What are the types of air baths. Healthy food. Rules for air baths for newborns

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Sun and air are the best beauticians.

Air baths are one of the hardening methods (air hardening), when freely moving air acts on a partially or completely naked body. The healing power of fresh air lies in its richness in oxygen, light ions, phytoncides and other substances beneficial to the body. The main factor affecting a person is air temperature. The air layer between the body and clothing usually has a constant temperature of about 27-28 ° C, and as soon as the human body is freed from clothing, heat transfer immediately becomes more intense. By irritating the nerve endings of the skin, the air improves breathing and oxygenation of the blood, and its movement reflexively enhances the processes of heat generation and heat transfer. At the same time, the intensity of oxidative processes and metabolism increases, as well as the tone of the muscular and nervous systems, the body's thermoregulation systems are trained, appetite and sleep improve, mood rises. Blood pressure normalizes, blood flow accelerates, and the activity of the respiratory system improves markedly.

Start taking air baths in a pre-ventilated room. Then, as they harden, they are taken in the open air. You should undress quickly so that the air bath affects the entire surface of the naked body at once and causes a quick energetic reaction of the body. It is impossible to allow a feeling of chilliness, the appearance of "goosebumps". At the same time, it is recommended to do some vigorous physical exercises, to go for a run. Air procedures are the first step to

From the moment of birth, the baby is not an absolutely helpless and defenseless creature. Nature has endowed the child's body with all sorts of protective mechanisms, for example, thermoregulation, thanks to which he is able to avoid both overheating and hypothermia. All this is provided for in the physiology of the crumbs so that, having got into a new environment with living conditions that differ from those in which he grew up while he was in his mother's stomach, he could exist and develop normally.

An important ability of a newborn baby is thermoregulation.

If, however, you constantly create conditions for the child that resemble greenhouse ones, then over time, the innate protective functions will simply cease to function as unnecessary. Such excessive and irrational care can lead to the fact that any, even the most insignificant, draft will become dangerous for the little one.

It is at an early age that the body's endurance and resistance to regularly changing environmental conditions are laid down. For these purposes, it is necessary to harden the crumbs with the help of water procedures, air and sun baths. This method will not only prevent the defense mechanisms from atrophying, but will also strengthen them.

Basic principles of hardening

Before you start hardening your baby, you need to find out the basic principles of this process. This is important so that the hardening procedures give a stable positive result, and not, on the contrary, negatively affect the health of the crumbs. Hardening will be effective if the following rules are observed:

  1. Systematic and regular. The child should be hardened constantly, regardless of seasonal conditions, without taking long breaks in the process. It is desirable that they become an integral part of the crumbs' life routine along with sleeping, washing, walking and playing. When the baby gets used to them, and it does not take much time, they will take on the character of ordinary everyday activities.
  2. Consistency and continuity. It is necessary to gradually increase the duration of the procedures and consistently, not abruptly, lower the air temperature during the hardening process. This rule is paramount for young children and those who have a weakened body.
  3. Age and individual characteristics. When carrying out hardening, it is always worth considering the physical condition and age of the child. Special care should be taken when hardening weaker children, but it is imperative to deal with such procedures with them. In case of illness, it is necessary to find out from the doctor which of the procedures can be continued with at least a lower impact force. However, if it is necessary to stop hardening until the moment of complete recovery, at the end of the disease, the procedure will have to be started from the very beginning.
  4. Good mood of the little one and freedom of movement. Hardening procedures will not bring the desired effect and will rather be useless if carried out with a crying and restless child. The baby should not be afraid of the hardening process.
  5. Monitoring the condition of the arms, legs and nose of the baby before and at the time of hardening. They must be and remain warm. Severe hypothermia due to cool air can adversely affect the children's body.


Air baths should be done regularly, while you need to monitor the condition of the crumbs

air hardening

Air hardening procedures are very simple and do not require special knowledge, skills and devices. The only thing that is required from parents is their time and desire to lay a good foundation in the health of their child. It is also useful to know how to harden correctly and how much in duration and frequency to carry out specific procedures. There are three main methods of air hardening. It:

  • ventilation;
  • walks in the open air;
  • air and sun baths.

