When to start and how to strengthen a child with weak immunity: air and sun baths, water procedures and physical activity. How to harden frequently ill children

We will not make a discovery if we say that dousing with cold water is far from the only (and not the most effective, to be honest, although the most popular) way of hardening, especially children. And if parents really want to significantly improve their child’s health, then they simply must know: the system of adequately hardening children includes many more activities and procedures than banal “games” with a cold shower. And even more! In order to properly temper a child, the whole family will have to reconsider their lifestyle...

Indeed, it is stupid to assume that the older generation can actively engage in hardening children without in any way changing their own style of existence. Fortunately, like a family business, a healthy lifestyle (and hardening as part of it) requires the involvement of all family members.

Hardening children: why is it necessary?

As a rule, caring parents have much more banal cliché answers to this question than real and correct knowledge about how exactly children should be strengthened. It is not surprising that everyone understands that a hardened person can withstand certain serious illnesses or operations much easier.

And in general, in everyday life, a child with a strong immune system, formed during the hardening process, is usually more active, energetic and athletic, develops quickly, has no problems with the digestive system and skin condition, and is less susceptible to allergic reactions.

And yet, you shouldn’t delude yourself either - hardening children does not guarantee that the child will not get sick at all. Alas, no matter how strong and “impenetrable” human immunity may be, this is never an absolute guarantee against contracting a particular infection or other diseases. In other words: anyone can “catch”, for example, ARVI, but a hardened organism will tolerate the disease more easily and recover faster.

The most correct approach: hardening as a way of life for the whole family

First of all, those parents whose children fall under the definition of “” think about hardening their children. And they are absolutely right in believing that hardening a child with a weakened immune system will make him stronger and more resilient in the face of illness. However, parents most often mean by “hardening” a certain set of manipulations and procedures (which we will definitely talk about, but a little later!), Meanwhile, in fact, the best hardening effect on the child is a lifestyle that is as close as possible to natural (which is consistent with with our biological nature).

This means that the baby should spend a lot and often in the fresh air, move actively throughout the day, eat right and live in a room with an adequate climate - with moderate temperature and sufficient humidity.

It’s no secret that a number of external factors have a huge impact on our health and well-being:

• natural and climatic: sun, air, water (and it must be said that these factors most often contribute to improving health, especially in children);
• household (the conditions in which we live, household chemicals that we use daily, etc.);
• our lifestyle (our nutrition and our sleep, study or work, our leisure time, etc.).

As a species, humans are designed to move and live in nature. We are healed and toned by long walks in the fresh air, vacations in the countryside or at sea, healthy eating from fresh products and simple dishes, etc. In contrast, our immunity is “bursting at the seams” under the influence of many hours of “sitting” in front of a TV or monitor, from living “locked up”, from overeating and “heavy” food, from a clear lack of sunlight and fresh air. And the child’s body suffers doubly with such a lifestyle...

So it turns out that hardening children, first of all, does not consist of winter swimming, week-long fasting, running barefoot in the first snow and other “cool” health procedures, which, although good in essence, are unlikely to contribute to the health of an unprepared child.

Hardening children is, first of all, a correction of your family’s lifestyle, its orientation towards a more natural way of life, in which both adults and children spend a lot of time moving in the fresh air, eat right, create conditions in the house that are comfortable for their health, and rationally distribute load in the form of study and work to avoid constant stress.

How to harden a child: myths, misconceptions and mistakes

Before talking about procedures and activities that help strengthen a child’s immunity, it is worth talking about the “anti-hardening” of children, which most parents “sin” to one degree or another. There are three typical mistakes that parents (and especially grandmothers!) make in relation to children, and which practically nullify any attempts to strengthen the child’s immunity.

• 1 “Zip your jacket, otherwise you’ll catch a cold!”. Of course, the baby should be dressed appropriately for the weather, but, alas, adults are sometimes overzealous when wrapping up the child. A large amount of clothing interferes with the child's proper heat exchange and prevents free movement. Naturally, neither one nor the other contributes to recovery.

Popular children's doctor, Dr. E. O. Komarovsky: “Any doctor, even with minimal practical experience, will confirm to you that sweating in children causes colds hundreds of times more often than hypothermia. Regardless of the season and climatic realities, the child should be dressed in such a way that it is easy for him to move and does not sweat.”

