From time immemorial in Rus', women gave birth in a bathhouse (and not only commoners, but also noblewomen, princesses and even queens).
By the way, modern medicine, as often happens, has confirmed that our ancestors had many reasons for this. There is a lot of warm water in the bathhouse, the right air temperature (which is suitable not only for the mother in labor, but also for the newborn baby), and hot steam kills pathogenic microbes. And from birth, the bathhouse accompanies a person all his life - the bathhouse soars, the bathhouse rules, the bathhouse will fix everything, people say.
What types of baths are there?
There are countless of them - Russian, Finnish sauna, oriental (Turkish), Roman thermal bath, Japanese ofuro and even exotic ones like sand saunas. But all these types can be divided into two large groups: dry and steam. The classic type of dry bath is the Finnish sauna (the air in it warms up to 90-120 degrees, and the air humidity is 10-15%). An example of a steam bath is a Russian bath; it is not so hot, but much more humid: the temperature in such a bath usually reaches 40-60 degrees, and the humidity is up to 90%. As a rule, a dry bath is much easier to tolerate. So we recommend that beginners start with it.
When to start
It is best to get acquainted with the bathhouse before the baby is conceived. Moreover, obstetricians and gynecologists came to the conclusion that the bath is indicated for infertility, ovarian dysfunction, amenorrhea, and chronic diseases of the internal genital organs.
You can go to the bathhouse during pregnancy. For expectant mothers who have visited the sauna, childbirth is easier and less painful; they require antispasmodics and analgesics much less often during childbirth. This is due to the fact that regular visits to the bathhouse increase the elasticity of the ligamentous apparatus, reduce excessive muscle tension, and have a positive effect on the nervous autonomic system.
However, before your first visit to the bathhouse, you should consult your gynecologist. After all, the bathhouse also has some contraindications. These include: acute inflammatory diseases, conditions after surgery, complicated pregnancy.
If you have no contraindications, you can safely go to the bathhouse. Just keep in mind that if you didn’t go to the bathhouse before pregnancy, then for the first time you need to do it with some caution, carefully listening to your own feelings. Don't sit in the steam room for a long time, try to rest as much as possible. If anything in your condition worries you (dizzy, nauseous), immediately leave the steam room.
How to wash a baby
Be sure to hold a small child in your arms. You must have a sheet and diaper! A very wonderful idea - a cap on the head that prevents water from getting on the face. For some reason, kids don’t like it when water gets in their faces in the bathhouse.
Be sure to place a sheet on the bench and wash your baby only on it. It is advisable that children do not sit, do not stand, but lie down. The horizontal position in the steam room is most suitable for small children.
Of course, you can’t rub your child too hard and roughly with a washcloth. It is advisable to wash the child with a sponge; it is gentle, soft, and bright! Keep your child busy with conversation, try to prevent him from crying.
After the steam room and warm dousing with water, wrap your baby in a warm robe with a hood. Be sure to tie a simple cotton scarf on your head. After bath procedures, be sure to give your child warm herbal tea.
Baby's first bath
It has been noticed that children who have “visited” the bathhouse while in their mother’s belly perceive bathing procedures much more easily after birth. After all, for nine months they had already been steaming, dousing themselves, and relaxing with their mother over a cup of aromatic tea. Only now these sensations have become much brighter.
If the mother regularly went to the bathhouse during pregnancy, a “real” meeting of the baby with the bathhouse can be arranged when he is three months old. A.D. Timofeeva, a famous naturopathic pediatrician, author of the book “Conversations of a Children’s Doctor,” believes that it is better to postpone acquaintance with the bathhouse until 7-8 months.
But it must also be prepared.
The fact is that the delicate skin of a newborn baby is not yet accustomed to temperature changes. To make the adaptation process more intense, you can practice air baths from birth. When changing your baby's clothes, don't rush. Let him lie naked for a while, bouncing his arms and legs.
And when you bathe your baby, prepare in advance in a separate basin a little colder water than the “main” bath. You can even simply pour the bath water into a basin before bathing. While the young swimmer is splashing around in the bath, the water in the basin will have time to cool down a couple of degrees.
Many apologists for “natural development” insist on immediately pouring cold water over the baby. But this question is very individual. Try it, maybe this method will suit you and your baby. However, be honest and consistent: you have the right to douse your child only if you douse yourself with ice water. You can even do this together - you undress, stand in the bath with the baby in your arms, and dad or a particularly brave grandmother pours a bucket of cold water on you in one fell swoop. The baby, of course, will scream from such a temperature difference (after all, just like an adult, it takes your breath away). But then you wrap him in a warm towel, put him on your chest, and he should immediately calm down.
