Many sensible parents understand how important it is to improve the health of their baby from birth. A very effective, but still rarely used way of hardening and healing is visiting the sauna for babies in their first year of life and older children.
When can you take your child to the bathhouse? How to prepare your baby for the first meeting with the steam room? Which sauna do you prefer—Russian (wet) or Finnish (dry) for hiking with children? Pediatric neurologist of the highest category Tatyana Nikolaeva talks about all this.
How it works
The beneficial effect of the bath is based on the contrast of the temperature effects of water and air on the human body. Under the influence of bath procedures, the skin undergoes deep cleansing. Together with sweat, numerous microbes and other “nasties” are removed, in particular, lactic acid - a companion to fatigue and a feeling of tiredness. That is why after a bath you experience extraordinary lightness, joyful, high spirits.
In the bathhouse, the temperature of the internal organs gradually rises to 38-39°C, which corresponds to a feverish state. At the same time, metabolic processes are sharply accelerated, the body's resistance to the action of pathogenic viruses and bacteria increases, and the immune system is strengthened.
Baths, as you know, are conventionally divided into two types - with moist and dry air. The most famous bathhouse of the first type is the Russian bathhouse with its traditional steam room, where a relatively high air temperature (45-60°C) and high relative humidity (up to 90-100%) are maintained. Among the second type of baths, the Finnish sauna is widely known, where high air temperature (up to 90-100°C) is combined with relatively low humidity (10-15%). For many people (including small children), a “dry” sauna is more comfortable than a “wet” sauna: dry heat is easier to tolerate, because the more humid the air, the more intense its high temperature is felt.
Regardless of the type of bath, after each entry into a hot steam room, it is customary to douse yourself and wash yourself with water, and you can use everything - from a ladle with cool water to an ice hole and wiping with snow.
Family sauna. What do we offer to our clients?
- Finnish sauna and Turkish bath, as well as a Russian steam room.
- A spacious swimming pool with a waterfall, where children will frolic with pleasure.
- Modern media equipment: karaoke, stereo system, satellite TV, WIFI and DVD.
- Various types of massage. High-class specialists from the Kingdom of Thailand are ready to demonstrate their skills to you.
- The spacious lounge can accommodate up to 20 people.
- Spa treatments and jacuzzi.
- European cuisine.
- Extremely beautiful design of the premises, fantastic lighting and stylish decor of the halls.
At your service:
- Finnish sauna
- Pool, plunge pool, waterfall
- 2 Rest rooms
- Banquet hall for up to 20 people.
- Russian billiards
- Satellite TV
- DVD, karaoke
- Music center, WIFI
- Steaming, massage
- European cuisine
.
Is it time for the baby?
Temperature changes in the sauna have a beneficial effect on the body - first of all, it is an excellent training “gymnastics” for blood vessels. When can you take babies to the bathhouse? If the mother did not visit the sauna during pregnancy in a group preparing for childbirth, then it is quite possible to introduce the child to the sauna after a year. Do you want to wait until three, five, seven years, as some experts advise? Great, better late than never. But take into account the peculiarities of the child’s psyche: at two or three years old, for example, during the “three-year crisis”, the baby will probably want to show independence in making any decisions, including visiting the sauna.
In any case, an individual approach is required in this matter! Everything must be adequate: the baby’s mood, the general reaction of the child’s body to the tolerance of different temperature conditions, as well as the heartbeat and skin reaction. Before visiting the sauna, be sure to consult with a modern-minded doctor whom you trust. But every parent should know: if the baby turns pale in the sauna, if he protests extremely violently, immediately take him out of the steam room!
A very important point is the attitude of the parents themselves towards the sauna. Not only in a psychological, but also in a physiological sense: adults understand how important it is to be healthy and hardened, and, overpowering themselves, go to the bathhouse. However, in this case, violence against the body is unacceptable! It is better to find other options for healing procedures. As a rule, the baby inherits from the parents the “readiness” and reaction of blood vessels to stress.
Who is contraindicated for IR radiation?
As with any procedure, there are a number of contraindications for a course of IR therapy:
- tumors of benign and malignant nature;
- acute purulent processes;
- acute diseases with a sharp increase in body temperature;
- active tuberculosis;
- atheroclerosis;
- tendency to profuse bleeding;
- diabetes.
