Increasingly, in the news you can see messages about exceeding the epidemiological threshold in different regions of the country. As a rule, we are talking about SARS, and the main victims of the disease are children of different age groups. So that the child is not among the sufferers, it is reasonable to take measures in advance to activate the immune system. This will prevent not only the disease, but also the complications that it can entail. Consider how to increase the immunity of a child, what doctors say about this, which can be recommended by traditional medicine.
Where to begin?
The first measure, as experts say, is a change in lifestyle, activation of everyday life. Talking about how to increase immunity in a child, doctors urge to stimulate the motor activity of the child. In recent years, only a small percentage of families do exercises in the morning - and this method of increasing immunity is one of the simplest and most effective, it works equally for both children and the older generation. Only a quarter of an hour in the morning allows you to awaken the body, activate protective factors, increase resistance to negative viral, infectious agents.
Explaining how to increase the immunity of a child through physical activity, doctors advise every morning to do exercises to the music, changing the set of exercises about time. Gymnastics will seem interesting and attractive to the child; he will not try to evade the performance of the ritual. In addition to physical, the benefits will be emotional, and the kindergarten and school go to the child, configured positively. From the point of view of some experts, a smile and a good mood are a factor in the activation of the immune system. Happy children are much less likely, according to researchers, to catch a cold, get the flu.
Vitamins and their sources
Perhaps any adult knows how to increase immunity in a child: you need to include more vitamin C in the menu. As soon as the epidemic begins, the body's need for ascorbic acid increases. To satisfy her, phytotherapy products will come to the rescue. For example, you need to add fresh lemon to tea daily, and honey instead of sugar. You can dilute the drink with echinacea extract. As a reliable alternative - tea with ginger. To supplement and enhance the effect, you can buy multivitamin complexes with ascorbic acid in a pharmacy. On sale there are special kits for children aimed at increasing immunity. Vitamin C is sold in the form of fragrant effervescent tablets that will surely appeal to even the most moody child.
Indispensable products that increase immunity in children - a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables. According to scientists, green products will bring the most benefit:
It makes no sense to feed the child with canned food, they have no useful compounds. To strengthen the immune system, fresh food is needed. Ascorbic acid is destroyed almost instantly if the compound gets into heat or sunlight. To make vegetable dishes as useful as possible, it is better to cut products into salad in large slices.
Fruits should be an everyday element of a child’s diet. Citrus fruits are preferred, but others should not be neglected: any fresh fruit is useful. It is believed that the greatest effect will be from the constant consumption of those fruits and vegetables that grow in the climatic zone where a person lives.
Prevention is the best treatment
When explaining to parents how to increase immunity at home for a child, doctors are sure to recommend making it a habit to temper. True, you need to approach the task responsibly, without unnecessary haste. First, only the feet are treated, then - the legs and arms, gradually include the whole body in the process. At the beginning of quenching, water close to body temperature should be used, gradually dousing the child with increasingly cold liquid. This will allow you to fine-tune the mechanisms of temperature regulation, activate natural abilities to resist aggressive external factors.
How to increase the immunity of a child in 4 years? The advice that any modern doctor will surely give is to get him vaccinated. From year to year before the epidemic season in our country, free vaccination is organized at the state level. The main condition is the consent of the parents. A child comes to the clinic with his mom or dad, he is given an injection - it takes only a few minutes, but it saves you from a week or two of high fever, and also prevents complications that could cause the disease.
Lifestyle & Immunity
Understanding how to increase the immunity of a child at home, you need to analyze the daily routine of the baby. It is known that children who spend much time in the fresh air and go for walks every day are much less likely to get sick. Even if the weather does not please, the air is cold, you should let go of a child who wants to walk, and if the child does not want to - come up with an incentive to interest him. The duration of walks is chosen based on the climate: if it is very cold, slushy, it rains, you should not spend too much time on the street.
Doctors, studying how to increase the immunity of a child of 6 years old, found out that children exposed to stress factors are much more likely to fall ill. However, this applies to younger kids, and older children, as well as adults. Any experience undermines the body's defenses, and under the influence of stress factors, resistance to infectious agents decreases sharply. So that the child does not get sick, parents should control his peace of mind. In this case, you should check how much time is spent on vacation, how much - on classes. Processing, especially in childhood, also undermines the immune system.
When figuring out how to increase the immunity of a 5-year-old child (as well as at a younger, older age), one must remember that a healthy and prolonged sleep is the key to resistance to various diseases. During sleep, the body's defenses are restored, but lack of sleep, especially chronic, leads to a strong weakening of the body. If the child already goes to kindergarten, school, you need to monitor compliance with the regime of the day, control the time of going to bed. If you manage to accustom your child to stability, in the morning he will get up alert, and his health will be strengthened.
What is this about?
By the way, many doctors advise: before finding out how to increase the immunity of a child of 6, 5, 3 years old and at any other age, you should understand the very essence of the term "immune system". Understanding how defense mechanisms work, it will be possible to independently analyze the effectiveness of various recommended approaches.
