How to Take Care of Your Kids During Summers?

We all are busy fighting deadly Coronavirus, but another danger that is hovering over us is the onset of summers and it's various side effects especially in kids, in the form of infections. And now, our responsibility doubles as a parent to not only protect our kids from COVID but also from various other infections like chickenpox, measles, diarrhoea etc.

May-June means summer vacation in schools. The heat is considered the most dangerous in these months anyway. Particularly for children, in the summer, strong sunlight and hot winds can cause a lot of trouble. Summer has come in full swing in these months and these days of summer holidays are very difficult for both children and parents. These months bring with them many infections and diseases. They are children and they have got holidays from school, so obviously they will play and roam around. In such a situation, they may face a lot of problems. But a little attention and care can also make your child's summer fun and exciting.

Due to an increase in temperature, bacteria and fungus has become more active, due to which many infections may occur. In children, diseases like allergic asthma, diarrhoea and chickenpox becomes common in the season. The environment in cities and metros has become so polluted, that it is impossible to avoid allergies. In this case, take special care of children's food habits so that children's immunity is accelerated. With your proper care and understanding, your child can be both happy and healthy even this summer.

Just need to take care of these few precautions -:

In summer, children usually drink juice, water, lemon water etc. outside the house. Stop children from consuming these things from outside. If the child goes out of the house, give him boiled, cooled and filtered water to drink. In the summer, there is usually a lack of water in the body of the children, which causes them to suffer from diarrhoea and dehydration. To protect children from such problems, give them homemade juices like lemonade, coconut water and beverages. You can also offer the children buttermilk, fresh fruit juice, milkshake, salads like cucumber etc. Make sure to give health drinks to the child for breakfast, this will keep your child fresh and energy level will also be maintained in it. These drinks also helps to restore the minerals and salts lost through sweating.

Irrespective of the weather, there is no impact on children's amusement and activities, as it is their summer holidays over which they have every right to play and take advantage. But keep in mind that your child should not play during strong sunlight in afternoons and at the time of hot winds. Let the child go out in the evening time only.

To prevent suntan you can follow these steps as follows

• Use good sunscreen lotion to protect children's skin from sunlight. Apply it at least 15 minutes before going out.
• Don't apply insect repellent cream and sunscreen at the same time.
• If your child is playing in the sun for more than two hours than reapply the cream after wiping off the sweat.

In the evening time of summers, mosquitoes and insects become relatively active, so while going outside with the child, do apply mosquito repellent. Dress your child in full-sleeved, loose and light coloured cotton clothes. They will not have any kind of skin infection nor will mosquitoes and insects come near to them. Common insects that can bite are mosquitoes, bees and wasps. While many of them are not serious bites but some of them can generate an allergic reaction, in which proper medical attention is required.

It is often seen that the child comes moistened in sweat from the hot sun and heat, and as soon as he comes, he sits in front of the fan, cooler and the AC. This may adversely affect the health of this child. Like this, children come out of the heat after playing and drink cold water from the refrigerator. As after playing out in the sun will generate a lot of heat in the body. And if we drink cool iced water immediately, there will be a mismatch of temperatures which can cause infections of the throat and pain in the stomach as well. This is because ice-cold water comes as a shock to the body.

The risk of conjunctivitis also increases in children during the summer season. Due to the strong rays of the sun, dust, pollution and dirt children can easily become a victim of this disease. Therefore, after a short interval of time in the summer season, keep washing the eyes of the children with cold water, due to this, there will be no dryness in the eyes of the children. Another important factor is the excessive usage of screen time in kids during the holidays, leading to more dryness in the eyes. Restrict the screen time and provide your kids with caps or a hat with a fringe and sunglasses with UV protection when going out.

It is very important to take care of the cleanliness of the child to avoid skin infections. During the summer, children should also get used to bathing twice a day. Children should wear only cotton clothes and change their clothes daily. Make sure that you bath your child with a medicated soap only. Before and after eating anything and when coming from outside, get his hands and feet thoroughly cleaned with soap.

The digestive power of children also becomes weak during the summer season. Therefore, lack of water in the body of children, yellowing of the skin diarrhoea, feeling of nausea, stomach burning, vomiting, jaundice, typhoid etc. are common complaints of this season. So give the child a light and nutritious diet. Avoid giving your child outside food full of spices, fried and heavy food items. Give him homemade nutrients rich light food which will be easily digestible by him.