If you have heart disease, you should definitely consult your doctor about visiting an infrared sauna. Other diseases that are not included in the list of contraindications should not be treated without consulting a doctor.
It is believed that a person who can calmly walk for one hour or walk rhythmically for half an hour can visit the sauna without fear for his health.
IR radiation has a positive effect on the general system of the body: it trains and strengthens it. For diseases of the musculoskeletal system, an infrared sauna is the best alternative to a long walk in the fresh air.
Get ready for the sauna!
If during pregnancy the mother took classes in preparation for childbirth with a visit to the sauna and swimming pool, then there is no reason to wait a whole year - you can introduce the child to the bathhouse much earlier. I consider the most acceptable age for this to be 3 months. The first 6 weeks of childbirth are a time of adaptation to new living conditions for both the baby and the mother. At this time, there is no need to make any sudden “body movements”.
Up to three months, carry out a unique preparation of the baby for the meeting with the bath
- swimming in a large home bathtub, washing and dousing the child 1-2 times a day with sea water (1 teaspoon of edible sea salt per glass of proven spring water, the so-called “taste of tears”), or Essentuki-4 mineral water. After you have washed and doused your baby with sea water, use gentle tapping movements (with your fists) to help his skin “dry.” Only in this case, the reorganization of healing moisture will be beneficial and “incorporate” into the structure of the skin, which is necessary.
The baby's skin is gradually preparing for bath overloads, and the child himself becomes more resistant to external irritants. It is good to combine douches with full or partial air baths. When a three-month-old baby is adapted, his positive reaction to undressing and dressing is visible (he does not cry, does not turn blue, does not turn pale, does not shrink, his chin does not tremble, does not start to hiccup when changing clothes), when the baby is absolutely healthy and cheerful - hello, sauna!
If your baby has difficulty getting used to the change in climate, you should not go to the sauna with him! In this case, we can only talk about individual, soft contrast procedures in a home “sea” bath, individual massage and gymnastics.
There are children with so-called emotional immaturity who react negatively even to a small change in home environment, or to the visit of their own grandfather. What can we say about the fact that such a child will have to be taken somewhere, “introduced” to other people and children... Such difficult-to-adapt children must first be harmonized at home - build a core of peace and harmony in the child, do not overload him with sound and visual images, toys . When a baby's emotions are unstable, spasms are likely, which can lead to various diseases (and not only the nervous system!). Ideally, every child under three months should be shown not only to a pediatrician, neurologist and orthopedist, but also to a child psychologist and even a speech therapist.
As you can see, the preparatory period for visiting the sauna is very important for a child, do not skip it!
Baby in the steam room
Your positive emotional attitude towards the sauna will definitely be passed on to your baby! Most likely, there will be no unpleasant surprises. But still, during your first visits, be sure to monitor the fontanel - the soft, non-ossified part of the skull: if the child’s fontanel is swollen, you need to urgently take it out of the steam room!
If your child is breastfed, then, believe me, he will be the most “exemplary” in the steam room - after all, there is a mother nearby, his own warm breast, what else is needed for happiness?
If the baby feels comfortable, he has a good reaction to the steam room - light sweating, a pink body (not bluish, not pale, not purple!), positive emotions. Start with 1 minute in the steam room, no more is needed. For a beginner, 2-3 passes will be enough.
After each visit to the steam room, the baby should be doused with water. Warm, cool or cold - it's up to you. Water of any temperature will be much colder than the skin sensations in the steam room. Therefore, you don’t have to start with an ice shower (although experts and bath lovers prefer truly contrasting procedures!), water at room temperature will already be contrasting.
But pouring or immersing your baby in water is a must if the sauna has a small pool! After all, water has an important functional significance - it removes toxins well, and the skin begins to breathe. That is, in a sauna, dousing with water is necessary not only as a hardening procedure, but also as a hygienic one. For the first time, it is better to douse the baby in the mother’s arms; we place an older child on a cotton towel or on a wooden grid (individual!).
