How to harden a child at home: effective tips for hardening. How to temper a child with weak immunity
The health of the baby depends on those who take care of him, the conditions in which he lives, heredity, how he eats and, most importantly, how strong he is. Adults are responsible for all of this. Everyone knows that correct hardening child - one of the main tasks of every guardian. This is one of the components of proper development.
What is the use
Strengthening the immune system is not easy. This takes time and patience. If the child’s hardening methods are chosen accurately, nothing threatens his health, and the result from the exercises performed will be good.
How to make the most of your workouts
Start exercising as early as possible. The positive effect of the habit is manifested in the following:
- Good immunity. The body of a hardened person is not so susceptible to colds. A healthy toddler almost does not react to temperature changes and is practically protected from seasonal diseases;
- Prevention varicose veins veins;
- Good skin condition, it is less prone to weathering, peeling;
- Normalization of the work of all organs and systems, including the nervous, digestive, endocrine, vascular, and so on;
- There are no problems with poor health. For a seasoned person, such a feeling as feeling unwell is simply not familiar;
- And most importantly: regular exercise is a great alternative to all sorts of medicines, which are prescribed to increase the protective functions of the body.
At what age should hardening begin and is it dangerous?
Some pediatricians are sure that training for children no longer poses a danger on the 10th day of their life. But there are those doctors who recommend waiting a couple of months until the baby gets stronger. After all, the newborn is in stressful condition. Especially when he appeared in the cold season. And most importantly, all decisions can be made only after consultation with a pediatrician.
Every parent must remember that the process of cooling a small person is much faster. And if he is sick, then after the procedure his state of health may deteriorate sharply, which will require immediate treatment and thereby weaken children's body even more.
In this regard, a person must get stronger and gain strength in order to develop his immunity.
How to start hardening a child
- The first rule is a visit to the doctor, consultation pediatrician. With him, you need to decide whether it is possible to do rubdowns, whether the baby has contraindications for this. And also with a pediatrician you need to pick up The best way;
- The second step is the choice of method and time for conducting classes. Here it should be remembered that the effectiveness of the results obtained depends on the correctly chosen method and the time of its implementation. If carried out in different time, not systematically, but when it pleases, then this type of hardening will only ruin the health of the baby;
- Determination of the degree of load that should be carried out, incrementally. It is clear that pouring ice water over a person and thinking that this way he will become healthy is stupid. Loads on the body should be gradual. At first it's just a couple of minutes to ventilate the heels of the legs, then 4 minutes, then you need to open the legs to the knees. First for 2 minutes, then for 4 and so on until the baby is ready for complete exposure;
- Before starting the procedures, you need to take into account the mood of the ward himself. It is undesirable to start classes when the “healing” person is not in the mood, when something bothers him, he is whiny or wants to sleep. The whole process should call positive emotions. Therefore, it is better to carry out game form, connecting to the procedure both mom and dad, and brother and sister. And in no case do not conduct a session when he is ill;
- Never proceed with dousing a child cold water. The colder the water, the more stress for little man. To begin with - airing the room, air baths, sleeping with the window ajar, and so on;
- Conduct in combination with other activities: proper nutrition, adherence to the regimen, walks, moderate physical activity, a clear regime of play and sleep.
- Most parents believe that the cold, cold water and air are useful. But it's not.
- The most sensitive area- Feet. The palms of the hands and face are constantly open. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to influence them.
How to start hardening a child, and what not to do
- In no case should you start with extreme methods;
- To conduct a lesson in a room with a draft;
- Get involved for a long time. That is, you should not carry out procedures lasting more than 20-25 minutes;
- Harden the baby when he has a cold or he has deviations from the norm of health;
- Use force during procedures;
- Avoid freezing and hypothermia.
Contraindications:
- The presence of an infectious, viral disease;
- Respiratory diseases, skin diseases.
- Features of the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
How is training for preschool children
The good effect of the procedures performed depends on age. If at the age of 14 it is quite acceptable to pour water over unexpectedly, then such a method can negatively affect a preschooler, as physical health, and on his psycho-emotional state. IN best case you will have to treat fright, and at worst - pneumonia.
Carrying out should be careful, with a gradual increase in load. Therefore, the hardening of frequently ill children begins with small portions, which gradually increase.