Room ventilation

The easiest way to air harden, which does not require the participation of a newborn, is airing. The best effect gives a through method. To do this, open windows and doors in a ventilated room. Thus, the room will circulate the air that has entered it from the street. Naturally, during this period the child should not be there. Only after the room is filled with freshness, and the air temperature in it drops by 1-2 degrees, you can bring the baby back in after closing the windows. There is no need to change into warmer clothes after airing.



Ventilation is a mandatory daily condition for keeping a child in the house. This event will not only reduce the temperature in the room, but also saturate the air with moisture, which is so necessary for the child to breathe.

When it is cold outside, the ventilation procedure should be carried out every day 4-5 times for 10-15 minutes. During the summer season, the windows in the house should be open all the time.

Pediatricians recommend maintaining the air temperature in the room where the newborn is most of the time, within 18-22 degrees Celsius. According to research, higher room temperatures affect the rate of growth and development of crumbs.

Walks in the open air

The more time you spend outdoors in the open air, the better. In the summer, you can sleep, feed, play, exercise, and so on outside. However, you need to walk not only in summer, but also at any time of the year. It is important to dress your child appropriately for the weather, but try not to wrap them up too much.

After discharge from the hospital, all mothers are concerned about the issue related to walks, namely when you can go out for a walk with a newborn and how long the walks should last. If the air temperature outside does not drop below minus 5 degrees Celsius, then a baby at the age of 2-3 weeks can be safely taken out for a walk. The first walk should not last more than 10-15 minutes. Gradually, this time should be increased and brought up to 1.5-2 hours. It is advisable to walk at least 2 times a day. When it is warm, the number of walks can be more, and their duration varies from 2 to 2.5 hours. You can walk between feedings both during the period of wakefulness and go to sleep for the baby. In principle, up to 1.5 years, it is preferable to spend a child's daytime sleep in the fresh air.

As for the correct dressing of a newborn on the street, there are a number of signs by which it is easy to understand that the child is comfortable in the clothes that he is wearing. He:

  • fast asleep;
  • falls asleep easily and quickly;
  • breathes evenly;
  • does not sweat;
  • he has a rosy complexion and warm limbs.


Walking with a child should be arranged as often as possible, while it is important to select the necessary clothes that are comfortable for the baby.

In case of severe hypothermia, restless sleep is observed, the nose and limbs become cold, and the face acquires a blue tint. Overheating is similarly characterized by restless sleep, plus the baby's forehead sweats and the skin becomes wet. It is also important that during walks the baby is more in the shade and well protected from the wind.

Air baths - this is the child being naked indoors or outdoors for some time. Procedures of this kind are useful for the body in that they:

  • increase the resistance of the child's body to infectious diseases, especially infections that affect the respiratory organs;
  • contribute to the fact that the process of thermoregulation is normalized in babies;
  • prevent inflammatory diseases of the skin;
  • improve the state of the nervous system, the baby becomes calmer;
  • increase the absorption and saturation of the body with oxygen;
  • induce good appetite and sound sleep.

To arrange room air baths with a newborn should begin after 2-3 weeks after his birth. It is also important to follow certain rules, namely:

  1. In the first month of life, air baths consist in swaddling, that is, when changing diapers, you can leave a naked baby to lie for 1-2 minutes. It is enough to do this 2-3 times daily.
  2. At 1.5 months, hardening can be combined with gymnastics and massage, while gradually lowering the temperature to 18-20 degrees.
  3. For 6 months, the time of procedures should be increased to 10 minutes, conducting them 2 times a day. You can start with 3 minutes and add a minute every day.
  4. It is important not to overcool the baby in the process. When the first signs of hypothermia appear in the form of goosebumps, you need to immediately put on the crumbs and reduce the duration of the procedures in the future (we recommend reading:). If sleep and appetite are disturbed, it is worth stopping air baths for a certain period.

Sunbathing is best done in the morning, before the sun bakes too much.

In the summer, the ideal option is a combination of air baths with sunbathing. If the latter are carried out correctly, they will have a very beneficial effect on the body. The benefits of exposure to ultraviolet rays include:

  • death of pathogenic microbes;
  • improved metabolism and absorption of nutrients;
  • improvement of the qualitative composition of the blood;
  • increase resistance to various diseases, in particular rickets.

