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Taking care of your children during summer vacation
New Delhi, June 14, 2018 :
Dr Vidyut Bhatia, Consultant, Paediatric Gastroenterology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals
For many of us summer means soaring temperature, hot dusty wind, humidity, sunstroke, allergies, infections and diseases. But for kids, summers just mean freedom – from studies, school, teachers, homework and extra time for outdoor activities and sports and indulging in some gastronomic delights. Amid all these, taking care of children becomes an additional challenge and slip ups often cost heavily both on the pocket and the mind.
Interestingly, for reasons unknown children only becomes extra active during this period and expose themselves to all kinds of external elements such as heat, sun, dust and pollution. Below are some easy tips to take care of kids during summers.
Beat the Heat – Ensure that your child is hydrated throughout the day. Somehow children in their eagerness for games and all kind of outdoor activities don’t give importance to fluid intake and end up staying thirsty for hours. The easy way to handle this is to provide them with suitable alternatives, which will keep the fluid and electrolyte level in the body intact. While water generally has no substitute, it at times can be replaced with coconut water, fruit juices, citrus fruits and other easily available alternatives such as buttermilk, lemon water and fruit smoothies.
A word of caution here, keep your child away from carbonated drinks, which only dehydrates the body, besides spiking the sugar level in the body.
Follow the Right Diet – Diet is extremely important in summer. During this season body needs some extra energy to deal with the temperature-induced metabolic changes. Therefore, it is advisable to stay away from oily and greasy food. Taking a balanced meal of seasonal fruits and green vegetables with plenty of fluid supports metabolism and helps the children stay active throughout the day. Interestingly, summers are the best season for indulging in some fruity delight such as mangoes, litchi, banana, watermelon, muskmelon, plums and cherry.
Cover it up– Sunlight is good for health, but the Sun God shines little too brightly for comfort during summer and it is enough to makes us sick. For kids, even exposure for small duration could mean dehydration and sunstroke. The best way to avoid this is to stay indoors during the day and step out only during early morning and evenings. If this can’t be avoided, better cover the child up in comfortable and airy clothes which saves him/her from direct sunlight. Also, it is important to take care of the head during summer and using a cap is the best thing to do. Also make sure to use sunglasses to avoid any impact to eye due to hot air, dust and heat.
Don’t lock your child up in the car – Many instances were reported in media where kids died in closed cars after parents left them locked “for just a while”. It is important to understand that the temperature increases very fast in a closed area and if it happens to be a car with only metal around it, the vehicles turned into a literal oven. With high temperature and very limited air to breathe, kids will only get dehydrated and may pass out. It is never an intelligent idea to leave anyone behind in a closed cars, be it children or event old people.
Taking care of kids while they are indoors – While we ensure proper care of our little ones when they are outside, it is equally important to keep them under watch when they are indoors. Having right means at right intervals and plenty of fluids are important things. Dehydration can happen anywhere and temperature can rise alarmingly within the house as well.
Check for allergies and seasonal diseases – Summers also invites a posse of diseases and infections such as malaria, dengue, chikungunya etc. Water-borne diseases such as jaundice and diarrhoea and many skin infections are also on rise during this period. It is important to ensure that the child is well-covered in the evening to protect him from mosquito bite. Using mosquito repellents inside is the house is the right thing to do and when stepping outside, cover him/her in full sleeves clothes along with an anti-mosquito patch or gel.
Be careful during summer sports- Be is swimming or other outdoor games such as cricket, football, badminton etc, make sure that you follow the basic precautions – which are drinking plenty of water and safeguard yourself from sunlight.
Summer care kit – Prepare a summer care kit and involve your child in the activity. The kit could include a sachets of glucose or ORS, Water bottle, caps, sunglasses, a note book with neatly written instruction for summer care. It must have regular and specific DOs and DONTs and details of emergency contacts.