• 2 “You won’t leave the table until you finish!”. Overeating is a huge medical problem of the modern generation, including children. The human body cannot boast of a strong immune system if it is constantly overloaded with food. The main criterion regulating a child’s nutrition should be his own appetite and that alone, and not the principles professed by the grandmother or other relatives. The baby should consume exactly as much food as he needs to replace energy costs, and not as much as you managed to prepare. And, under no circumstances should you force him to continue swallowing food. Put the plate down and go for a walk with your baby, warning him that until the next meal (lunch, dinner, etc.) he will not receive any treats, snacks, sandwiches, etc.
• 3 “Did you get a bad grade? You won’t go for a walk today!”. Daily walks in the fresh air and physical activity are a natural physiological need of a healthy human body. Therefore, depriving a child of walks as punishment is akin to depriving a child of food or sleep. Remember, the more time your baby spends indoors, sitting in front of homework or watching a computer monitor, the weaker his immunity becomes. And vice versa - children who run around in the yard from morning to evening in any weather, as a rule, get sick extremely rarely and almost instantly. Walk with your children! Ride bicycles and scooters, rollerblade and ski, play fun and active games, go out of town for picnics - in a word, literally by personal example, cultivate in your child the habit of living actively and harmoniously. And latently, in this way strengthen his (and your!) immunity and “work up” a healthy appetite!

How to harden a child: activities and procedures

There are a number of special hardening procedures that are time-tested and quite effective for both adults and children. The main principle of implementing these procedures in life is gradualism and regularity! And also compliance with simple general rules:

• you can start and carry out any hardening procedures only when the child is healthy;
• to start hardening a child, the season does not matter;
• it is extremely important that hardening procedures take their constant place in the daily routine (that is, they are performed at the same time);

Table of duration of hardening procedures for children under 3 years of age

Table of duration of hardening procedures for children 3-8 years old

For children over 8-9 years old, hardening procedures either become a regular daily ritual (part of the family’s daily life) or “grow” into a special sports regime with a special training scenario and additional strengthening procedures (depending on the type of sport and the individual characteristics of the child).

Hardening children: bathing in cool water, dousing and rubbing

Water hardening with a gradual (!) decrease in temperature, you can begin to practice after the first month of the child’s life. For the first 6 months, the water temperature for daily bathing ranges from 36° C to 34° C. After six months, the temperature is gradually reduced to 32-31° C. The duration of such a bath is 5-7 minutes (most often this is just the final part). After the baby has “swimmed” in cool water, he is taken out and pour water over 1-2 degrees colder than it was before in the bath. Then wrap it in a soft, cozy towel and lightly rub it.

The duration and temperature of the water during dousing greatly depend on the age and condition of the child, on climatic conditions and on the baby’s personal preferences. There are children who, after several weeks of repeating this procedure (with a gradual decrease in temperature), fall in love with it so much that they can happily douse themselves with fairly cool water (22-20° C) for 1.5-2 minutes during each bath procedure. .

Water temperature for hardening dousing of children

After dousing the baby, you need to lightly rub it. Trituration essentially resembles intensive stroking of the skin in order to warm it up a little and tone it. It is best to dry your baby with a soft towel. Please note that the child should not experience any discomfort from the procedure, much less pain! A sense of proportion and tenderness are your best helpers in this matter. In addition, excessive zeal during rubbing reduces the hardening effect of a cool douche or shower, since it significantly increases the temperature of the skin.

How to harden a child every day: air and sun baths, walks in the fresh air

Air baths useful for all children, but especially for infants. They not only have a general strengthening effect on the baby’s body, but also improve the quality of the skin (which is very important for children suffering from, or various types of).

If climatic conditions allow, such procedures can be combined with a walk in the fresh air and sunbathing; if not, the child should be hardened indoors, strictly observing “climate control”. Namely: the baby is undressed and left naked for some time: starting from 5-7 minutes and a temperature of +22 ° C. Gradually, day after day, the temperature is reduced to 16-14 ° C, and the duration of the air bath is increased to 15-20 minutes .

If the weather is comfortable in the yard, a child can run around all day in just shorts (just provide his skin with adequate protection and put something like a Panama hat on his head!), and at the same time his body will definitely become stronger and his immunity stronger. It is very good if the baby spends part of the time barefoot - this will not only become part of the hardening, but will also provide the child with excellent health.

We are hopeful about walks in the fresh air; it makes no sense to tell you at all - being good and caring parents, you yourself are well aware that being in the fresh air is many times more beneficial for any human body (and doubly so for a child’s body) “ cooing" indoors. You should walk with your children every day, regardless of the weather, laziness or other circumstances.