It is important to know the measure in the use of sunbathing, so as not to harm the baby. The ideal age to start such procedures is 1 year, although you can start doing them as early as six months.

Hardening by the sun should be carried out in the morning from 9.00 to 11.00 or after 16.00. During these hours, the child will receive the maximum amount of ultraviolet radiation with minimal thermal exposure. You can spend sunbathing when the thermometer shows more than 13-20 degrees in the shade. The first procedures should last about 1-2 minutes. It is necessary to bring the duration to 5-10 minutes, increasing it by 1 minute every two days.

Hardening the baby in the sun, it is important to protect it. To protect his eyes, he should wear a hat with a large brim. Also, it is necessary to start the procedures only half an hour after eating, and after they are finished, you can pour water over the baby with a temperature of 28-32 ° C. It is also worth considering the fact that children with red and blond hair are more sensitive to the sun and they overheat faster.

Human health begins with an attentive attitude towards oneself. And the point here is not in pills, potions or injections, but with a culture of hardening. Its positive influence has been known since time immemorial!

Air hardening is the most affordable way to improve health and boost immunity, effective for adults and children. And here's a tip: in order not to get sick tomorrow, you need to start taking air baths today.

Fresh air is better than medicine

The systematic "hardening" of a person should begin just with taking air baths. After all, this method is the most gentle for the body. Oxygen enters not only through the lungs, but also through the pores of the skin; low temperatures promote rejuvenation.

In general, it is time to answer the question: what effect does this type of hardening have on human health?

  • immunity increases;
  • thermoregulation processes are activated;
  • metabolism is accelerated;
  • improves the state of the nervous system;
  • the level of hemoglobin in the blood increases;
  • increases the elasticity of the skin.

In addition, air hardening has a positive effect on the condition of people suffering from cardiovascular diseases, depression and even overweight. It is not surprising, because this procedure helps to better endure sudden changes in temperature: extreme heat in summer and frost in winter.

As a result, human health becomes significantly better within a year after the start of hardening. Moreover, we are dealing with a rare case when there are practically no contraindications to the procedure. This list is amazingly short, here it is: elevated body temperature; acute form of diseases; chronic diseases in recession.

The main thing is to know some rules of "smart" hardening and strictly follow them.

We take care of health from a young age

The ideal time to discover for a person the hardening of the body with air is infancy. This procedure is recommended for babies from birth, so parents help the body of children to cope with temperature changes on their own. The technique is simple: children should be left naked for a few minutes in a well-ventilated area. At first, the temperature in the room can vary between + 24-26 degrees, but gradually this figure must be reduced to +18 degrees.

In autumn and winter, the windows in the children's room must be kept open at night; walks with parents should be daily. If it's summer outside, children need to be undressed right down to their diapers. However, even in the cool season, children should not be “overloaded” with clothes so as not to disrupt the fragile system of thermoregulation.

However, at a certain point, parents who actively practice hardening their children face the question: do they share their point of view in kindergarten? After all, not every kindergarten is ready to ensure that the kids take regular air baths.

In fact, in a good kindergarten, where they pay attention to the health and development of children, hardening is a mandatory procedure. Educators organize exercises in the fresh air or in a well-ventilated area; windows open during sleep are a prerequisite; and the duration of street walks should be at least 3-4 hours a day. The rules are simple but effective. Therefore, if they are neglected in kindergarten, then your child simply should not go there.

However, both in kindergarten and beyond, the baby should be as interested in hardening as possible. Therefore, the task of parents is to explain in an accessible language the need for this procedure, to interest children in joint walks and outdoor games. And the good health of the baby will be the main reward for the efforts spent.

It's never too late to temper

There are some rules for hardening for children, and others for an adult. In this case, "acquaintance" with cool air should begin with a partial exposure of the legs, arms, neck. The optimal temperature for beginners is +20 degrees, but you should not relax! Very soon it will have to be lowered to +10 degrees. The duration of the bath in this case should reach the mark of 20 minutes.

But this is not the limit! The next step is hardening at +5 degrees. This temperature has the most positive effect on human health. Blood vessels expand, blood rushes to the surface of the skin, improving heat transfer processes.

