence to which - the key to success. They were developed by the famous Russian pediatrician G.N. Speransky.

STEP-BY-STEP. The first hardening procedures should be gentle and short-lived. In this case, you should not "drive horses." Only in the process of getting used to the minimal irritant can they be carefully strengthened. Tempering is best to start in the summer when the air temperature is stable.

SEQUENCE. To water procedures and sunbaths should be transferred only after the child's body is accustomed to air baths, causing minor changes in the body. At first the child should get used to wiping, and only then it will be possible to start dousing.

SYSTEMATICITY. It is impossible to interrupt the initiated procedures without a serious reason. The system can be considered as once a day, and once a week. the main thing is not to take breaks for several weeks.

INTEGRITY. Special hardening measures will not give the desired result, if not combine them with daily useful habits: long walks in the fresh air, ventilation of premises. Air baths will do more good if you combine them with moving games or physical exercises, as active movements cause deep breathing.

INDIVIDUALITY. Only on the health status of each particular child depends on how the tempering is performed: in full or in a sparing mode.

Fear of procedures and their forcible conduct can not have a positive effect on the body. Pleasant emotions are one of the basic rules of hardening.