Swimming in the sea, ponds, indoor and outdoor pools

Modern hardening methods advise teaching a baby to swim almost from birth.

Swimming is a great way to strengthen children at any age. It combines the hardening effect of cool water on the body and strengthening physical activity. It is only important to remember that the younger the child, the less time he should swim (babies under one year old - no more than a couple of minutes, but children 4-5 years old can already swim 8-10 minutes). In this case, the water temperature in an open reservoir should not be lower than 22° C.

Gymnastics and physical activity

In fact, if a child leads an active lifestyle, moves a lot and jumps while walking in the fresh air (compassionate grandmothers usually say about such people that “he had a pain in the butt”), then there is no point in loading him with any additional physical exercises. Except, perhaps, perhaps. Which essentially should consist of very simple exercises to “awaken”, warm up and lightly “stretch” the muscles and joints.

It should be fun and easy for your baby while exercising - in fact, only you know about the seriousness of your event. And the child should simply jump, squat, bend over and stretch in all directions, reasonably believing that you are just playing with him early in the morning...

And keep in mind - not a single child will do morning exercises alone. But, being a born “monkey,” he will exactly copy all your movements when you get up to exercise with him.

Resourceful and adequate parents usually come up with a simple set of exercises to practice with their baby. It is important that charging is easy, fun, fun and does not take more than 5-7 minutes. But if for some reason you are afraid to exercise on your own, you can always find a dozen good video instructions on the Internet. Like this one, for example:

How to harden a child: in a nutshell

So, the traditional “fridge rules” - what needs to be done to harden a child:

• Walk every day and in any weather (with rare exceptions);
• Don't force yourself to eat.
• Encourage any “physical education” - any hobby and any game in which the child actively moves is suitable.
• Whenever possible, take the child out into nature, out of town.
• Minimize contact with household chemicals.
• It is reasonable to distribute mental loads (if your child has a long time and is often sick, then perhaps the 2-3 clubs in which you enrolled him are, in fact, superfluous).
• Maintain a healthy climate in the nursery - with moderate temperature and sufficient humidity.
• If desired, regularly perform a simple set of hardening procedures with your children.

Any pediatrician and physiotherapist will confirm to you that a healthy lifestyle of the family as a whole (in which it is customary to spend a lot of time in the fresh air and in a good mood, which eats properly and in moderation, in which they prefer active recreation and do not cultivate laziness) strengthens the child’s body tens of times. times more successful and effective than any hardening procedures such as dousing and air baths...

Of course, creating such a lifestyle will require significant efforts from parents: after all, in order to once again take a child to the forest or to the river for the whole day, everyone will have to “tear their butts off the sofa” - both dad and mom... But the result is more than attractive - not only one baby will become stronger, but the whole family as a whole!

Every parent dreams of their child being strong and healthy. This is why many parents think about hardening their young children. It should be remembered that such procedures are closely related to increasing the child’s immunity.

There are several methods of hardening; hardening children with water is the most common among them. But they are also hardened by sun and air baths. There are also many hardening techniques. Therefore, the question of how to properly harden a 3-year-old child mainly concerns the choice of an appropriate method and two important recommendations.

The most important rule that unites all the procedures for this process concerns the gradual increase in the time of hardening activities, this applies to walking in the air or dousing with water. The same can be said about temperature; the irritating effect on the body should increase smoothly.

And one more unspoken rule that must be followed by those who ask how to harden a 2-year-old child, or are interested in how the hardening of a 5-year-old child goes. The hardening process must be continuous. Interruptions in the process reduce the adaptive functions of the body. It is enough not to act in this direction for at least five days, and the body will lose the skills it has developed.

Hardening of babies

One of the most pressing questions troubling parents who care about the health of their child from the first days is how to harden an infant.

Another way of hardening is to pour water on the baby. 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, there is no need to wrap the child warmly, otherwise his temperature will rise. But it is imperative to wipe the baby dry after dousing.

Walking is included in the hardening program. You need to walk every day. If it’s frosty or drizzling outside, you can shorten the walking time, but don’t give it up altogether.

It is also necessary to monitor the temperature in the room in which the baby is awake and sleeping (18-20 degrees). The ideal humidity level is at least 55 percent.

How to strengthen a child with weak immunity

But what to do 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. For example, dousing can be replaced with cool rubbing. This should be done with a damp sponge.

It is better to harden weak children using air baths, walk more in the fresh air, and do not forget to harden them with sunlight. Vitamin D is very useful for a weakened child's body.

