Prepare your baby for summer

Summer is an ideal time for babies. The sun helps to synthesize vitamins as important as D, essential for calcium to attach to the bones and help develop and grow the baby. However, protect it from the worst effects of heat and prepare your baby for summer.

When it comes to taking our baby to the beach, to the pool or just outdoors on a sunny day, you should not skimp on protection for him. One of the best ways to protect the child is to cover their skin with clothes that do not let UV rays pass. Sunglasses are a good protection and prevention mechanism for the eyes of the child.

Protects the baby's skin

With children, the use of protection from an early age is fundamental, following the following recommendations:

- Do not expose children under three years of age to the sun.
- Protect the baby with a hat, shirt and glasses.
- Give him frequent water to avoid heat stroke.
- Do not use colognes or other cosmetics with perfume.
- Avoid the hours of maximum solar intensity (between 12 h and 16 h).
- If you are taking any medication, consult with the doctor or pharmacist in case it is photosensitive (especially some antibiotics).
- Use a wide umbrella.

Take care of the eyes against the sun's rays

Do you know that the eyes are 20 times more sensitive than the skin? And that our eyes receive before 80 years of age 80 percent of the harmful radiation for our future vision? Only 2 percent of children use sunglasses, probably because their parents conceive them as a fashion accessory for adults, rather than as a protection and prevention mechanism.
Children with fair skin and eyes are even more vulnerable to solar radiation. Damages resulting from poor eye protection range from keratitis to burns, through alterations of the cornea and redness of the eyes. There are approved glasses for infants.

Comfortable and cool clothes for children

One of the best ways to protect the child is to cover the skin with clothes that do not let UV rays pass. It is also advisable to follow these recommendations:
- Wear loose clothing with light colors.
- Choose outfits with long sleeves, and long legs and collars in the garments to get the best possible protection.
- A hat always goes well, because the face and head of the baby receive too much exposure to the sun. It should be wide-brimmed with light-colored material on the outside to reflect UV radiation and keep it cooler and a darker lining on the wing to prevent UV radiation from reflecting on your face.

Fresh food for your baby

Respect for the child's feeding schedule is very important. Food should never be eaten in a hurry. A good chewing will favor digestion, thus avoiding gas and other intestinal problems.
In addition to the disorder of the day, the "whims" (type jellybeans and buns) and dehydration are other great risks of feeding children in summer. It is important not to neglect the feeding of the smallest during the holidays and for this reason it is very important to maintain a balanced and varied diet, consume seasonal products and take care of food hygiene, keeping food clean and fresh.

The diet, also in summer, should be composed of three main meals, supplemented with two additional lighter meals, mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
Summer offers many possibilities for a healthy diet. There are some guidelines that will serve as a good guide:
- Fats should never exceed 30% of a child's daily consumption. They are concentrated in butter, cream, yogurt, egg, margarine and animal fats.
- Most of the contribution must be made through carbohydrates, based on 50 to 60% of consumption. It corresponds to bread, cereals, flour, pasta, rice, potatoes, peas, beans, lentils and nuts.
- Fruit, in the same way as vegetables, is an important source of vitamins and minerals, especially for children. It is rich in fiber and its intake is more than recommended.

Security against insects

On summer dates there is a wide variety of insects and parasites that produce bites and stings such as mosquitoes, flies, wasps, bees, bedbugs, ticks, fleas and mites. To protect babies with repellents, it is advised to use those that do not contain toxic components. Eucalyptus oil, for example, is good for them.
The nets are the best means against insects that sting at night. Before going to bed we must make sure that there is no "intruder" left in the network, since he will not be able to leave and therefore, we will be making it easy for him to feast while we sleep. Electric vaporizers are effective in closed rooms.However, we must be careful that the child is not in front when we use sprays to kill the mosquitoes that have entered the room during the day. To avoid the entry of mosquitoes, the windows should be closed at sunset.

In summer, protect your baby

- We can easily check if the clothes that our son wears protect him from UV rays: you have to place your hand inside each garment and put it towards the sun to see that it does not appear.
- If we are going to go on holiday to a rural area, when it gets dark it is recommended to dress the child with a long-sleeved shirt, long pants and socks, in order to avoid the attack of the ticks.
- Hydration is very important, and in addition to water, we can offer our baby fresh fruit smoothies enriched with yogurt or milk.
- It is not recommended to apply sunscreen to babies under 6 months, simply do not have to expose them to the sun whenever possible. Even older children need to avoid the sun.
- The mosquitoes can be scared away with ultrasound devices, but it must be borne in mind that these mechanisms do not prevent the entry of other insects.
- In the open air outings of a whole day, we always carry with us a large umbrella or an easy-to-assemble tent to protect the little one from the sun while playing.

Dr. Santiago García-Tornel. Pediatrician of the Pediatric Service of the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital (Barcelona)

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