Hardening for children – how and when

Author: Yuri Dubnevsky - swimming coach (Khimki).
2013-01-10

It is known that a person's health depends 10-15% on heredity, 8-12% on the level of healthcare, 10-20% on the state of the environment, and 50-70% on lifestyle.

Thus, lifestyle is 4-7 times more important than heredity. So what should be done, how to organize your life and the lives of those close to you to avoid illness? All those ARVI and flu ruin our plans, take away our health, and steal our time. We’ve heard from other mothers and doctors that it’s almost normal – "…all children get sick, this is how they acquire immunity…" and so on. Should we do nothing? Wait until they "grow out of it"? Is it possible to not get sick or at least significantly reduce the amount and duration of illness?

And then you hear: MEDICINES. The doctor gives this medicine to their children, a friend or relative gives it to theirs... and, oh miracle – it works. The drug is amazing - a new development! But! Time passes. "It doesn’t seem to work very well... maybe it’s not for our child." The second medication, but it's already an "old recipe – our mothers used it, and it worked well," but the child gets sick again. "You must not have given it correctly – try it together with this." And so on for several rounds.

Have you tried all the super-mega medications you’ve heard about? And it’s good if the effect occurs, usually only after prolonged use or if it is short-lived! And after the course of treatment, the desired effect doesn’t occur. Now you no longer understand whether today’s runny nose (cough, skin rash, redness of the mucous membranes) is a new cold or an allergy to the medication? And now you have to visit the doctor again for an accurate diagnosis, which means unwanted contacts with sick children. It feels like a vicious circle! What to do?

Isn't it time to remember the good old HARSHENING?

1. It WORKS, it always works, everywhere, and for everyone…
2. There are no side effects like those negative effects of medications.
3. The impact is comprehensive – immunity, activation of metabolism, training of blood vessels, better tolerance of physical and psychological stress, less fatigue in children, maintaining high productivity and activity.
4. An enormous arsenal of methods allows you to find your own approach depending on your desires, habits, place of residence, and set of procedures.
5. Children do get sick sometimes, but they recover faster, the severity and number of illnesses are MUCH lower, and complications after illnesses are absent.
6. The processes of hardening occur constantly; you just need to be able to control them and dose them correctly. Eating ice cream, for example – is also a form of hardening.

Where to Start?

Dear parents, you need to start with yourself. Yes, yes, don’t laugh. You must learn the rules of hardening and then try the selected approaches on yourself.

The two most important rules for hardening are REGULARITY and GRADUALNESS. The main mistake: you go on vacation – you start hardening, you come back – you stop. In autumn – you begin, in spring – you stop. You get sick and recover – you don’t resume hardening. You should harden like you brush your teeth – for the rest of your life.

We exclude fanaticism and records in hardening. Especially for children. The health of the child is the main goal of hardening. Hardening during illness is meaningless and harmful. If a child gets sick – we pause hardening until they recover, and then resume with much less workload.

An important rule - hardening can only occur if the body is warmed up. If the palms or nose feel cold to the touch – do not harden, first warm up. If the child is capricious and doesn’t want to – we postpone the procedure and/or replace it with a gentler one: increase the temperature, decrease the area to be doused (for example, pour water on just one toe instead of the whole foot), reduce the duration of the procedure. If they are just being capricious, invent a game or ritual:

So, When and How to Harden Children Aged 4 – 9 Years

You can start at any time of the year, preferably in spring. Air procedures are gentler than water ones. It is preferable to begin with local water procedures in an enclosed space at a usual room temperature that the body is accustomed to.

In the morning.

• Barefoot and/or with minimal clothing, perform energetic exercises or dance movements.
• The same, but first ventilate (lower the temperature of the air) the room. Mainly arm and leg swings, bends, rotations, and exercises like squats, push-ups, jumps.
• Wipe down with a wet towel. Start with water around 30°C, gradually lowering it by 1°C daily until it reaches 18°C and below, depending on how you feel. Start the procedure with hands, then wipe shoulders, neck, and torso. After that, rub with a massage towel until the skin turns red and feels pleasantly warm. You can wipe with cold water, gradually increasing the area from feet to all limbs, then the body.
• After the shower, pour cold water on your feet. Close the shower, turn on the cold water tap, and place both feet under the stream.
• Contrasting shower, finish with cool or cold water. Warm up under hot water, then briefly turn on cold water. Turn to let the cold water hit the chest and stomach as well, then back to hot water. Do this at least three times.
• Washing face and hands with cold water. After playing outside, the child should warm up, meaning their hands and nose should be warm.
• Gargling with cold water.
• Pouring water from a bucket "by Ivanov." Fill a bucket with water and, standing in the bathroom, flip it over your head. According to P.K. Ivanov, stand barefoot on the ground, and the water should be as cold as possible. Pour two buckets.