Where to start hardening a child

Naturally, one of the most important points is a good mood. For a child, hardening should in no case be a punishment. The psychological background of such procedures is the main point that must be constantly remembered. It’s great if the child hardens together with his parents. Then such events turn into exciting family leisure.

Remember that consistency, gradualism, continuity, complexity and safety are the main things on which healing procedures should be based.

Before. How to start hardening your baby, consult your 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.

Many mothers and fathers, long before the birth of their baby, dream of how they will treat him reverently, run with him in the morning, harden together with the baby, and actively develop physically and mentally. But, unfortunately, statistics show that only a small part of conscientious parents fulfill their plans. Often we feel sorry for waking up a child early in the morning to go for a run; we are afraid that he will get sick from cold water when poured over him. Paradoxical as it may seem, with such actions we do not protect children’s health, but on the contrary, we make the baby’s body hothouse and vulnerable. Any temperature change or external influence results in 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 ARVI). But how these colds will proceed depends on the parents. Why does one child’s cold inevitably end in bronchitis or sinusitis, while another child ends up with only three days of clear snot? It’s all about two factors – the method of treatment and the state of the child’s immunity. Everyone has long known that there is no need 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’ll talk about ways to properly harden a child.

As the famous motto says: “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 sun rays are incredibly beneficial for health; it’s not for nothing that babies are recommended to walk in the sun from the first days after birth. With the help of ultraviolet light, 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 your child in the morning. It is not at all necessary to expose the baby to direct sunlight, just walking with him on the street is enough, you can even be in the shade. After all, ultraviolet light is refracted many times and will certainly reach your baby’s skin.

Older children also need sunbathing. However, it is very important to maintain a middle ground here, since sunburn is a very unpleasant and dangerous phenomenon. Start solar hardening in the summer, with the arrival of the first warm days. You should not be in the direct rays of the scorching sun; try to sunbathe before 11 a.m. or after 3-4 p.m. This way you can avoid aggressive ultraviolet radiation. Don't forget to wear hats - headscarves, 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, you will be guaranteed a sunburn and a ruined vacation.

If you go to the sea, try to spend more time on the beach - sea air is very beneficial for the health of the respiratory system. When the baby gets used to the sun, you can let him go for a walk in just his panties. Encourage your baby to walk barefoot more often, but first make sure that there is no glass or thorns in the area that could injure the delicate skin of children’s feet.

Air baths

This is the simplest, but at the same time the most risky method of hardening. It consists in accustoming the child to low temperatures. You can start this kind of hardening literally from birth. Accustom your baby to stay in a cool room for some time - 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 exposing it to cold air flows is unwise.

In addition, air baths also mean regular ventilation 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, it is better to put clothes on him rather than install a heater. The fact is that radiators dry out the air very much, and the nasal mucosa suffers from this - dry crusts appear in the nasal passages. Dry air causes dust and allergens to rise, causing coughing and other reactions. In winter, when the heating system is working at its best, you must install a humidifier or constantly hang wet laundry on the radiators.

Pay attention to air hardening during walks. This includes wearing 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 up the baby. You should adhere to one simple rule - dress infants in one layer more, children over one and a half years old - one layer less than yourself. Small children hardly move, so they should be dressed a little warmer. For example, did you put on a thin T-shirt and a light blouse? And for your baby, add another layer in the form of a fleece onesie. But children over one and a half years old, on the contrary, need to dress lighter, because they are constantly on the move, they are not afraid of freezing, but it costs nothing to sweat.

Water hardening

This is the most extensive and, frankly, the most pleasant type of hardening. It’s rare that a child doesn’t 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 an uncomfortable water temperature, 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 get used to water carefully and without violence, then the baby will love swimming for life.

1. Cold water. Hardening in water is a gradual acclimation to lower temperatures. As soon as you bring your newborn baby home, you should bathe him only in warm water. Until the navel falls off, the water should be boiled - sterile clean. When the belly button falls off, you can use warm tap water and slowly accustom the body to various microorganisms, because the baby cannot grow up 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 while taking a bath. That is, today you bathe your baby at 36 degrees, gradually add cold water and reduce the temperature to 35 degrees. After five days, you also start at 36, but already lower the temperature to 34 degrees. So over and over again you can reach 30 degrees; for children older than one year, you can reduce the water temperature to 28-26 degrees. But all processes must be gradual!
2. 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 warm up. Cool baths and nutritious meals are the best ways to ensure your baby gets a good night's sleep. To give your baby the opportunity to move more in the water, put a swimming ring around his neck; some models can be used from 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 bathtub, and the mother does not need to stand with a hook, holding the baby in the water.
3. 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 and rub it on your baby’s legs, arms, back and tummy. After a couple of days of such manipulations, soak a washcloth in warm water and repeat the procedure. Gradually, the water used to wet 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.
4. Pouring. This method of hardening is not for the weak - 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 themselves together with their kids at any time of the year. When pouring, do not touch the head - this is important to know. If the baby is not yet ready to completely bathe himself, you can teach him to wash his feet in warm and then in cold water. After this, thoroughly rub your feet and heels with a terry towel and put your baby to bed.

