Acclimatization in children

You went on vacation with your child, but a pleasant and long-awaited vacation was overshadowed by the sudden illness of the baby. And at first it seems that he had a cold or “ate something”, but in fact, the change of climate, time zone became the reason for the emergence of crumbs acclimatization.

To treat a child in this situation from a cold or diarrhea is meaningless and ineffective. This does not eliminate the main problem. What should parents do? How to help your baby survive a difficult time?

Acclimatization is a natural and biologically very complex mechanism, the strongest stress for a child. The younger your child, the harder it is to cope with it.

Children from birth to 3 years longer and harder endure the attempts of their small organism to adapt to new conditions for themselves, to a different climate, a different length of light days, a new, unusual composition of air, water, temperature. In children, immunity is not sufficiently formed, the process of developing protective reactions of the body to various stimuli is just underway. It is for this reason that children more difficult to acclimatize than adults.

If suddenly your baby starts to acclimatize, you can recognize it by several pretty bright symptoms.which usually appear 2-3 days after arrival in a new area with a different climate:

• Trouble sleeping The baby has insomnia or, on the contrary, constantly wants to sleep.
• Headache, dizziness. A kid who is able to speak and express unpleasant feelings in words will most likely complain of headaches that are constant or occasional. Children who are not yet able to speak will show that they have a headache, with all their appearance, with a long and tedious monotonous weeping, lethargy.
• Signs of a cold. A child has all the symptoms typical of a cold - a sore throat, a nasal nose, and a fever.
• Signs of food poisoning or intestinal infection. The child begins to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. Sometimes on the background of high temperature.
• Impairment of mood and behavior. Kids who are painfully experiencing acclimatization are very capricious, irritable, they often cry, sometimes it is difficult for parents to understand what the crumb wants. The nervous system adapts especially long.

The duration of the acclimatization period is directly dependent on its severity and the age of the child. The more contrasting the change of scenery, the harder the toddler, who is no longer happy to rest by the sea. For example, he constantly lives somewhere in Siberia, but on vacation he was taken to sultry India with a tropical climate and humid air or sun-dried Tunisia.

The average duration of the acclimatization period in children is 5-7 days. And by whatever means the parents may try to reduce it, usually all to no avail.

1. The first stage is the starting one.Externally, nothing has changed in the child, it is impossible to notice anything, all processes take place inside. The body "includes" the mode of operation in extreme conditions.
2. The second stage is reactive. Usually it begins to appear on the 2-3 day after arriving at a new place. The reactive period is associated with a sharp deterioration in the condition of the baby, all the visible signs of acclimatization, which we discussed above, appear.
3. The third period is stabilization. The condition of the child no longer deteriorates, it gradually comes to balance, the functions of his body are restored. Symptoms can begin to disappear, and I can still persist for some time, but they no longer pose any threat to the child.
4. The fourth period - the finish. Acclimatization has come. This is the longest period, it can last from several weeks to several years, but this is more relevant not for holiday-makers, but for those who decided to make radical changes in their lives and moved to the other end of the world for permanent residence.

The period of acclimatization is manifested in all children in different ways. It is possible that you will not even see any signs; all the rest from the beginning to the end will go smoothly. However, there are the following patterns depending on the age of the child.

Acclimatization in most children under 1 year is a serious and rather difficult test. This period lasts for babies for a long time - from three weeks and more. How bad the child will feel depends on the state of his immune system, existing diseases, general health.

Since such small children have a very strong psycho-emotional connection with their mother, much in the acclimatization period will depend on how she feels and what emotions her mother feels.

In children from 3 to 7 years old, acclimatization is smoother and easier than in infants. In many ways, this becomes possible because the child can already clearly explain what bothers him. In addition, his immunity has already been in "debacles" when the kid began to attend kindergarten, was sick with viral infections, influenza, ARVI. It is easier for him to accept new conditions.

On average, acclimatization at preschool children lasts about one and a half to two weeks.

Acclimatization period in children of school age is the most mild and lasts from 5 days to 10 days.

By the school bench, the child often already has time to acquire diseases that occur more often than others, some children already have chronic illnesses. Most likely, it is they who will escalate during the acclimatization period. Therefore, it is easier for parents to “predict” the child’s condition by taking medicines that usually help him to rest.

The easiest to acclimatize transfer:

• Children from the age of 8 years.
• Children whose parents are strengthening immunity throughout the year, and not just a few weeks before the trip.
• Children who often travel a lot.
• Children who have all the necessary vaccinations, and the last vaccination took place at least six weeks before the date of departure for rest.
• Children are somatically healthy.

• To ease the period of acclimatization to the child will help something from his usual environment. And if you don’t take the air of your native Novosibirsk to the hot beaches of the Red Sea, then it is not difficult to grab a bottle of drinking water from northern latitudes. That it will help the body crumbs easier to adapt to new food and water.
• If you plan to travel to a region or country with a different time zone, it is better to help your baby get used to the new time in advance. To do this, a month before departure, you need to start adjusting the children's schedule of sleep and waking up, shifting it every day by 15 minutes in the right direction.
• The daily routine of the child on vacation should be as close as possible to his usual home routine, feeding, walking, playing, and sleeping should be about the same time.
• For the surviving acclimatization of the baby is extremely important drinking mode. He should drink so much that toxins are cleared from his body more quickly. To determine the individual fluid rate, the baby’s weight must be multiplied by three. The resulting figure will be the necessary minimum. You should not experiment with water from the tap or natural sources of the area where you arrived. It would be better to buy a child to drink non-carbonated drinking bottled water in the store.
• No matter how great the temptation to immediately rush to the beach upon arrival, you should not do this in the first 24 hours. Routine walks away from the sea in a new area will help your child to take the sea air more easily and move more smoothly to water procedures.