How to start
It’s worth starting with the usual ventilation of the room.
In the summer, you can open the window and not close it throughout the day. True, the main thing here is to prevent a draft. IN winter time years, for ventilation, it is enough to open the window for 20-25 minutes, and also take care of the absence of drafts. Before airing the room, you need to do a wet cleaning. Thus, the room is refreshed, the air in the room is humidified.
- Make sure your child sleeps outdoors.
Gradual decrease in temperature when bathing a baby
By the same principle, water procedures. In this case, the temperature of water must be reduced gradually, by one degree. And start the procedure at a temperature of thirty-six degrees. First, the arms are dipped, then the legs, then they are lowered into the water to the waist. In addition, each new load should last 2-3 minutes, slowly increasing the duration to 10.
How to help a sick person
Parents doubt the effectiveness of hardening children with weak immunity. But in vain.
Before claiming that low temperatures weaken the crumbs even more, it is worth noting that the reason for their soreness is that:
- Mom, constantly fearing that the child will catch a cold, wraps him up, not taking into account the fact that during the game, especially on the street, the baby sweats. His clothes get wet, he gets cold and catches a cold. And if this happened, the adult must immediately return from the walk and change the child into dry or slightly warm clothes;
- Parents should use the extreme method with caution. It is more dangerous for weakened children than useful. Soft short procedures should not become hard and long at once - this is the main rule for people of all ages.
I get a lot of questions about child health. Especially their number increased after due to the nuances of acclimatization, as well as the low level of local medicine (Sochi is a small town).
Therefore, I want to tell you in more detail how it happened that my children rarely get sick, recover quickly, and therefore the level of southern medicine does not really bother me.
It's all about simple rules that we follow every day. Read on and find out how to temper a child with weak immunity so that he rarely gets sick, without complications, and recovers quickly.
At what age can they be implemented? I am convinced that the sooner the better, but it is never too late, even for an adult.
So, there are basic things, by making which part of the lifestyle, you naturally train your child's immunity and provide reliable protection from diseases arising from hypothermia (colds), and also reduce the frequency and severity of viral infections.
It should be natural and not dangerous for a child to drink drinks from the refrigerator, eat ice cream, cold curd, yogurt, and the like.
Firstly, this ensures the training of the local immune system in the throat. As a result, this immunity becomes stronger and more actively fights against various external pathogens (for example, viruses).
Secondly, you, as a mother, once and for all close the topic of fear for yourself that the baby drank cold. Believe me, children grow up very quickly, and already in kindergarten you will not be able to control the temperature of his drinks and food around the clock, and what about the school? So wouldn't it be better to accustom his throat to the cold and be calm?
To make it easier to understand how to start tempering a child in this way, I’ll tell you how it was with us: we started complementary foods at 7 months with kefir, after a couple of weeks curd was added to kefir. All mothers know the technology of introducing complementary foods: first a couple of spoons, then more, even more, etc., until we reach 70-80 g.
All mothers know that dairy products should be kept refrigerated. So, I gave my seven-month-old babies kefir straight from the refrigerator. Immediately, without warming up for a minute. And guess what, nothing bad happened!
I know it's hard for you to believe, but it's true.
Then there was juice from the refrigerator, ice cream, drinking water from the refrigerator. And by about a year, you close the topic of the cold completely, because now drinks and food of any temperature are a common thing for your baby.
At any age, you can follow the same pattern, starting a little, and gradually bringing the amount of cold to the average serving, and then increasing the number of these servings throughout the day.
Teach your child to walk barefoot
The foot is the most important reflexogenic zone of the body, which by nature is designed to come into contact with cold surfaces. If you "wrap" the baby's legs in socks and slippers, you "turn off" the natural defense mechanism, which atrophies as unnecessary.
As a result, the child gets a cold even from slightly wet feet, or a slight hypothermia of the foot.
You will say: we do not have wet feet, we take care and do not walk in bad weather! Are you sure you can know for sure that you won't get caught in a downpour? Or, again, trouble can happen in a kindergarten or school when you are not around around the clock. Wouldn't it be more logical to prepare the child in advance for everything and prevent diseases?
As it was with us: I never put on socks, booties and other “clothes” for the legs for children. From birth, they lay with me with bare feet.