However, the manifestation of "aerobatics" is hardening at temperatures below +4 degrees. Such an air bath is classified as “very cold”, but at the same time very effective. Its influence extends to various systems of the human body. And some supporters of this procedure argue that it helps prevent the development of cancer and slows down the aging process.

The most important thing is not to go to extremes and not try to take long air baths at extremely low temperatures.

A clear sign that it is time to stop the procedure is the appearance of chills, trembling, severe burning in the skin, clouding of consciousness. In this case, human health is in serious danger, so you need to urgently run home and warm up!

If hardening occurs correctly, a person feels a surge of strength, his mood rises, and a healthy blush appears on his cheeks. It is this effect that fresh air has on the emotional state and appearance of people.

There are rules, following which you can achieve the maximum effect from hardening a person with air baths. Let's remember them.

  1. Morning hardening should occur immediately after the person woke up.
  2. The ideal option is to combine the procedure with physical exercises, dancing, jogging.
  3. During the day, baths are taken no earlier than an hour and a half after eating.
  4. The optimal place for hardening with fresh air is parks, green areas, and private plots. The presence of coniferous trees and reservoirs nearby will have a beneficial effect on human health. But in the absence of these green "oases", a balcony may also come up.
  5. An excellent final point will be the adoption of a contrast shower - it will only enhance the positive effect of air baths.

The most important rule for everyone - both adults and children: hardening should become a way of life, and not a temporary hobby.

On the other hand, there are situations in which air hardening is not recommended. This list includes damp, windy weather, as well as an atmosphere polluted with harmful emissions. It is not recommended to improve your health near highways, factories and garbage dumps. Otherwise, the harm from the procedure will be more than good.

… Hardening with air is an excellent “prelude” to starting a new, more difficult stage of work on oneself: hardening with water. Taken together, these procedures improve health and are an integral part of a happy and long life!

The most common, easily accessible means hardening are air baths. They prepare the body for subsequent hardening procedures, such as hardening with water. When using air baths, one should adhere to the same principles as with other methods of hardening, that is, take them systematically, consistently increasing the time spent in air and gradually lowering its temperature. In this case, one should take into account the individual characteristics of the body - age, state of health, degree of hardening, lifestyle. The dosage of air baths is carried out in two ways: a gradual decrease in air temperature and an increase in the duration of the procedure at the same temperature. Starting to take air baths, care must be taken, especially for people. sensitive to cold. Strictly observing gradualness in hardening, in the future it is possible to take air baths without any risk even at temperatures below zero. This requires preliminary systematic training, which will help develop in a person the habit of withstanding the action of low temperatures.

Start taking air baths it is necessary in a room, regardless of the time of year, at an air temperature of at least 15-16 degrees, and only after a while you can already move to the open air. They are taken in a well-ventilated area. Having exposed the body, one should remain in this state at the beginning of the hardening course for no more than 3-5 minutes. In the future, with good health, you can add one minute daily, increasing the total duration of air baths to 20-25 minutes.

When taking cool and especially cold baths in order to avoid hypothermia, it is recommended to make active movements: gymnastic exercises, walking, running in place or doing some kind of housework. After two or three weeks, air baths can be combined with other hardening procedures: rubbing, dousing the body with water of different temperatures. Such a combined effect enhances the functional activity of the body and increases the tone of the nervous system, improves the general well-being of a person. At home, along with taking air baths, it is useful to walk barefoot around the room daily. A good tempering procedure is sleeping in the fresh air: whether in a bedroom with windows and a window open at night or in a sleeping bag on the veranda or balcony. It is necessary to accustom yourself to this from an air temperature of at least 5 degrees.

Outdoor air baths should be taken in places protected from direct sunlight and strong winds. To do this, you can choose a clearing in the forest, a platform on the banks of a river, lake or sea, protected by trees or mountains.

It is necessary to start taking air baths in the open air from an air temperature of 20-22 degrees. The first air bath should last no more than 15 minutes. Each subsequent one should be longer than the previous one by 10-15 minutes. Thus, it is possible to bring the duration of air baths in the fresh air up to 1-1.5 hours.

