Children in the bath: contraindications and benefits of high temperatures

The bathhouse has always been associated with something serious, adult and thorough. And you don’t have to remember the notorious “really boys’ saunas” from the acclaimed TV series “Gangster Petersburg”. Even in fairly respectable establishments, high air temperatures and high humidity place high demands on the human body, but how will a fragile child, a child, behave in such an extreme situation? The topic of today's conversation is children in the bathhouse. Is it possible, how much, and is it necessary at all?

A little history

When considering the question of whether it is possible to go to the bathhouse with children, many expert copies are broken and different opinions are expressed, very often contradicting not only common sense and elementary logic, but, sometimes, even oneself. Proponents of the idea of “permissiveness” directly state that from time immemorial in Rus' such a tradition as a family bath with children has been practiced. They say that from childhood the average family took their offspring with them and even a young child in the bathhouse did not cause any complaints.

But in those distant times, the bathhouse was heated in a dark way and the risk of exposure to a number of negative factors, say, carbon monoxide, increased many times over. That's right. But in those glorious times, the village bathhouse performed a function primarily of a sanitary nature, since a dedicated room with a hot bath became available to the bulk of the population only after the assumption of office by the First Secretary, a great fighter for world peace and for the happiness of the working people - Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev with its legendary “Khrushchev buildings”.

The Russian bathhouse performed health-improving functions, first of all, for the adult male population engaged in heavy physical work in the forest and field, and for the elderly - to suppress the manifestation of symptoms of a rheumatic nature. They used it as maternity premises, since it was the bathhouse, for lack of a better one, that was used by midwives, and let’s say, not unsuccessfully, for childbirth.

Nobody purposefully made children healthier. Growing up in the fresh air, actively spending time playing and helping adults, under conditions of high physical activity, there was no question of additional health improvement and strengthening the immune system. Let's repeat it again. In the times of original Rus', a bathhouse for children had the function of a washing room and nothing more.

How to steam properly

The steam room is the heart of the sauna. During soft steaming, we try to ventilate the steam room more often and maintain the temperature no higher than 60-70 degrees. If you come to the bathhouse for the first time, I recommend you the following scheme:

• To begin with, you go into the steam room 2-3 times just to sit and warm up, after which you can take a warm or slightly cool shower.

• After this, it’s good to lightly rub the body with salt: it will open the pores and increase the process of sweating; massage the salt over the entire body, including the head, hair, and don’t forget to thoroughly rub the feet. Rinse off the salt in the shower.

• Now you can come in for the first time with a broom. It is important that someone prepares brooms for you in advance (they should have time to steam properly, become soft and fragrant) and a steam room (ventilate, pour water on the stones and wait 1-2 minutes until the steam “sits”). Moving with a broom is an art. The wider the leaves of the broom, the greater the effect of pumping steam into the body; the smaller the leaf, the better the massage effect. At first, focus on your feelings, look for the most pleasant ones, experiment. As soon as you feel satiated with the procedure, go out into a cool shower to wash off sweat, leaves and prepare for deeper cooling. Then, if possible, slowly lower your head into the cold water bath and slowly come out of the water. If there is no font, basins of cold water are prepared in advance and poured over the head and body. Afterwards you go to rest for 5-10 minutes and drink tea.

• These sessions can be repeated as much as you like, gradually increasing the heat-cold difference, i.e., warming up more in the steam room and cooling down more in the font. Such “swings” provide all of the above beneficial effects of the bath, improve microcirculation of the capillary network and provide a lymphatic drainage effect. After each approach, it is important to rest, preferably lying down.

• Don't forget to take time to treat your skin and hair. Take a break from steaming, wash, take care of your body.

• A special pleasure is to steam “on a clean body.” You can make several passes - as your heart desires!

• It is important to always be attentive to yourself and your well-being. It's not scary to get hypothermic in the bathhouse! It's scary to overheat! Measure everything with your inner feeling.

From the point of view of modern man

In the modern world, the situation has changed dramatically. Children's games in the fresh air have become a rarity. Who among today’s children will remember such amusements as “Cossack robbers”, “baker”, “knockout” and others, which a student of the harsh 50s can easily name you a couple of dozen. The current social environment has been successfully replaced by the tablet. It replaces not only real friends and comrades, but also a game of football on the nearest playground.

Physical inactivity, oxygen starvation and weakened immunity have become a real scourge of the modern child. Perhaps, in this case, the sauna for children will become a kind of lifesaver? Let's not rush, it's not that simple.