I can say that even in the same family, this method suits some, but not others. For example, my eldest daughter happily doused herself and together with me came up with a fairy tale about the Cold Waterfall, but my youngest daughter categorically did not like this procedure. If the baby does not agree to dousing in any way, do not insist, because the baby also has the right to vote.
And to adapt the skin to temperature changes, simply cool (not ice) water and air baths are quite suitable. If your treasure reacts positively to undressing and dressing (remaining naked, the baby does not cry, does not shrink, his skin does not turn blue or pale, his chin does not tremble), then we will assume that he is already quite ready for the first meeting with the sauna. Tune in to the fact that everything will be fine, and your emotions will definitely be transferred to the baby.
When should you take your kids to the bathhouse?
When making such a decision, there is no need to rush. Concern for the child's health should remain in first place. Is it possible for newborns to take a steam bath? It is forbidden. Their sebaceous glands are underdeveloped, like the skin itself, and thermoregulation is imperfect. Therefore, they are not able to intensively give off the heat received from the environment and do not tolerate heat well, and the higher the air temperature in the steam room, the more difficult it is for the heart and lungs to function normally. In this regard, even a slight load can contribute to disruption of the adaptation period.
The same can be said about infants. Due to the thin skin, under the influence of steam, internal organs quickly warm up, blood vessels dilate, the heart beats faster, and the heat transfer reaction slows down. Considering that babies' breathing is so rapid, as is the number of heartbeats per minute, the steam room will only increase the load, which is extremely undesirable. So at what age can a child go to the bathhouse? Since all body systems will begin to function at full strength after 3 years, it is not recommended to take him to the steam room earlier. Although some mothers who went to the bathhouse while pregnant take both their one- and six-month-old children with them.
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!
Preparation and visiting rules
Before regular bath procedures, it is better to first accustom your baby to swimming in a home pool or bath, washing with cool water, contrast showers or douches. Complex combinations of them with air baths are also useful. This trains the child to change temperatures and helps to avoid a negative attitude towards undressing and dressing. After such preparation, you can safely take your child to the bathhouse.
Contrast shower is one of the means of good preparation for bath procedures
Before going to the steam room, you need to pour warm water into a basin, which will be needed to douse the baby after that. Then it should be wrapped in a terry towel.
In the bathhouse, parents must follow several important rules to ensure the safety of their children:
- Small children can only take procedures on the lower shelf and under parental supervision.
- After leaving the steam room, you should not cool them too sharply; a cold pool or rubbing with snow is strictly contraindicated; only rinsing with warm water and drying with a soft towel is permissible.
- Bath procedures are carried out in a special cap, which is put on a dry head, and non-slip rubber shoes.
- At the first signs of heat stroke or deterioration in health, the child is taken to a draft-free room with good ventilation.
- It is not recommended to wash your baby before visiting the steam room; this is done afterward under warm water using baby hygiene products.
- You should not eat heavily before a bath, but visiting it on an empty stomach is also dangerous. After this, a snack in the form of fruit, yogurt or other drink is useful, and a full meal should be postponed for a couple of hours.
- If there is more than one entry into the steam room, then during breaks the baby should also drink water, light tea or fruit and berry juice.
- A visit to the steam room, swimming pool or shower should take half as much time in total as relaxing from them in a cool room.
- You can use a broom in a steam room only if the child does not have a negative attitude towards it. Such steaming should be gentle, and it is important to warm the feet well.
- When choosing a broom for a child, you need to know that the softest and most fragrant is the linden one. It is also useful for colds. For asthmatics and children with pustules on the skin, it is better to take a birch broom. Its aroma helps ease breathing, and the smell of oak leaves helps calm the nervous system.
- Various herbal infusions are also useful. Mint, linden, oak, thyme and oregano are used for disinfection; chamomile, oregano, pine needles and birch buds are used to normalize the functioning of the nervous system. These herbal ingredients are first poured with boiling water and left to infuse for a couple of hours. But at the same time you need to be sure that there is no allergic reaction to any of them.
More information about bath brooms can be found here: /video/ot_banshikov/kak-pravilno-vybrat-venik-dlya-bani-2.html
A short time spent by this little visitor in a gentle steam room will help improve his health and improve his mood.