Learned to walk - barefoot. We walked barefoot at home, even in winter, even on a cold laminate floor. And - believe me - there were no problems with it!
But how many times then Lyova and I, returning in the cold autumn from kindergarten or from training, fell under a sudden downpour, got wet through, soaked our feet, and everything was in order!
And if you start practicing walking barefoot, don't be afraid of cold hands and feet (this is what our grandmothers like to gasp and groan over)!
Remember! They should be cold if the room is low or normal temperature air (18-22 degrees), not heat. This is a natural mechanism - when the skin vessels close, and the body stops giving off heat, keeping the surface of the skin cool. 
It’s bad if, on the contrary, it’s cold, and the child’s open arms and legs are warm and pink. This means that the baby has already been “spoiled”, and his body does not know how to properly respond to air temperature.
And what to do if the baby grew up in greenhouse conditions, but there was a desire to change the situation and improve the child's health, how to harden in this case? In such a situation, whether the child is 2 years old, 3 years old, 4 years old, 5 years old, and even older than ever, gradualness is important, you need to start little by little. For example, today we walk barefoot for 5 minutes. Tomorrow is 10. The day after tomorrow is 20, and so on, until you come to walking around the clock without socks and slippers.
Don't use hats
The ears, like the foot, are an important reflexogenic zone of the body. In no case should these reflexes be allowed to atrophy as unnecessary.
Namely, this is what happens if a child is dressed in caps at home from birth, and they do not take off their caps even at plus 20 on the street.
The auricle is conceived by nature to be in contact with any external stimuli: cold, wind, draft, etc. If you take away all possible irritants from the organ, placing it in the greenhouse environment of eternal hats, then the following happens: the ears forget how it is to work normally and perform a protective function.
As a result, the child gets otitis from the slightest breeze at plus 25. And the story here is the same as with the legs - today you think that you can control all adverse environmental conditions.
And what will happen in kindergarten or school? For example, I always hated hats, and it was a special thrill to leave the house in a hat so as not to mess with my mother, and on the way to school, shove this hated hat deep away.
Remember yourself in adolescence Have you always obeyed your parents? I'm sure not. So draw your own conclusions. It is better to let the child be prepared from childhood not to catch a cold from the breath of the breeze.
As it was with us: we never had hats indoors. Even in the maternity hospital. Even at home in newborns after a bath. Even at home in winter. Well, you don't need a hat indoors. And point.
As for the street. A hat is needed to protect from the cold. It is from the cold, and not from the wind, as many people think. Those whose children then walk with otitis media. I always focus on myself: I want to put on a hat, if my ears are cold, I will put it on for myself and my child. As a rule, this happens when it is less than 10-13 degrees outside. If I myself am without a hat, almost always my children are without hats too. 
As a result, I know for sure that the children will not catch a cold from the wind on the street, and nothing terrible will happen if there is no hat at hand in bad weather.
If you do not have it, but you want the same, do not forget about the rule of gradualness! Start small: first remove your caps and hats indoors. Then start to gradually lower the temperature at which the baby walks without a hat.
For example, you usually wear a hat at plus 22. Today you walk without a hat at plus 22. Tomorrow at plus 21. The day after tomorrow at plus 20, and so on, until you reach a temperature that is comfortable for you (focusing on yourself).
Of course, you don’t have to immediately send the baby without a headdress to plus 10 degrees for the whole day.
The draft is your friend!
Sounds too implausible? Then let's figure out what's what.
A draft is a moving breeze. It is no different from the wind outside. You are not afraid of the street breeze, are you? So the child is not afraid. And every living being on earth, too.
The possibility of getting sick from the breeze is a ridiculously absurd myth.
For babies, including frequently ill children, the likelihood of getting sick from viruses brought by one of the relatives who are with the baby, the whole crowd in a stuffy, completely clogged room in which the window opens once a day for 3 minutes is much higher .
In this case, the probability of getting sick tends to a maximum. Only the cause will be ARVI, in fact, as in 95% of all childhood diseases.
But just the same ill-fated draft could help. How? The fact is that viruses can live, multiply happily, and fly around the room in dry, warm and still air.
But in cool, humid, and moving air, they live for literally minutes, after which they settle on objects and cannot get into Airways by air. In addition, it is obvious that the air from the street is clean and fresh, not a source of bacteria and viruses (unlike people who are indoors).