Madonna and Child in the sauna

The best way to experience a sauna is in your mother's arms. And even better - at my mother's breast. This is the most powerful sedative. In addition, it was found that lactation increases in 80% of nursing mothers in the sauna. On your first visit, spend literally one minute in the sauna.

Carefully monitor the fontanel; under no circumstances should it be allowed to swell. A normal reaction to increased temperature in the sauna: slight sweating, pink (not red!) skin, good health, the baby does not turn pale, does not cry.

Immediately after warming up, be sure to pour water over the child (it would be good to prepare it in advance before entering the steam room). If you are not a supporter of extremism, then the water does not have to be icy. Even if it is just at room temperature, the temperature contrast after the steam room will still be noticeable. This is not only a hardening, but also a hygienic procedure, because you need to wash away sweat and toxins from the skin, then it will be easier for it to breathe.

And now you can relax - sit together, wrapped in a towel, drink tea or splash in the pool.

These three phases - steam room, cooling, rest - are the main components of the bath ritual. It is in this sequence that they are repeated as many times as you feel comfortable with. Usually, for the first visit, two or three visits to the steam room are enough. Over time, the baby will get used to longer stays in the sauna. But don't rush it just yet!

The main factors determining the acceptance of bathing procedures by children

There are several fundamental factors that determine the safety of procedures taken in a bathhouse, and we will dwell on each of them separately.

Public bath as a high-risk area

We talked a lot about the public bathhouse, for all its positive aspects, it is precisely this kind of bathhouse with children that does not correspond to safety in the best way. Why? There are several reasons:

A large number of people place a high sanitary load on both bath items and the bath interior itself.
Often, the bath is used as a treatment tool for both chronic and a number of acute diseases. This circumstance predetermines a high concentration of pathogenic microflora in the internal volume of the bathhouse. Among other things, the warm and humid environment of the bathhouse contributes not only to the preservation of pathogenic organisms, but also to their development and reproduction. Even regularly carried out sanitary and hygienic measures to improve the internal environment cannot guarantee the complete elimination of microbes.
We should not forget that public baths, or rather their administrators, do not require visitors to undergo a mandatory medical examination to ensure they do not have dermatological diseases, including fungal diseases, although this practice is necessarily applied to visitors to swimming pools in sports complexes. There is no need to talk about the insidiousness of fungal infections of the feet. Much has been said about this already.
In a public bath it is very difficult to regulate the microclimate of the steam room, in which the sauna will be an absolutely comfortable place for a family with children. Thus, one can often observe a picture when steam generators are configured for hard, high-temperature steam, so beloved by the male half of our country for a cold beer.

This regime is very difficult for children to tolerate for a number of objective reasons.

Features of the child’s body’s perception of an environment with elevated temperature and humidity

It seems that the same sauna is perceived differently by children and adults. There is an explanation for this.

Important! At the stage of formation of a child’s body at the age of 28–30 months, the thermoregulation system through sweating does not yet work correctly, therefore, balancing the thermal load and the body’s regime requires more delicate conditions than those that we can observe in a classic bath.

Therefore, the bathhouse and children require a more careful approach regarding:

Peak temperature in a steam room. In most cases, the maximum temperature on the bottom shelf of the steam room should not exceed 45 - 47 degrees. If a child takes procedures in the upper zones, then this rule should apply to them;
Time spent in it. Taking into account the above-mentioned temperature load, the total time spent in the steam room should be within 25% of the time spent there by a healthy adult;
You cannot use procedures that are based on alternating hot and cold environments, the so-called “contrast”;
The same applies to rubbing with snow, no matter how much their benefits are extolled by the adherents of this trend;
In terms of maintaining an optimal water-salt balance, which is provided by a sufficient amount of warm table-type mineral water.

A word from Experienced! Table mineral water differs from medicinal water by having a lower concentration of active mineral elements, which allows it to be used as a drink for everyday use, and not as part of a regulated treatment cycle.