In the Afternoon.

• Washing the face and hands with cold water.
• Pouring cold water on the legs after a walk; you can allow them to play with the water.
• Air baths. Allow the child to run around the apartment barefoot and/or with minimal clothing.

In the Evening.

• Contrasting shower, finish with cool water.
• Shower and pour cold water on the feet from the tap at the end.
• Pour cold water on the feet. At the beginning of the procedure, the feet should be warm.
• Pour water from a bucket "by Ivanov."

In the Pool:

• Without drying off after the shower, do a few energetic exercises on the poolside.
• Before the pool: contrasting shower, finish with cold or cool water.
• During swimming, take a break and sit in the steam room, then stand under the cool shower.
• In the water, you need to move energetically; if the child is passive and moving little, they need to get out and warm up.
• After the pool – a hot shower if feeling cold, ending with pouring cold water on the feet.

You need to choose one or several activities and gradually increase their duration and/or reduce the temperature. It is very beneficial to combine hardening with physical exercises. As well as massage and self-massage (for example, with a stiff brush).

What is a strong immune system?

Unfortunately, even children with a strong immune system catch infections and get sick. Ecology, overcrowding, the peculiarities of urban nutrition – all of this is beyond our control; for example, we can't avoid taking our child to school. A strong body is like a fortress with skilled guards; as soon as enemies penetrate it, an alarm is immediately sounded and all forces are mobilized to repel the attack. In our case: the child comes home from school feeling sluggish, apathetic, and doesn’t want to eat. By evening, their cheeks are flushed, and their temperature has clearly increased. All night there’s a runny nose, restless shallow sleep, fever-sweating, and frequent requests for water. By morning, there’s weakness and fatigue, but the child feels better: they ask to turn on the TV and show interest in toys. The illness is clearly retreating.

Within the framework of this article, there is one recommendation – stop hardening at the first signs of illness. If your child experiences a slightly elevated temperature for more than 3-5 days (higher than 36.6 but less than 37.5), and the symptoms of the illness are vague (blunted and not clearly expressed), but there is apathy and a lack of interest in games and walks – this indicates a chronic condition that the body is hardly combating, a sign of weak immunity. In our comparison – the fortress already has enemies, and its guards are doing nothing or don't know what to do. So, it's time to get moving and busy!

Where is the limit of hardening?

The paradox is that hardening involves a constant increase in load: subsequent hardening should be with slightly cooler water, pouring a larger area of the body, or extending the duration of the procedure by a little. But in life, there are always reasons to "take a step back": during vacation there may be no opportunity for hardening, if you get sick (where can you go without this), or you didn’t have time today… there are numerous reasons. This gives us the opportunity to retreat a bit in cold exposure and start hardening from one or two levels below or change the procedure (the ensemble of impacts). It would be a mistake not to resume hardening.

Are we doing hardening correctly?

If the child positively perceives the hardening procedure as a game and eagerly anticipates the next one; if the child is energetic, and sleep and appetite are not declining, if there is no cough or runny nose – you can slightly increase the cold exposure if it does not increase spontaneously, for example, the water gets colder as well. Apathy and unusual drowsiness in the child clearly indicate that the cold exposure was excessive for them and needs to be reduced.

Cold Water Immersion and Pouring by Ivanov

Is this useful for our children? Is it an ultimate goal of hardening? The answer is no! It is not beneficial for children. If a parent wants to push their child's hardening to such heights – let them first go through this path themselves and then decide whether it was worth the effort. This is more of a demonstration of the capabilities of a magnificent immune system; is it really necessary? Walking barefoot in the snow, especially after a sauna, has a strong hardening effect. Let this be the pinnacle of your child's hardening. As they grow, the child will decide for themselves how they want to harden.