At the age of 3 years, children have frequent contacts with the environment: attend kindergartens, play with peers. At this stage of life, the child is sensitive to a variety of bacteria and viruses. The young body is faced with many infections for the first time, and the immune system is not yet sufficiently developed. As a result, children often begin to get sick for a long time. Excited mothers ask themselves: “How to increase immunity?”. It is difficult for a 3-year-old child to cope with various parasites attacking his body himself. Parents should help the baby become healthy and strong.
What is immunity
Our body has an amazing system of protection against foreign bodies, bacteria, viruses and harmful substances. Human immunity is congenital and acquired. Every day, the child is attacked by various microorganisms from the outside world. Congenital immunity helps to cope with them.
But from some microbes and viruses, the body does not have protection from birth. The ability to resist them is acquired at the initial meeting of the immune system with pests as a result of illness or vaccination. This type of immunity was called specific. Each person is individual and acts only on specific microorganisms.
The immune system is of great importance in the life of the baby. It is worth considering how to increase immunity. The child is 3 years old, at this age, the body's resistance is at a developmental stage. Therefore, preschool children are sick more often than adults.
Reasons for a decrease in immunity
A kindergarten child begins to adapt in a social environment. And many children who are healthy before attending a preschool institution, unexpectedly for parents, periodically become infected with various infections. Adults are concerned about the question of how to increase the immunity of a child of three years.
The baby’s health is affected by frequent contact with peers who are carriers of various diseases. Getting into a new environment, the child experiences emotional stress. The kid is sad because of a long separation from his mother. Therefore, adults must make the adaptation period as easy as possible. Show love, care and understanding.
Immunity is a complex system. Various factors influence her condition. Low resistance to infections due to the following reasons:
- hereditary or acquired diseases, including chronic;
- excessive emotional stress;
- malnutrition, lack of nutrients;
- imbalance between rest and activity of the child;
- the presence of allergies.
Allergic children, as a rule, have problems with the protective reactions of the body. How to increase the immunity of the child? 3 years is the age when the improvement of the body is best done naturally.
Parent Alerts
A disease is not an indicator of low body resistance. We all get sick and get well. Normal for children, according to pediatricians, to get sick about 6 times a year. If this happens much more often, then the protective mechanisms in the child are greatly weakened.
The following signs indicate reduced immunity:
- infection occurs in most cases without fever;
- diseases are treated with low efficiency and slow recovery;
- the baby is often tired, has a pale complexion, dark circles under the eyes;
- there is a frequent increase in lymph nodes.
With these symptoms, consult a specialist to find out how to increase the immunity of a 3-year-old child. The advice of an immunologist will help improve the situation and take it under control.
Immunity of the child after illness
After various infections, the child’s body is still weak in order to repel new attacks of microbes and viruses. Try to protect him from unnecessary contacts with a large number of people for a while. Give the immune system time to recover. Any bacillus can now easily enter the body and cause harm to health. Do not hide your child from the outside world. Walk with him, pay attention to him.
Medicines or folk remedies?
With weakened immunity, it is possible to increase the resistance of the child's body in various ways. Often parents do not know how to help children, how to increase immunity. A child of 3 years old using folk remedies to strengthen health is preferable. Medications are not always the best solution.
The medicinal method of exposure is used only in cases where there is a clear immunodeficiency. Drugs should be prescribed by a doctor. He knows better how to increase the immunity of a 3-year-old child. In pharmacies, a large selection of immunostimulants of various compositions is presented. This method of maintaining the body's resistance should be used only after other methods have been tried. Doctors are ambivalent about immuno-strengthening drugs, since their effectiveness has not been proven. In most cases, traditional medicine helps quite well.
We increase immunity on the advice of Komarovsky
Interesting opinion of some pediatricians on how to increase immunity. Is the child 3 years old? Komarovsky suggests proceeding from three components of a healthy immunity:
- Cold. The kid does not need to wear very warm. A sweating child is more likely to catch a cold. The house should not be hot. Maintaining a constant comfortable temperature in the room turns your son or daughter into a greenhouse plant.
- Hunger. The child does not need to be force-fed. After all, our immunity fights against foreign substances. These include consumed food. In a rotten baby, food is not digested enough. And the body goes to the fight with proteins. That is, the child’s immune system spends its energy on substances that enter the body through the stomach.
- Physical activity. A preschooler must move, run, play.
The doctor suggests maintaining the child’s immunity with a normal lifestyle. He opposes drugs that affect the body's defenses. Since it considers them useless in most cases.
Everyone has the right to have their own point of view on how to increase immunity. The child is 3 years old, he is still small, the future health of the baby largely depends on the parents. There is nothing in Dr. Komarovsky’s advice that could be harmful.
How to increase immunity? Is the child 3 years old? Folk remedies!
To restore the natural protective reactions of the child's body, use the advice of relatives. Folk remedies are safer than many medications and are effective. Your grandmothers and mothers will tell you a lot of interesting things about how to increase the immunity of a child of 3 years. Systematic observance of simple procedures will allow the baby to get sick less often and easier to tolerate meetings with viruses and bacteria.
Key areas for maintaining children's health
The duty of parents is to provide the child with a normal full life. This is especially true for children with reduced immunity.
To maintain and improve health, the baby needs:
- Fresh air;
- active lifestyle;
- good vacation;
- balanced diet.