If your baby has been accustomed to being doused with cold water since birth, then do not make an exception in the sauna. And if mom and dad start to wet themselves, the child will be simply happy - a friendly reaction in the company of parents is very important even for a baby, let alone older children.
Losing weight under infrared rays
The infrared sauna also addresses the issue of beauty of one’s own body, which interests all ladies. It has been proven that infrared rays have a negative effect on fat deposits and contribute to the effective fight against excess weight.
A ten-kilometer run can be easily replaced with just one session of infrared therapy. By accelerating blood flow and metabolism, fat deposits are effectively burned in a short time.
The appearance of the skin is transformed: cellulite disappears, it becomes more elastic and smooth. In the infrared sauna you can remove sagging skin and completely renew your body beyond recognition in a few sessions.
A combination of proper nutrition, physical activity and a visit to the infrared cabin will give incredible results in the fight against extra pounds - you can lose a lot of weight in 2-3 months.
Who is not welcome in the sauna?
There are relative and absolute contraindications for visiting the bathhouse. Absolute contraindications are the acute course of any disease
: high temperature (in this case, convulsions and even cardiac arrest are possible in the bath!), sore throat, flu, exacerbation of pyelonephritis, etc. In these cases, home contrast thermal procedures are indicated that normalize blood circulation and reduce temperature: apply hot towels moistened with camphor oil to the baby’s feet and hands, and, on the contrary, put “cold” on the main vessels.
It is also strictly forbidden to visit the sauna in case of acute otitis (today it is catarrhal, tomorrow it is purulent), sinusitis, furunculosis and other purulent inflammatory and infectious diseases
, even if there is no increase in temperature. By the way, for chronic sinusitis, the sauna is very useful in combination with “sea” procedures: the process is already sluggish, heat will not hurt, the sanitization of the maxillary sinuses occurs outward.
You will have to give up the sauna even if you have “blue” congenital heart defects. But not all children and adults with heart problems should be deprived of the sauna: a short, literally a few seconds, stay in the steam room will become a real holiday for the whole body! Don't miss out on this pleasure...
Relative contraindications include pustular lesions and skin diseases
. In this case, the skin has special “parameters”, so the regime for visiting the bathhouse should be more gentle, and dousing is done only with “sea” water (tear-tasting, see above). Many parents whose children suffer from atopic dermatitis (in common parlance - diathesis) know: it is at sea that children improve, their skin becomes less vulnerable.
If a child inherits many moles
, then he needs to be careful with the sun and any thermal procedures. You can visit the sauna (don’t sit in the steam room for a long time!), but you should avoid strong rubbing and rough mechanical impacts on moles.
Rules for visiting a Russian bath
Before going to the steam room, you need to learn the rules of visiting a Russian bathhouse so as not to harm your body.
First, you need to take a warm shower without soap, because oil-free skin is more sensitive to high temperatures. After drying your skin with a towel and putting a felt hat on your head, go to the steam room. It is imperative to protect your head from overheating. Make sure that the bath cap does not pull your head too tightly; it should fit snugly, but not squeeze your head like a hoop.
Before climbing onto the shelves, sit below so that your body gradually adapts to the high temperature. Lie freely on the shelf, breathe through your nose, deeply inhale the aroma of steamed brooms.
“In a bathhouse, a broom is more valuable than money.” What kind of brooms do steam lovers use! There are oak, birch, eucalyptus, conifer, and even... nettle. The latter is used for joint diseases, radiculitis, myositis. It is, of course, not suitable for children. Any broom releases phytoncides that have a bactericidal effect, and essential oils improve metabolism in the skin, increasing its elasticity.
After a good warm-up, it’s time to use the broom. Like a regular massage, you should start by lightly stroking the body with branches, gradually increasing the impact and using the entire broom. Alternate whipping movements with a broom with rubbing and stroking movements. This massage stimulates blood circulation and improves metabolic processes.
Bath experts bring with them bottles with different aromas, which they add to the water to pour over the hot stones.
The duration of stay in the steam room for an adult is 6-7 minutes; some champions last much longer. But for a child, 2-3 minutes is enough so as not to harm his well-being. After the steam room, welcome to the pool, take a cool shower or go to the lake. Who likes what! But seasoned individuals are not forbidden to plunge headlong into an ice hole.