Immunity is the ability of an organism to resist aggressive factors, alien genetic data carriers - bacteria, viruses, fungi. There is a specific immunity that forms after an illness. This can be obtained for a limited time or for a lifetime. But the congenital one is non-specific, that is, a protective system that is laid down even during maturation in the mother's body.
To understand if a child is often sick, how to increase immunity, it is worth paying attention to the existence of two types of protective systems:
- antimicrobial, nature designed to protect against the pathogen through its destruction;
- anti-toxic, eliminating waste products of pathological agents.
Finally, it is worth remembering the separation of immunity into natural and artificial. The first is formed on its own, is a response to contact with an aggressive agent. Artificial drugs can be created for vaccinations that increase immunity in children. They provide a meeting of the immune system with the pathogen in a controlled form - the pathological agent is weakened, so the body’s defense easily copes with it and receives information that can quickly respond if in the future the baby meets a carrier of a full-fledged agent.
Do I need a vaccination?
Many modern parents are faced with the situation that the child is often sick. How to increase immunity is not always clear, because the baby picks up one disease, then another. The best way is to see a doctor who can understand what is the cause of high morbidity. If this is reasonable, the doctor will suggest a vaccination.
It so happened that in recent years whole movements of a planetary scale have arisen. Their participants are of the opinion that vaccines are only harmful, and the child should be ill with all the diseases in an uncontrolled form. Others believe that vaccines are made from rare pathologies that do not threaten the child. Nevertheless, medical statistics inexorably say that the percentage of incidence among vaccinated babies is much lower.
At the same time, you should not expect that the vaccine will save you from everything at once. For example, every year in the flu season throughout the country, vaccines are given free of charge to certain strains. If the child encounters a carrier of another strain of the virus, the vaccine will not save, the risk of getting sick will still be high. As a rule, they are vaccinated against the most common types of virus, therefore such an injection is fully justified.
Relevance of the issue
Some parents, understanding how to increase the immunity of a child at 4 years old, at three or six — in short, at any age — believe that any disease indicates a poor baby’s health. Doctors pay attention that this is not so: children really need to get sick, since the body only gets acquainted with pathological agents, viruses and bacteria, and during the course of the disease acquires resistance to them. Only cases when the number of cases exceeds five in a year should cause concern. The poor state of the immune system is evidenced by the absence of high temperature during the illness, since it indicates the inability of the body to resist infectious agents.
It is worthwhile to figure out how to increase the immunity of a child at 4 years old (and at a different age), if the baby is pale, quickly gets tired, blue circles appear under the eyes - all these signs indicate the insufficiency of the immune system. However, the reason is not the only one. Similar symptoms are manifested in various blood diseases, including anemia. Only a doctor can accurately understand why ailment is disturbing.
Who will help?
Before trying to figure out on your own how to increase the immunity of a child at 3 years old, if you suspect a weakening of this system, you should consult a doctor. The child must first be shown to the local pediatrician, who will write a referral for an examination with an immunologist or assure that everything is normal, and also explain why there were disturbing symptoms. Doctors will recommend appropriate medications in a particular case, as well as give advice on everyday habits, methods and folk recipes that will help strengthen the child's defenses.
Do not try to raise the immunity of a very young child. Breasts that feed on breast milk receive antibodies of an adult organism with it, which provides reliable protection against various infections and viruses. Measures to increase their own childhood immunity at this age usually lead only to a negative result.
Some features
Studies have shown that the immune system is stronger in children who have been on natural milk for a long time. Doctors are convinced that you need to breast-feed a baby for as long as possible. Of course, at first the process creates inconvenience, is unusual and sometimes even unpleasant, but gradually the body gets used to it, milk is generated in the required volumes and at the right time, so feeding becomes a pleasant everyday activity, useful for both mother and baby.
It is generally accepted that it is required to increase the immunity of a child with folk remedies literally from birth, since the child does not have its own protective forces. In addition, caring parents are trying to create almost sterile conditions at home so that the immature organism does not meet with dangerous microbes. In fact, such an opinion is nothing more than a delusion. The presence of a child in the house is an occasion to monitor the cleanliness of the room, but within reason. Do not be afraid of walking, boiling dishes from which the child eats, ironing clothes for a long time at maximum temperature. Meeting with bacteria is one of the factors that shape the immune system.
The child recovered: how not to get sick again?
The question is quite relevant for many parents: how to increase the child’s immunity at 3 years old, at two or four, at a different age, if the baby is sick with a serious illness, has recovered, but looks weak. After any severe pathology, the body has rather weak abilities to defend itself from harmful agents, therefore, during this period, the child needs special care. The period after surgery and injury is associated with similar dangers.
A doctor can explain what to do. The doctor focuses on the individual characteristics of the case. The doctor will tell you what and how to properly feed the child, what habits in everyday life will come in handy, what drugs, drugs that increase immunity in children are relevant for the current situation. It is not worth it to choose pharmacy drugs for your baby yourself - there is a risk of harming him. In addition, all pharmaceutical products have contraindications and side effects.
