Tips For Improving Children’s Defenses In The Cold
Winter comes, and with it comes cold. Without a doubt, we are talking about one of the greatest enemies of any mother. However, there’s nothing to worry about if all year long we’re committed to the difficult, but not impossible, maternal mission of improving children’s defenses.
The immune system of little ones is weaker than that of adults. For this reason, children become easy targets this season. They are vulnerable to low temperatures, which favors the spread of frequent illnesses such as the flu, colds, pharyngitis and bronchitis.
To prevent these infections and many others that are even more serious, it is advisable to take care of every detail of the children’s health. We then share a series of useful and effective tips for you to put into practice in your child’s life to improve their defenses.
Food and rest, the secret to improving defenses
Although you may not believe it, the biggest secret for a child to fight the cold is to sleep and eat well. If you want to improve your little one’s defenses you just need to offer a varied diet, and adequate rest. Because tiredness and nutritional deficit make it difficult for the body to respond in contact with viruses and bacteria.
If we’re talking about a baby up to a year or two, pediatricians say there’s no better defense than breast milk. Scientifically, it has been proven to work as a protective shield against certain diseases. In this way, otitis, respiratory and gastrointestinal infections are avoided.
As soon as the little one is ready to consume fruits and vegetables, increase the portions of this type of solid food. A good option is to increase the amount of citrus in the children’s diet. Choose those rich in vitamin A and C.
At the same time, provide the child with adequate protein. For this, abuse the power of cereals and vegetables. Warm your body with hot broths and infusions, and hydrate your child with water and natural juices at room temperature.
Certainly, the little one must eat the four meals of the day. “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, eat an afternoon snack as a champion, and dinner like a pauper” , that’s the rule. That at every meal there are fruits, cereals and dairy products that provide energy and help improve defenses.
Wash hands!
An essential habit in educating children to improve their defenses is hand washing. Doing this often helps prevent illness and infection. Thus, this act becomes a basic and elementary factor in child health.
Therefore, children and adults should always put this habit into practice. For example, before and after every meal or handling meat, eggs, fruits and vegetables. When coming into contact with sick people, or touching surfaces or infected objects, this practice should also be performed, as it is preventive.
We are certainly talking about washing your hands properly. You should wash your hands with warm water, starting from your fingertips to your elbow. With warm water and lasting 40 to 60 seconds, wash each space between your fingers and nails patiently.
So, remember: if your child got their hands dirty, petted an animal, or went to the bathroom, wash their hands! Start early so your child can easily get into this habit. And it’s never too much to say that you should teach by example: it’s great to practice this habit in your life too.
Excessive cold clothes?
Experts agree that the main barrier against the cold is to dress children properly. This will be able to prevent the body from remaining cold. That’s why it’s vital to know how to choose the right clothes to face the weather conditions.
The important thing is that the child is dressed properly. It’s worth emphasizing properly, not overly. Is not the same thing. The idea, then, is not to stuff the child with clothes until he makes him sweat, as the seam can turn out worse than the sonnet.
It is necessary to dress the children normally and, if it is cold, put on more warm clothes. The trick is to put on the baby one more layer of clothing than you would put on yourself. Of course, choosing the right clothes will also depend on the way the child moves around, whether in a baby carrier, in a stroller, or alone.
Another factor to consider is the length of exposure to the cold. How long will you be outdoors with your child? How is the day? Answering questions like these will give you clues about the precautions needed to avoid possible colds.
However, every mother should have her child’s winter kit throughout her child’s childhood. So, hat, gloves, scarves, scarves are mandatory allies against the cold. How about you, how do you fight the diseases that appear more often in the cold?