For children of different ages, different thermal conditions in the steam room are recommended, and the duration of stay in it also varies:
- For infants up to one year old, this is a temperature of no more than 50 degrees and only a minute or two in the steam room.
- Two to three year old children are allowed to raise the temperature to 60 degrees, but stay at it for no more than 2 minutes.
- For older preschoolers, you can raise the temperature by another 5 degrees with two passes of a couple of minutes each.
- For children 8–12 years old, two five-minute sessions are allowed at a temperature in the steam room up to 70 degrees.
- From the age of 13, this means two ten-minute entries into the atmosphere up to 80 degrees.
The train left?
If you did not go to the bathhouse during pregnancy or your child has already left the tender age of infancy, do not think that now everything is lost. It's never too late to start!
Each age has its own characteristics of sauna trips.
Never carry a baby who can already walk into the steam room in your arms. This is an important psychological moment. On the one hand, mother’s hands provide, of course, protection, but on the other hand, for a child who craves independence, this is some kind of violence. Open the door to the steam room, go in there and invite your child with you. Let him come in on his own.
If your child is over three years old, be sure to tell him what awaits him before going to the sauna (however, this note applies to children of any age). Come up with a fairy tale about a hot African country where you will go on a trip. And then you will need to stand under the Ice Waterfall or dive into the “hole” of the cold font. And then - relax and drink a special heroic drink (rosehip decoction or cranberry juice).
Steam room and child and how to prepare a child for this?
Before visiting a steam bath, it is recommended to prepare your child. Moreover, this must be done in advance - from birth. There are two main methods: air baths, rinsing the baby with water at a lower temperature than the one in which they were bathed.
The first method is when changing a child’s clothes or changing a diaper, do not immediately dress him in new clothes, let him “go crazy”, start with a minute and gradually increase the time. This procedure allows the baby’s imperfect body temperature regulation system to start working faster and adapt to the environment.
The second method is when bathing your baby, pour a separate basin with water for rinsing, the temperature of which is a couple of degrees lower than the temperature of the main water in which the baby will bathe. Just like in the first method, gradually increase the difference in temperature until you reach room temperature.
Together, both methods give a greater effect than you would use one method.
In any case, you shouldn’t immediately put a child in a hot steam room and watch his reaction. By the way, it is better to start such procedures in a sauna; there is drier steam, which is better tolerated. To begin with, you can simply stand near the open door to the steam room. If the child is 3-4 months old, start with 30 seconds (time in the steam room), 8-12 months 1-1.5 minutes. Do not increase the time above 5 minutes - this is pointless for children under 5-7 years old; they will only become ill in a hot bath for such a long time.
A bath will fix everything
If your baby is suffering from colds, we highly recommend that you think about a bath. It strengthens the immune system, trains the cardiovascular system, and promotes the removal of mucus. And in the steam room you can breathe in the steam from herbal infusions (eucalyptus, linden, chamomile, etc. are suitable), here you have inhalation. The bath is also indicated for diseases of the skin, as well as the musculoskeletal system.
A bathhouse is useful for children with hypertonicity, because during bathing procedures muscle tone decreases, nerves calm down and overall well-being improves. Alternating temperatures initially gives a feeling of vigor, which is then replaced by relaxation and a feeling of pleasant fatigue. Tested: after the bath, children fall asleep right on the way home and sleep unusually soundly!
But the bathhouse also has contraindications. As for pregnant women, these are, first of all, acute inflammatory diseases accompanied by high fever. A sauna or bath is strictly prohibited for purulent inflammatory and infectious diseases (otitis, sinusitis, furunculosis), even if the temperature is not elevated. But if this disease is in a chronic stage, then a bath is very welcome.
You should not visit the bathhouse if you have convulsive seizures of various etiologies or with any form of epilepsy.
And one last thing. The effect of a bath or sauna will only be if you visit it regularly with your baby. Let this become your pleasant and at the same time useful habit!
Inessa Smyk
How to bathe a child after a steam room
It is necessary to understand that a 3-4 month old baby after spending time in the steam room with his mother must take water procedures. The water should be no colder than room temperature. This procedure has two positive effects at once: hardening and washing away sweat from the skin. It must be remembered that after this procedure the child should rest, eat breast milk or drink some water. On your first visit to the sauna, it is not recommended to carry out more than 2 cycles (steam room, swimming, rest), and subsequent times no more than 4 times. But all this depends on the child’s condition.