The age of children at which they can take gentle bath procedures

The question of at what age can a child go to the bathhouse is perhaps the most pressing in today’s topic. The practice and opinion of authoritative specialists in the field of pediatrics shows the following gradation of age groups when visiting the bathhouse:

Before 24 months, bathing procedures are not recommended at all. At this time, it is useful to instill in your child the basics of free behavior in the aquatic environment. To do this, a home bath with warm, comfortable water is enough;
From 24 to 36 months, it is possible to become familiar with elevated temperatures, based on the principles described above. This also applies to the temperature regime and time spent and the absence of contrasting influences and other fundamental points based on the understanding that the body of a child and an adult is strikingly different, including in the quality and resources of thermoregulation;
From the age of 3, you can carry out activities for a gradual transition from the bathhouse as a means of hygiene to its general strengthening, hardening properties.
From 6 to 7 years old, you can use the steam room with caution as a means of fighting colds at the stage of the initial manifestation of the disease;
From the age of 12, a child can be adapted to various environmental conditions in a steam room, be it a classic steam room or an infrared cabin. The question of whether children can go to a dry-air sauna can only be asked from now on;
From 16 to 17 years of age, with normal development of the child’s body, restrictions on the reasonable use of steam can be completely removed.

Objective contraindications for bathing procedures for children of all ages

It can be considered good manners to have consultations regarding a child from a specialized doctor. The benefits of the bath for children are determined by the absence of contraindications. These unconditionally include:

Respiratory diseases associated with the rapid development of their course, accompanied by an increase in body temperature above 37.6 degrees;
Persistent nasal congestion. Exposure to elevated temperatures can provoke swelling of the mucous membranes, which will further aggravate the course of the disease;
Heart rhythm disturbances, of any etiology:
Asymptomatic changes in blood pressure;
Nosebleeds, regardless of their nature;
Neoplasms of any nature;
Inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eye.

Attention! This list of diseases is not exhaustive, so we repeat once again that qualified consultation with a specialist for health problems of any nature is mandatory.

For whom the bath is contraindicated

Regardless of age, you cannot visit the bathhouse:

After operations.
With pathologies of the cardiovascular system.
With kidney diseases.
With unstable blood pressure.
With neurological diseases.
With a tendency to allergic reactions.
With cancer.
With skin irritations.
With exacerbation of chronic diseases.

You should also not visit the bathhouse for the purpose of post-treatment of previous colds, coughs, or runny nose. Under the influence of temperature, purulent accumulations remaining in the upper respiratory tract can go down and block the passage, causing complications.

Rules for using the steam room for young visitors

Such components of a pleasant holiday as children and a bath will never conflict with each other if you follow a number of rules, namely:

A visit to the steam room can be done if the child, like the soldier, gets up from the table slightly hungry. Overeating, as well as taking thermal procedures on an empty stomach, do not bode well.
Entering the steam room should be preceded by the body getting used to it, gradually entering into thermal tone in a warm dressing room. This is especially true in the cold season in frosty weather.
The steam room should be sufficiently illuminated by natural or artificial light. Firstly, it protects the baby from negative feelings, emotions and manifestations, on the other hand, it allows you to constantly visually monitor his well-being. Do not forget that heat injury in children develops more quickly than in adults.
A mandatory attribute of a children's bath set should be considered a bath cap made of soft, delicate felt and slippers - slippers made of hypoallergenic silicone, with sufficient friction properties to avoid falling on a slippery floor.
Before entering the steam room, you need to rinse your baby under a warm shower. There is no need to use detergents. Let your skin pores open naturally.
It is useful for small visitors to the bathhouse to have a foot massage before the thermal part of the program. This will balance blood circulation in the lower body.
Do not forget that the most optimal body position in the steam room is horizontal. A medium-pile linen or cotton towel, the size of which should exceed the user's arm span by 30%, will allow children to sit comfortably on the shelf.
A children's bath may well be limited to two visits, and the second, in duration, may overlap the first by 12 - 15%, but no more.
The bathhouse, children, brooms should be associated, first of all, with the linden tree. The structure of its leaf is the most delicate and does not cause negative emotions, unlike the use of birch or oak. At an early age, the use of broom therapy should be completely abandoned.
Salts and flavorings should be used with great care. There is a very large range of synthetic drugs on the modern market. They can be successfully replaced by a decoction of classical, generally applicable and well-known herbs.

A children's sauna should be based only on voluntary principles and the natural desire of the child to join this activity. Parental pressure, even if it is gentle, is not appropriate here. Everything has its time.

Can children take a steam bath?

You can steam a child with a broom from the age of 5 years. But if the child is categorically against it, you should not insist on the procedure. In any case, even just being in the steam room will have a positive effect on the child’s health - the aroma of steamed brooms and herbs acts like inhalation.

If your child doesn’t mind taking a steam bath, then choose a broom with soft soft leaves, for example, birch or linden. First, rinse the broom, then steam it in hot water, and thoroughly shake off excess moisture before use.

Do not steam your child too intensely; use the broom delicately. Pay special attention to the legs and arms, and it’s better to just gently stroke the back and stomach with a broom.