As it was with us: as soon as we brought the children from the hospital, we almost never closed the windows in the apartment. Usually it was 1, 2 or 3 windows if it was above 0 degrees outside.
Perhaps only in winter the airing was more restrained, but it was still there, as needed. And the children could safely be in the room in which the window opened, and this was never a problem.
As a result, children are not afraid of ajar windows and drafts, and they cannot catch a cold and get sick from them.
Do not forget, after all, that your newborn is no different from a newborn born thousands of years ago on the floor in a cave, and ready to survive in any conditions. By creating a sterile and warm vacuum around him, you are doing the baby a disservice - the defense systems are turned off, because they have nothing to fight, and they look for enemies where they don’t need to (then we have allergies, asthma, and even worse).
Dress for the weather and don't overheat
The fear that the child will freeze and “catch a cold” sits deep and firmly in the minds of the post-Soviet population. Probably, its reason (as well as the desire, in spite of everything, to “feed”) is in the hardships and hardships of the terrible wars that our grandparents had to endure.
Be that as it may, nowhere else in the world do parents worry about their children's food and clothes the way we do. 
The most common picture in Western European countries is parents in jackets and a baby in a T-shirt. All around, and no one gets sick or dies from it. And all why?
The metabolism of a child is much faster than that of an adult. This means that in the same unit of time the child produces much more heat and energy. This means that if a child and an adult are dressed the same way, then the child can be really hot, but not the adult!
The main rules for dressing a child up to a year and older:
- One layer lighter than an adult;
- If the baby complains that he is hot, then he is really hot (even if you are fine), do not torture and do not lead to dehydration, but help - undress.
If the child is dressed too warmly and is hot, sweating occurs, which is fraught with the following:
- Dehydration, which can result in several problems at once, from pain in the tummy, due to too thick gastric juices and inability to digest food, to SARS due to drying out of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth and the appearance of increased susceptibility to viruses.
- A perspiring child will catch a cold much faster (not perspiring) if a heated one enters a cooler room or stays in the wind.
If the child is no longer sitting in the stroller, then any fears that he is “cold” are completely meaningless, since children never sit still. They run, they run, they play. At physical activity freezing is almost impossible, but sweating is easy. How dangerous it is, we have already sorted it out.
Don't force me to eat
Eating through force is fraught with a bunch of various problems, from excess weight, to psychological trauma and eating disorders.
The fear that the child is “hungry” also sits firmly in the mind. Russian women and especially for the firstborn.
Mothers with many children will not let you lie: with experience, you begin to be much calmer about feeding children. Often in large families children eat whatever they want, where they have to, and what they can find from food (just kidding!), however, they grow up healthier than many of their peers, who are almost force-fed.
Understand the main thing: a really hungry child will eat anything! If the baby chooses, harms, refuses to eat, then he is not hungry, and therefore no tragedy will happen if he does not eat everything to the crumbs, or does not eat anything at all.
Of course, you need to try to ensure that the food in the context of the day is varied and balanced: some kind of porridge (or pancakes, pudding from oat flour, or multi-grain), something vegetable (cucumber, cabbage, carrot, potato, etc.), something meat (patty, mashed potatoes), something dairy (cottage cheese, kefir, ice cream), fruit.
If all the components, in some minimum quantities, will be present in the daily diet, you can be completely calm, even if today the baby refused something, he will make up for it tomorrow.
Free access water
A child of any age should be able to drink water at any moment.
How can this be organized in practice: when the first complementary foods appear, a bottle with a nipple with water appears, which is always in the child's field of vision. When the children grow up a little, we replace the bottle with a nipple with a drinker and special children's water bottles from the supermarket with a narrow opening (FrutoNyanya, Agusha, Sportik, etc.). 
These bottles are always in the room where the child is, in the zone of visibility and free access. Children themselves come and drink when they see fit. Often - hastily, during the game, without even being distracted.
Even when they do not know how, or cannot ask an adult, they have the opportunity to drink on their own. This is very important for the prevention of dehydration and the maintenance of normal protective functions of the body.
Our expert is a senior Researcher laboratory of hygiene of training and education of the Research Institute of Hygiene and Health Protection of Children and Adolescents of the SCCH RAMS, Candidate of Medical Sciences Nadezhda Berezina.