Kids rarely follow their parents' advice, but almost always follow their example. Therefore, you need to show your child hardening through your own experience. Douse yourself with water and dry yourself with a damp towel - your child will definitely repeat after you.

Cold hardening

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

How to start hardening

Many parents complain that they cannot begin the hardening process because the baby is constantly sick. If you have never hardened your child and he is quite sick, 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 agree to the procedures. Start hardening with simpler and gentler methods - air and sun baths, gradually introducing more and more new procedures. Make sure your baby is used to this water temperature before you decide to lower it another degree.

Remember that hardening is a regular and ongoing procedure. Only with daily rubdowns and air baths can you strengthen your immune system and achieve good results. 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, and a proper sleep and wakefulness routine. Follow simple rules of hygiene, and your baby will not be afraid of illnesses!

Video: hardening children

In recent years, the number of sick children has increased significantly due to unfavorable environmental conditions, poor heredity, poor health care, and a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to increase the child’s body’s resistance to the negative effects of environmental factors through systematic hardening. It is best to begin light hardening of babies from birth, then by the age of three they will be prepared for an increase in the duration of the procedures. Quite often, an unhardened child experiences headaches, dizziness, and low hemoglobin levels, which can negatively affect both the physical and mental development of the baby. This is why the issue of hardening 3-year-old children becomes extremely relevant.

Before starting hardening procedures, you need to consult with a specialist about which procedures can be used for your child. In addition, it is necessary to monitor the absence of negative emotions in children so that hardening brings joy to the children. It is believed that one of the most important hardening procedures is air baths. The child must be constantly taken out into the fresh air, where it is useful to do gymnastic exercises or play outdoor games. When hardening children 3 years old, it is important that the child’s breathing apparatus is constantly working. The combination of air baths with physical exercise is a favorable moment not only for the temperature effect on the body, but also for the penetration of oxygen through the skin into the blood. After all, it is well known that skin permeability is very high at an early age. If there is heavy rain or piercing wind outside, first carry out through ventilation and do physical exercises with your 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.

The third most important type of hardening is water procedures. At the age of three, general rubdowns and douches can be used. Mandatory procedures such as washing, scrubbing, and bathing are also water hardenings. The optimal water temperature should first be 27°, then it can be gradually 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 pouring of cool and warm water over the child’s feet at a minimum temperature of 20°.

Unconventional methods of hardening children 3 years old, as a rule, involve short-term contact of the child’s naked body with ice water, snow, and subzero air. Medical workers have an extremely negative attitude towards such hardening procedures, because they can lead to chronic diseases. Temper your children correctly!

The best way to protect your child from diseases is to carry out timely and competent prevention. Hardening is rightfully considered one of the best preventive methods. However, there is no need to rush headlong into extreme procedures; parents need to take into account various factors, such as the baby’s health status, the characteristics of his immunity, and his age. The famous children's doctor Evgeniy Komarovsky often tells parents how to properly approach the issues of hardening toddlers, preschool and school-age children.

What it is

Hardening children is a set of measures to influence the children's body from various natural factors, such as sunlight, water, air, and so on. Often it is based on contrast (a decrease and increase in ambient temperature in relation to the child’s body temperature, an increase and increase in atmospheric pressure. The goal is to bring the body into “combat readiness”, adapt it to possible external stress, thereby increasing its ability to withstand negative influence.

Doctors have long proven that systematic hardening improves cell composition, all organs and systems begin to act more harmoniously and better. Sleep and appetite improve, blood circulation is normalized, metabolic processes, adaptation mechanisms are improved faster, the nervous system is strengthened. This method of prevention was known to the healers of Ancient Greece and Rome.

Medicine knows many methods of hardening. The simplest and most accessible at home are wiping and dousing, contrast showers, sunbathing, sports and walks in the fresh air. A relatively long stay in ice water (the so-called winter swimming) is not recommended for children; contrasting alternation of warm and cool water is better for them.