For young and middle-aged people who have been previously hardened, taking air baths can begin with an air temperature of 17-20 degrees. with a duration of the procedure up to 10 minutes. Total duration 40 min.

Taking cool and especially cold baths it is better to combine with various physical exercises: jogging, gymnastics, brisk walking, gardening or gardening. Taking air baths in the open air should begin no earlier than 1.5-2 hours after eating and finish them 30 minutes before eating. You can not take baths before the onset of chills. If this happens, then with the help of energy movements you need to warm up and put on warm clothes.

An important condition for the effectiveness of hardening in the open air is the wearing of clothing appropriate to weather conditions. The hardening effect is observed when the clothes allow free air circulation.

>>> Air baths and fresh air

Some scientists compare the value of air for humans with the value of water for fish. There is much fairness in this comparison. No man can live without air, nor a fish without water. Based on this, according to some biologists, air baths are much more beneficial for humans than bathing in cold water. If you want to know more about this, read our article.

Air baths remarkably regulate the work of the nervous system. If you come home from work in a tense and irritated state, take an air bath. You will be surprised, but in a few minutes the tension will pass, your mood will improve, you will sleep better at night. It also turns out that air baths normalize blood pressure, help improve the condition of the heart and blood vessels.

What is the secret of the healing qualities of the air? Taking an air bath, we allow the skin to breathe. It is very important. After all, for days on end, the skin is hidden under many layers of clothing, oxygen is practically not supplied. And everyone knows that the skin also absorbs oxygen.

In addition, under the clothes, the air temperature is almost the same, it is approximately twenty-seven degrees. When you undress, the skin is suddenly exposed to a lower temperature. This is a wonderful exercise for blood vessels.

Doctors call air baths the softest way of hardening. It is recommended to use it even for hardening newborn babies. Such procedures cannot cause any harm, and besides, they are easy to perform. Nothing is needed to take an air bath.

You can take an air bath completely naked, then it is a general air bath. And if you expose only the torso, or legs, then this will be a partial air bath.

Air baths are divided by temperature. They can be warm - more than twenty-two degrees, cool - from seventeen to twenty degrees and cold - below sixteen degrees.

You can take air baths lying down, sitting or moving. The most useful way is, of course, in motion. In order for the air bath to have a result, you need to take off your clothes very quickly. As soon as you feel that you are shivering, if the skin turns blue or becomes covered with pimples, dress immediately.

After the air bath, you should immediately put on clothes that are a little warmer than you usually wear in such weather. Clothing should be slightly warm, but in no case should you overheat and sweat. In addition, it is useful to lie on a hard surface with a roller under your head for a few minutes.

Air baths are best taken just before sunrise. But if you like to sleep longer - try to have time to carry out the procedure before ten o'clock in the morning. The course of procedures is one month daily, then three days of rest, and then again repeat a month of procedures. Such treatment should be carried out up to three months in a row, but if you have a disease of the liver or other internal organs, then you may need to take air baths for a longer time. If you are relatively healthy, then the duration of the first procedures can be up to half an hour at a temperature of fifteen to twenty degrees. You can add ten minutes every day until you reach two hours.

It is not advisable to carry out air baths in windy weather. This can provoke colds. Especially if you have just started hardening. It is very easy to get sick if you take air baths at low temperatures, and even at high humidity. In the event of precipitation or fog, as well as strong winds, air baths should not be carried out outdoors.

If you carry out air baths indoors, then these are the so-called contrast air baths. First you undress and open the windows - this is the cooling phase. During the warming phase, you must close the windows. So it should be alternated several times.

Sometimes, at first, air baths can make you want to itch or, for example, pain in the abdomen, or other unpleasant phenomena. This is only at first. In time, everything will pass. Don't do anything and don't stop.

If you want to harden your child, be very careful. In babies, thermoregulation is still very weak. The younger the child, the worse his thermoregulation. Before starting hardening, talk about this with your doctor.

First, teach your child to breathe fresh and cool air. Let the temperature in the room not exceed nineteen degrees. Don't wrap your baby. Neither at home nor on the street, he should not resemble a cocoon. Walk at least three hours a day in any weather. Enrich your child's diet with special children's vitamins and dietary supplements (biologically active supplements).

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