From morning to evening
Where to begin? From everyday hardening. This means: the morning should begin for the child with a charge. After it - proper washing. At first, wash the child with warm water, when you get used to it - cold ( room temperature and below, be guided by the reaction of the child). For a child older than 3 years, after a month and a half, extended washing with cool water is recommended: face, arms to the elbows, neck, top part chest.
From the age of 3, teach your child to rinse his mouth, and from 4–5 - his throat: you need to start with warm water(not lower than 26 °C), duration - 1 minute; gradually increase the duration of the procedure up to 2-3 minutes and reduce the temperature of the water (to room temperature and below). The same is repeated in the evening.
The child should walk as much as possible, while actively moving. And do not forget that hardening should continue during sleep (the temperature in the nursery at night should be 2-3 degrees lower than usual during the day).
Important! An effective way of hardening is contrasting pouring over the feet and legs. The child's legs are alternately doused with warm and cool water several times in a row. Repeat 3-4 times. If the child does not have chronic diseases, a series of douches ends with cool water. If the baby's body is weakened, then the procedure should be completed with warm water.
To the cottage or to the sea?
The best vacation option for a frequently ill child is in middle lane: firstly, there are fewer contacts, and secondly, there is no need for adaptive restructuring, for which the body spends a lot of energy.
The more time your child spends outside, the better. Children under 3 years old definitely need a playground with a sandbox under an awning.
After three use active games and walks: in the morning, while it is not hot, you can go with the baby to the surrounding meadows, but after 11 am forest walks are preferable.
Don't forget about proper clothes: at an air temperature of 22-24 °C: panties, cotton t-shirt with short sleeves, shorts, socks, sandals. If the baby is thin and not at all hardened, put on a T-shirt with long sleeves and cotton long trousers. At an air temperature of 25 ° C and above, you can limit yourself to only panties and shorts (or light sundress for girls), do without socks.
Light-air baths should be taken only from 9 to 12 noon. You can start swimming when the water temperature is not lower than 24–25 °C, and the air temperature is not lower than 24–26 °C.
And another great country procedure - walking barefoot. On the lawn, paths. And the most useful - by dew.
Start with 15-30 minutes, gradually increase the duration of the "training". It is useful to combine walking barefoot with foot baths: if it is hot outside and your feet are warm, use water at room temperature; and after running around in the puddles, the legs should be warmed up, and then doused with cool water.
To be continued
But what if the child is still sick? Watching what. For example, when mild form ARI, in the absence of temperature, you can continue daily water procedures: extended washing, rinsing, washing feet (leaving the water temperature at the same level). Concerning special methods hardening ( cold and hot shower, dousing ...), whether it is possible to continue to perform them in case of illness, it is necessary to decide with the attending physician.
If the child's temperature lasted no more than three days, you can return to hardening after 7-10 days, if longer - 2 weeks after recovery. But after bronchitis or pneumonia (and other serious illnesses) - the terms of the "return" must be agreed with the pediatrician. If the break in hardening was 10 days or more, you need to start all over again. It is necessary to reduce the water temperature again gradually, but faster than the first time - daily by one or two degrees.
If the break in the procedures is less than 5 days, then the hardening scheme continues as if it had not been interrupted. And with a break of 5 to 10 days, the water temperature should be 2-3 ° C higher than the temperature of the last procedure.
The air regime in the room during illness should not be changed. Ventilate the nursery more often, just make sure that there is no draft.
Important! In chronic diseases of the kidneys, heart, water procedures with a decrease in temperature (foot baths, douches ...) are prohibited. Must be chosen very carefully temperature regime water procedures for nervous diseases.
Children with decompensated heart defects, endocrinological diseases limit sun exposure. For any chronic disease, specific recommendations for hardening should be obtained only from the attending physician.
Every parent wants their child to be strong and healthy. That is why many parents think about hardening young children. It should be remembered that such procedures are closely related to increasing the immunity of the child.
There are several ways of hardening, hardening children with water among them is the most common. But they are also hardened by sun and air baths. There are also many methods of hardening. Therefore, the question of how to properly temper a child of 3 years old is mainly about the choice suitable way and two important recommendations.