According to the rules for visiting the bathhouse, entering the steam room can be repeated 2-3 times with a subsequent reduction in the load. Then the body itself is washed with soap and a washcloth, ending with a cool shower.
After such a visit to the bathhouse, you will feel cheerfulness and freshness, a surge of efficiency and a good mood.
In a Russian bath, the air temperature in the steam room reaches 60-70 ° C, and the relative humidity is 80-90%. At high ambient temperatures, sweating increases, but high humidity makes it difficult to evaporate from the surface of the body, and the body can overheat. Therefore, staying in a steam room for a long time is dangerous to health.
When the bathhouse is the second mother
For children who are often sick
A bathhouse can be almost the only savior from eternal handkerchiefs, coughs and red throats. Soft contrasting and hardening bath procedures strengthen the cardiovascular system, stimulate the immune system, cleanse the skin, and promote the removal of mucus. And if you skillfully use the “correct” broom and medicinal additives (eucalyptus, linden, chamomile, etc.), then the child also receives active inhalation.
But all this will be effective only if the baby has a positive attitude towards the sauna, if you talk about health and hardening in an emotionally positive way. Will a child want to go to the bathhouse if getting ready for it is accompanied by tedious conversations like “Well, if this doesn’t help, then you are completely frail and sick”?
When the acute condition of any cold is over
, the baby is recovering - you are welcome to the sauna! “Farewell” to the disease will be faster and more pleasant.
Today, many medical institutions, including regional children's clinics, offer classes in a children's sauna. First of all, children with muscular dystonia, with injuries and post-traumatic conditions, frequently ill children and asthmatic children
. Yes, the sauna also cures asthma! For asthmatic children, visiting the sauna is not at all contraindicated, as many parents think; rather, on the contrary, the steam room relieves asthmatic attacks well and relieves bronchospasms. But for such children a special regime is needed - with control of breathing rate, heartbeat, etc. It must be provided by medical professionals.
For vegetative-vascular dystonia
The effect of the sauna is beneficial in most cases. But start gradually, using a gentle regimen.
Finally, I must warn you: the expected positive changes in the baby’s health will only occur with regular (for example, weekly) visits to the bathhouse. Once or twice will not bring any benefit. Return there after illness, spring thaw, which does not allow you to go to a dacha with a sauna, or, conversely, a dacha holiday, which does not allow you to visit a sauna in the city, after everyday troubles and worries, to say again: “Hello, sauna!”
From the lives of famous bathhouse lovers
Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin truly appreciated the “splendor of the Russian bath” and studied the “bath” customs of other nations. The poet became addicted to the bathhouse from childhood, and did not miss going to the lyceum: every Saturday there was a bathhouse, that was his routine.
It is believed that it was largely thanks to hardening and regular visits to the bathhouse that the famous Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov became a strong and resilient person. The magazine “Zamechatel” noted in 1842: “In the bathhouse, Suvorov withstood the terrible heat on a shelf, after which ten buckets of cold water were poured on him...”.
Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin recalled: “My father and I washed and steamed for hours, until we were tired, until we were exhausted. And then, when I left home, I remember: no matter what city I came to, the first thing I did, if I had at least one nickel in my pocket, was to go to the bathhouse and there endlessly washed myself, lathered myself, doused myself, steamed, scalded, and again started all over again." (S.E. Rosenfeld. “The Tale of Chaliapin”).
This is interesting
In Rus', baths were built not only to keep the body clean, but also to harden, preserve health, youth and beauty. Even newborn babies were bathed in a bathhouse in warm water with a small amount of lye instead of soap made from straw ash (more delicate than wood); they began to steam the baby in the bathhouse early with a birch broom, after having previously lubricated the baby’s skin with a thick layer of yeast and wrapped him in a diaper. Now it’s funny to read about this: running water and hot water, comfortable baths and showers quite cope with the hygienic and cosmetic functions of the bathhouse. Nevertheless, the bathhouse, having withstood serious competition with apartment bathrooms, is experiencing a kind of revival. And not only in Russia!
Prepared by Olga Nikolaeva
Article from the July issue of the magazine.