You can harden the child either entirely or practice local procedures- hardening the throat, for example (there is a well-known and tasty way for this - ice cream). It is important that the therapy be constant, because after a long break, the effect of hardening is reduced to a minimum, and then completely lost.

Doctor Komarovsky's opinion

Evgeny Komarovsky, like many of his colleagues, believes that all children are born with great immune capabilities and abilities. And the first years of a new person’s life are connected, alas, with the fact that the people who love them most - parents - do everything possible and impossible to destroy these innate abilities to adapt to the world around them. To do this, they do not do anything supernatural, it is enough to create greenhouse conditions for the baby, dress warmly, monitor the sterility of the food that the baby eats, close the windows and doors tightly, and give the child various medications more often.

And here is the actual episode of Dr. Komarovsky’s program dedicated to children’s hardening.

The result will be a child who will often and severely get sick with all imaginable and inconceivable diseases, the first place among them will definitely be taken by colds and viral infections.

Evgeniy Olegovich is sure that children need to begin to be hardened from birth. The main thing is to do this every day, without missing a single procedure, and to approach hardening for reasons of reason. If mom and dad thought about it and decided that they want to harden their child, they should start by consulting a pediatrician. The specialist will examine the baby,, if necessary, prescribe laboratory tests, and render his verdict on whether this particular child can be hardened, and which of the known methods is better to choose.

When hardening is undesirable

Newborns

For a baby who has just been born, the usual rituals are quite suitable for hardening - morning exercises, changing clothes for a walk, evening swimming.

If the pediatrician allows it, you can gradually start pouring cold water over the baby’s feet, first with cool water, and then with cold water. The duration of the procedures should gradually increase. It is not necessary to practice contrast baths, but walks should become a mandatory attribute of every baby’s day; Evgeniy Komarovsky recommends walking with him, regardless of weather conditions and time of year. Washing is the very first hardening.

You can douse a child from birth, observing the temperature regime, which we have already described above. This should be done once a day, after bathing. First, they carefully pour over the heels, then the legs, arms, belly and smoothly move to the back of the baby’s head.

From the age of six months, the baby can be wiped with water using a special flannel mitten. At first, only the arms and legs, then you can wipe the back, and lastly, the chest and tummy.

Sunbathing is very beneficial for babies, because under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, vitamin D is produced, which the body needs to prevent rickets from developing. The main thing is to dose the baby’s exposure to the sun and avoid prolonged exposure to direct rays on the baby’s skin.

Children aged 3 years and older

It's never too late to toughen up, Evgeny Komarovsky is convinced. Therefore, such procedures can be started for a child at any age, if this was not practiced by parents in infancy. The approach is still the same, however, starting from the age of three, you can use a contrast shower, and from the age of 4, the child can be doused with cold water on the street, however, without fanaticism. From the age of three, a child can be allowed to spend quite a long time in the fresh air on a warm day in the summer in just shorts. Regular visits to the pool are useful.

• Changing conditions (water temperature, for example) should be done only gradually. A sharp jump can negatively affect the child’s well-being.
• It is advisable to carry out the procedures in a playful way, so that the baby perceives what is happening as a fun activity and wants to harden himself.
• If the child begins to inadequately perceive the next increase or decrease in the temperature of water and air, he cries and is capricious, the procedure should be stopped and the next day returned to the previous temperature level.
• When dousing and wiping, the genitals of boys should be covered to prevent temperature changes in the genital area, as this can subsequently negatively affect reproductive function.
• Under no circumstances should you overfeed your child. He should eat when he wants it, and not when “the time has come,” according to mom and dad. A healthy baby is always a little hungry, moderately thin and very active, says Komarovsky. These three words should become guidelines for caring parents.
• Evgeniy Komarovsky considers one of the most important factors in his hardening system to be the creation of normal conditions in the house where the child lives. Regular ventilation is needed at any time of the year, especially if the baby is sick. The air temperature in the room should not exceed 18-20 degrees, humidity - 40-60%.
• You cannot wrap your child up; he should always be dressed appropriately for the weather. The way you dress yourself. The thermoregulation of a small body can be disrupted by the fact that an overly loving mother or grandmother dressed the little one for a walk in 2-3 blouses and a couple of jackets on top. Sweating is a surefire way to catch a cold.
• Parents should be guided by the child’s reaction to hardening. The temperature of water and air are purely individual factors, for some they will be higher, for others lower, it all depends on how comfortable the baby will feel during the procedures.