Ventilate the living area as often as possible. Especially after sleep and before it. Dry and too warm air is not good for your child. During the heating season, humidification is required in the rooms. For these purposes, there are special devices. You can put a container of water to increase humidity.
The child benefits from fresh air. Do not neglect walks. They will help increase immunity for a 3 year old child. The body learns to adapt to various weather conditions. Children on the street are very fond of playing, moving. Active body activity has a positive effect on health.
Observe the daily routine. The kid should get enough sleep and have a good rest. Do not give up daytime sleep. Take care of the nervous system of the child. Frequent stresses weaken the immune system.
A balanced diet is welcome. Fruits and vegetables should be present in the diet. Be sure to offer dairy products, especially kefir and yogurt, meat and fish dishes. Avoid excessive consumption of sweets, including confectionery.
Often ill children suggest gargling, moisturize the nasal mucosa. These procedures will reduce the risk of illness.
Preventive vaccines will help boost your baby’s immunity. 3 years is the age when most of them are already behind. If the baby does not have enough vaccinations, be sure to take them.
Gymnastics and massage
Take the habit of doing gymnastics with your child in the morning. This occasion is recharged with energy and good mood. When the baby grows up, he can be sent to the sports section.
How to increase the immunity of a 3 year old child to acute respiratory infections? There are many different exercises to improve blood circulation in the mouth and nose. Teach your baby to do simple and useful exercises.
It is necessary to stick out the tongue and reach them to the chin, hold for a few seconds. This exercise allows you to activate blood circulation in the oral cavity, pharynx, and throat.
For the prevention of diseases of the lower respiratory tract, it is useful to draw out vowels a, o, y. At the same time, the child can lightly pound his chest with his fists when he exhales air.
Circular head movements activate the lymph nodes behind the ears, reducing the possibility of inflammation. Charge as a fun game.
General massage stimulates the body and increases its resistance to infections. Do it to your child daily before bedtime.
Body hardening
Hardening will help protect the body from the negative effects of the environment. In children of three years of age, such procedures are well carried out in a playful way. Pre-do gymnastics to warm up the body. Then proceed to the water procedure: wiping with water and rubbing.
Arrange air baths. A tempering game will help increase the immunity of a child of 3 years. Create different temperatures in two rooms. In one, the air should be warm, familiar. In another, open the window so that cold air enters. Run from one room to another, playing catch-up. Changing temperatures positively affects health, tempers the body.
On the feet there are a large number of active points responsible for the work of different organs. Teach your baby to walk barefoot. In the summer it is useful to walk on sand or pebbles. In winter, you can just walk on the floor in the house. If the floor is cold, wear socks.
Most often, children’s hands and feet freeze. For hardening, prepare two basins with cold and warm water. Lower the baby's hands first in one container, then in another. It’s good to do the same for the legs.
Teach your child a contrast soul. First, the temperature difference should be small. A few days later increase the difference, lowering the temperature of cold water. Watch your baby carefully. The procedure should be perceived by him positively.
There are children who often have foci of infection in the oral cavity. Offer your baby gargle in the morning and evening with cool water, gradually lowering its temperature.
Nature to the rescue
Plants are the natural storehouse of all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Various herbal teas, compotes and healthy mixes from natural products will help the baby recover. Without harm to health, immunity can be enhanced. The child is 3 years old, using folk remedies is best. Children will enjoy delicious drinks from herbs and berries. Various fruit drinks perfectly support the body: lingonberry, cranberry, from viburnum and blackcurrant.
Lemon and honey are on guard of health. Make a drink out of them. Add a few drops of citrus juice and a teaspoon of honey to the water. If honey is allergic, replace it with sugar. The benefits of such a drug are obvious.
Tea made from rose hips is tasty and healthy. Various vitamins and minerals contained in this plant can increase the immunity of the child. Three years to a baby or more does not matter. Rosehip broth can be drunk even for infants. Take 200 g of berries and 1 liter of water. Boil for 30 minutes, add sugar, let it brew.
Park your baby oats. It helps with colds and strengthens the immune system. This drink tastes good. Unpeeled oats can be steamed with water or milk in a thermos. For 4 tablespoons of oats, you need 0.5 liters of liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour into a thermos. Let it brew for 8 hours.
Honey Recipes
Make a healthy potion. You will need lemons - 5 pieces, honey - half a 500-gram can and aloe juice - 150 ml. Mix these products and insist for two days in the dark. Give 1 teaspoon every day.
Grind two lemons and 1 kg of fresh cranberries in a meat grinder or combine. Add 1 cup of honey to this mixture and mix. Let the child eat this mixture instead of jam and drink it with tea.
Therapeutic mixtures of natural ingredients
You will need dried apricots 150 g, walnuts 300 g. Process them in a meat grinder, and then add 150 g of honey. Put the finished product in a jar. You need to store it in the refrigerator. Give your baby a teaspoon three times a day.
Another version of the mixture, which will help increase the immunity of a child of three years. Take dried apricots, raisins, peeled walnuts, 200 g each and 1 lemon. Scroll in a meat grinder. Pour 200 g of honey. Keep this mixture in the cold too. This product is very rich in vitamins and potassium. A great option for maintaining health in winter and spring.
Now you know how to increase the immunity of the child. Three years is the best age for hardening the body and accustoming to the right lifestyle. These tips will be useful to people of other age categories. Take care of your baby. His strong immunity will be the reward for your efforts.