The most important rule that unites all procedures for this process, concerns the gradual increase in the time of hardening activities, it concerns walks in the air or dousing with water. The same can be said about the temperature, the irritating effect on the body should increase smoothly.
And one more unspoken rule that must be observed by those who ask how to harden a child of 2 years old, or are interested in how a child of 5 years old is hardened. The hardening process must be continuous. Breaks in the process reduce the adaptive functions of the body. It is enough not to act in this direction, at least for five days, and the body will lose the skills it has acquired.
Tempering babies
One of the most burning issues that worries parents who care about the health of their child from the first days is how to temper a baby.
Another way to harden - dousing the baby with water. The temperature for dousing should be 2 degrees lower than that used for bathing. You need to pour it from head to toe, once or twice. After dousing, you do not need to warmly wrap the child, otherwise his temperature will rise. But it is necessary to wipe the baby dry after pouring.
Walks are included in the hardening program. You have to play every day. If it’s cold outside or it’s drizzling, you can shorten the walk, but don’t refuse it at all.
It is also necessary to monitor the temperature in the room in which the baby is awake and sleeping (18-20 degrees). The ideal moisture content is at least 55 percent.
How to temper a child with weak immunity
But what if the baby is constantly sick? He has low immunity, and parents, thinking about the benefits of hardening, are afraid that such procedures will lead to another disease.
In this case, you should not refuse hardening. But the procedures should be even more gentle and smooth. So, for example, dousing can be replaced with a cool rubdown. This should be done with a damp sponge.
It is better to temper weak children using air baths, walk more in the fresh air, do not forget to harden sunbeams. Vitamin D is very useful for a weakened child's body.
How to start hardening a child
Naturally, one of the most important points, This good mood. In no case should hardening be a punishment for a child. The psychological background of such procedures is the main point that needs to be constantly remembered. It is great if the child is hardened together with the parents. Then such events turn into an exciting family leisure.
Remember that consistency, gradualness, continuity, complexity and safety are the main things on which healing procedures should be based.
Before. how to start hardening your baby, consult a pediatrician. Even gradual hardening is a burden on the body, so you need to be sure that the baby is absolutely healthy. Depending on the health group to which the doctor classifies your baby, you will need to choose a hardening program.
Behind last years significantly increased the number of sick children due to unfavorable conditions environment, poor heredity, poor quality health care, sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to increase the resistance of the child's body to the negative effects of environmental factors through systematic hardening. It is most correct to start easy hardening of babies from birth, then by the age of three they will be prepared to increase the duration of the procedures. Quite often, a non-tempered child has headaches, dizziness, low hemoglobin content, which can adversely affect both physical and mental health. mental development baby. That is why the issue of hardening children of 3 years old becomes extremely relevant.
Before proceeding with hardening procedures, you should consult with a specialist about which procedures can be used for your child. In addition, it is imperative to monitor the absence of negative emotions in children so that hardening brings joy to children. It is believed that one of the most important hardening procedures are air baths. The child must be constantly brought to Fresh air where it is useful to do gymnastic exercises or play outdoor games. When hardening children of 3 years old, it is important that the child's breathing apparatus is constantly working. The combination of air baths with exercise- this is a favorable moment not only for the temperature effect on the body, but also for the ingress of oxygen through the skin into the blood. After all, it is common knowledge that in early age very high skin permeability. If it is pouring rain or a piercing wind outside the window, pre-ventilate through and do physical education with the child in the room. You can use household air conditioners that automatically regulate the temperature and humidity of the room. Air baths should be carried out systematically, at any time of the year, then they will have the maximum effect.
Water procedures are considered the third most important type of hardening. IN three years old you can use general rubdowns, douches. Such mandatory procedures, like washing, washing, bathing are also water hardening. Optimum temperature water should first be 27 °, then gradually it can be reduced. Taking a shower has a stronger hardening effect, because here an additional mechanical effect is included. Quite common and extremely useful is the contrasting alternating dousing of the child's legs with cool and warm water at a minimum temperature of 20 °.
Non-traditional ways of hardening children of 3 years old, as a rule, are associated with a short-term contact of the child's naked body with ice water, snow, and air at a negative temperature. Medical workers are extremely negative about such hardening procedures, because they can lead to chronic diseases. Temper your kids the right way!