A well-known pediatrician, Yevgeny Komarovsky, states that the problem of acclimatization is somewhat bloated and contrived, since healthy children, who, as such, went on a journey with their parents, the period of getting used to the new environment and the climate should not become very complicated.

In the presented video, Dr. Komarovsky will tell you about all the nuances associated with traveling with children, including acclimatization.

Komarovsky emphasizes that during the planning of the trip it is important not only to find out where the nearest restaurant, beach and water park will be located, but also to reliably find out whether there will be a clinic nearby, in case the child needs a doctor.

If it comes about vacation abroad, you need to thoroughly clarify all the issues relating to health insurance, if necessary, pay for an additional package of services for a pediatrician.

What is the specificity of recreation with children, how does acclimatization work, does it happen to everyone? The answers to these and many other questions will be given to us by Dr. Komarovsky in the next transmission cycle.

To treat acclimatization does not make much sense, and treatment is unlikely to be effective. It is necessary to enable the child’s immunity to “learn the lesson” independently. This will help vitamin complexes (for children from 1 year). They can be individually recommended by your pediatrician, to whom you should apply at least two months before the planned trip.

However, it is still worth collecting a baby first aid kit. since no one can predict how difficult and protracted acclimatization will be to your child.

It makes sense to take a trip with you. antipyretic drugs for a child "Panadol", "Nurofen children", "Efferalgan»In case the temperature exceeds 38.5.

Coughing during acclimatization will help remove the syrupAmbrobene».

Runny nose will help defeat washing with drugs based on seawater "Aqualore"," Aquamaris ", in case of congestion, you can drip" Nazivin children ".

If a child's ear aches, in this case it makes sense to take a drop "Otinum».

Your marching first aid kit must be present preparations for normalization of the child's digestion. In case of vomiting and diarrhea - "Smecta", From constipation (this can happen too) -"Duphalac», «Normase».

From wounds, scratches, abrasions and sunburn will help "Miramistin"And"Bepanten».

It would be nice if you pack a first-aid kit. child antiviral drug according to the age of the child, because the weakened immunity during the period of acclimatization may require assistance in combating the “hooked” virus. Your pediatrician will also help you choose it.

New food and water, as well as flight and transfer can cause a child allergic reaction - redness of the skin, itching, allergic rhinitis, cough. Prudent parents will always put an antihistamine drug, both local and general, in a travel first-aid kit. For such purposes, usually take "Claritin», «Diazolin"," Suprastin ".

And, of course, do not forget to capture thermometer to change the temperature, sunscreen for the child (creams and sprays), the usual children's cream, patch and bandage.

If you went to the Black Sea coast, keep in mind that the benefits of sea leave for a child’s body will appear only after acclimatization has ended. This is an average of 10 days. So, it’s best to go with the baby to the sea for 20-30 days.

A week or ten-day rest will only tire the baby, who, moreover, immediately after the acclimatization passed, will begin re-acclimatization after returning home. The minimum duration of the holiday so that the child gets at least some benefit from the sea and the sun - at least 16 days.

If you are planning a trip to Turkey, please note that in this country there are five climate zones. If this is your first trip to a warm region, choose the zone that is closest to the climate of your home region.

Not worth a small child in the first in his life journey to carry to the other end of the globe. He still has time to visit exotic Africa, Australia and Cuba. As a first trip, it is better to choose places where the climate is similar to your own.

For example, most Russians understand and understand the climatic situation in Abkhazia, in Georgia, in the Crimea, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, In Cyprus.

Ideal if the vacation is planned according to the age of the child. Doctors do not recommend visiting infants and the forest next to her for infants.

When choosing a hotel or hostel, you need to understand that a small child does not need loud music and crowds of tourists for successful acclimatization. It requires a quiet and peaceful place, remote from major cities, highways and noisy airports.

When choosing a method of moving is better to give preference by train or car. A longer journey helps the baby's body gradually begin to rebuild while on the road. The flight, of course, is more preferable for parents, but not for the childThe immunity of which will be launched in emergency mode as soon as it is, after the rainy weather, which was at home in the morning, leaves the plane in a hot exotic country.

You returned home safely, tanned and happy, but the baby again "decided" to get sick. This “acclimatization is the opposite” - re-acclimatization. Returning to the native climate becomes, to put it mildly, a surprise for children's immunity, which only recently tuned in to new living conditions.

Reacclimatization usually does not require special treatment, it is enough to give the child vitamins and to provide a longer than usual sleep.

It is not recommended to resume visiting the kindergarten or school immediately after arriving from vacation; the child needs time to fully recover. During this period, you should not be vaccinated, subjected to stressful situations.

We also offer you to see the advice of an experienced pediatrician on acclimatization of children.