Natural remedies for baby's health
Understanding how to increase the immunity of a child in 2 years, it is worth paying special attention to natural products and remedies. There are a lot of folk recipes, and their effectiveness is quite high - many are not inferior to pharmaceutical products. An important feature is the minimum chance of allergies, side effects.
Studying tips on how to increase the immunity of a child at 2 years of age, special attention should be paid to the rules of drawing up a diet. Preference should be given to natural food, avoiding preservatives, aromatic, flavoring, coloring additives as long as possible. All these chemical compounds have a toxic effect, especially pronounced in young children. Absolute harm to children at any age is brought by products:
- chewing gum;
- chips;
- lemonade.
Instead, pay attention to the different fruits, berries and herbs on which you can prepare delicious drinks. The classic version is rose hips. Decoctions of its fruits are perfect instead of tea and other drinks. The exception is milk, it can not be excluded from the child’s diet in any case.
Preparing a rosehip decoction is easy. For 200 g of fresh fruit, take half as much sugar, a liter of water and boil for several hours, waiting for the berries to boil completely. The finished broth is closed with a lid and wrapped in a blanket or shawl, allowed to infuse until the liquid has cooled, then it is decanted. You can use the broth as much as you want. The healers recommend using infusion in an amount of 100 g per 10 kg of body weight or more.
Understanding how to increase the immunity of a child with folk remedies, it must be remembered that some products have specific effects. For example, rosehip broth is able to increase the urge to urinate. This is the normal response of the body, there is no reason for panic.
Consult a doctor if your child has kidney disease.
Simple and efficient
Observations show that children, often walking barefoot, are much less likely to get sick. This is due to the abundance of active points on the human sole. When walking without shoes, a person constantly stimulates these places, so that immunity becomes better. It is most useful to walk without shoes on clean sand, pebbles by the sea, and at home in the cold season. To prevent colds, you need to control that the floor is warm and the child uses socks.
At the age of ten and older, you can use the garlic-honey mixture to stimulate the immune system. 100 g of honey are taken per head of root vegetables, preferably from linden. The garlic is peeled, chopped into small gruel, mixed with honey and insisted for a week, then used for food during a meal. Dosage - a teaspoon, frequency - three times daily. This recipe is not suitable if the baby is prone to allergic reactions to various food products, since both components are quite strong allergens.
Another simple option to strengthen immunity, which does not require significant investments, but brings joy to the whole family, is a trip to the sea. A week or two in a warm climate, by the sea, with constant water procedures, the ability to sunbathe and eat fresh fruits and berries literally "from the branch" - all this provides the child with powerful protection until the next holiday season.
Methods and tools: what else to try?
That the child was healthy and active, you can offer him to play sports. Suitable pool, dance or any sports section. The main thing is that classes should be fun, because the imposed training is only to the detriment. A vibrant, active child is not afraid of viruses and bacteria.
In the evenings, the whole family can add to the habit of drinking herbal infusions and teas. For their preparation, you can use ready-made pharmacy fees or independently harvest environmentally friendly products in the summer. The greatest benefits will bring:
- linden inflorescences;
- calendula;
- mint leaves;
- oregano;
- chamomile flowers;
- St. John's wort
All of these products are rich in beneficial compounds. Many have a sedative effect, normalize sleep.
Every day you need to walk in the fresh air for at least half an hour. Walking is not only a mandatory exit to the park path, but also a trip to and from school, to kindergarten and home. During the exercise, the blood is filled with oxygen, the nervous system grows stronger, the child relaxes, and the nervous stress of the working day goes away.
If the pressure, heart, vascular system is normal, you can practice a contrast shower. This event allows you to activate immunity and stimulate blood flow. The duration of the procedure is a couple of minutes. A temperature change is made every 10 seconds. After completing the ablution, it is necessary to thoroughly grind the whole body of the child until the skin turns red.
Another water procedure shown if the heart is normal is a sauna, a bath. True, it is important not to overdo it. The benefits of it are known since ancient times. Our ancestors also knew that this is the way to prevent a variety of diseases. In former times, a person who was absent from home for a day or more was allowed to enter the threshold only after preliminary procedures in the bathhouse, where all the harmful microbes were washed off. Of course, in those days they still did not know why this worked, but the fact of effectiveness of doubt did not raise any doubts. Modern scientists have found that a sauna and a bath are good not only for their disinfecting effect, but also for their ability to cleanse the body of harmful substances, activate immunity, stimulate blood flow and dilate blood vessels.
Medicines and immunity
The classic option - funds from the class of interferons. Popular drugs:
Interferons are active substances that inhibit the vital activity of pathological agents. Often they are prescribed in the treatment of colds. Clinical trials have shown: if you use interferons in the early days of the disease, the symptoms will soon exhaust themselves, and complications arise in a vanishingly small percentage of cases.
No less useful will be the drugs that initiate the production of interferons in the human body. In pharmacies, these are pharmaceutical products:
This class of funds has become widespread in the fight against colds. You can not use both interferons and medications that induce the production of interferons in the human body. As tests have shown, the use of the composition in a healthy child will not give any positive effect.