Overheating of a baby in winter symptoms. Overheating of a child: signs and symptoms of overheating in the sun, in warm clothes, in a bath, sauna, hot room. What are the dangers of overheating a child? What is bad about hypothermia and overheating?

First of all, it is necessary to clarify what exactly is meant by overheating in children. Overheating of a child’s body is heating of the body due to exposure to external or internal factors. Overheating of the body is a very serious illness that can lead to heatstroke. People of all ages are prone to overheating of the body, and especially children under 1 year of age, since their independent thermoregulation system has not yet been fully formed and adjusted.

Causes of overheating

Basically, three main factors influence body overheating:

Prolonged exposure to direct sunlight on the body(long walks in hot weather, long stays on the beach without special sunscreen and hats);
Very high room or car temperature, too warm clothes. Often, young parents are overly protective of their children and even at home wrap them in three blankets. Guardianship and care are good, but you should not overdo it in this matter, since elevated temperature affects the baby’s body proportionally negatively, as does too cold. The risk of overheating a child’s body increases with high humidity in the room;
Internal processes in the child's body. As mentioned above, the body of young children is not yet fully formed and cannot fully control the process of thermoregulation. This category also includes various viral diseases, fevers, etc. The baby’s immunity, although still weak and just developing, is present in the body of infants and, fighting against it, increases the internal body temperature. Taking into account internal processes, one cannot ignore the fact of drinking plenty and regularly. Dehydration has a very negative effect on the body of any person, and especially on the body of a child, and can lead to irreparable consequences. Internal processes also include factors that influence normal sweating of the body.

Symptoms of overheating

Important: the main thing is to recognize overheating of the child’s body in time and take all necessary measures. To do this, you need to know the symptoms accompanying this disease. Often these symptoms can be very similar to those of common colds. In any case, the best solution would be to see a doctor.

Symptoms of overheating in children:

refusal of food and constant thirst in the child;
high body temperature, fever;
paleness or redness of the skin, possibly blue complexion;
sunken eyes;
your child is tired, lethargic, or restless;
Diaper rash or prickly heat may also indicate overheating of the body;
For infants, overheating can be detected if they shake their heads violently. This is what little children do when they have a headache.

Older children may exhibit the following symptoms:

Strong headache;
the child experiences nausea;
general body fatigue;
the child has a fever;
the child has difficulty breathing;
confusion, dizziness, or even loss of consciousness.

What to do if you overheat?

In such a situation, adults are required to take immediate action - the consequences of heatstroke and overheating of the body can be very dire. First you need determine what exactly caused the overheating, and immediately eliminate the undesirable factor.

Advice: if such a situation happens on the street, then you should immediately protect the child from contact and exposure to direct rays of the sun (take it to the shade or a cool place). Necessary allow the body to breathe normally(unbutton the shirt or undress the child to the waist).

A child who has experienced overheating or heatstroke should give horizontal position. The head should be covered with any cloth pre-moistened with cold water. In the event that overheating of the child’s body has just begun, and only the first symptoms have appeared (while the child remains conscious), the child should drink plenty of fluids. Fits very well" glucose-saline solution" It is very easy to prepare at home. To do this, you need to take 1 liter of water, add half a teaspoon of salt, two tablespoons of sugar and half a teaspoon of soda.

Then you should immediately begin to bring it down to 38.5 degrees. To do this, wiping with cold water is most often recommended.

The best treatment for overheating is prevention and prevention. Do not walk with your child during the peak of the heat, do not allow the child to be exposed to direct rays of the sun for a long time (especially without a hat), monitor the temperature and humidity in the room, it is very advisable to dress the child according to the weather.

Video symptoms of overheating in children

Thermoregulation in children - issues of overheating and freezing.
thermoregulation of newborns.
The baby spends the entire nine months of pregnancy in the warm and dark space of the uterus, and he does not need to maintain his body temperature; his mother does this for him. But when the baby is born, he finds himself in another world - from the warm uterus and moist amniotic fluid he is born into the air environment, now the baby needs to independently maintain his body temperature. This is what the body's thermoregulation system does - it produces or uses energy to maintain a constant body temperature in order to prevent both freezing and overheating. However, due to his age, the child’s thermoregulation is still weak. Therefore, it is necessary to create special conditions for care at birth and in the first months of life. What do parents of toddlers need to know about thermoregulation, how to properly care for their baby, and how not to overcool or overheat the baby? Let's figure it out.

How the system works
thermoregulation works quite simply - when freezing, the mechanism for breaking down fat and carbohydrates is activated. as a result, energy and heat are generated, if the child is very cold, the mechanisms of muscle tremors are activated, allowing him to warm up faster, but if there is an increase in body temperature, blood usually flows to the skin, dilation of skin vessels occurs and excess portions of heat escape through the skin into the atmosphere. Helps cool the body and sweat faster - moist skin, according to the law of physics, cools down faster. Due to this mechanism, the body independently maintains a constant body temperature without sudden fluctuations when undressing or changing environmental conditions.
However, for a baby everything is so simple - his mechanisms for maintaining heat and a constant body temperature are not yet perfect, he can quickly become hypothermic in a cold space, or quickly overheat even in seemingly normal conditions if he is dressed too warmly. And if all relatives take care to prevent hypothermia, putting on two or three hats even in warm weather, then caring mothers and especially grandmothers do not suspect that this is a real possibility of overheating the child and harming him.

What is bad about hypothermia and overheating?
Overheating and hypothermia will have a bad effect on the baby. When freezing, the baby cannot adequately maintain body temperature for a long time and becomes cold. Due to cooling, the protective barriers on the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth, in the intestines and in the lung area are reduced - activation of the child’s own microbes, which the child always has in his body, and inflammation may develop - runny nose, pneumonia, flu. If the body cools below 34 degrees, this will generally lead to critical metabolic disorders, including the death of the baby. However, most children will never know how to cool down - their parents swaddle them in beautiful diapers and dress them in cozy suits.
But overheating is very possible for a toddler with caring parents and restless grandmothers. Moreover, overheating occurs quite quickly and very imperceptibly, and parents often do not notice the first signs, being very surprised by the consequences. If, when freezing, the baby may cry and warm up due to the activity of movements, then if he overheats, he cannot in any way relieve himself of his well-being. Overheating is dangerous because the body's defenses are undermined and the child's immune system reduces its resistance to infections. Parents are surprised - “we dress warmly, we don’t go barefoot, but we get sick every month!” He gets sick from overheating and overwrapping. The body must train, adapt to temperature changes, and with constant greenhouse conditions in the conditions of three blouses, the immune system simply turns off. In addition, as we said above, a wet body freezes faster; a wrapped-up and always sweaty child, even from a light breeze, very quickly cools down and gets sick.
In addition, overheated children more often have skin problems - dermatitis, prickly heat, infections and allergies; they are delayed in development due to insufficient stimulation of the skin by tactile and air stimuli - they wear clothes all the time, their skin does not receive new sensations from space and air . In addition, these children, due to their clothing, do not receive enough of their portions of ultraviolet radiation and vitamin D, which will lead to rickets.

What parents need to know
The toddler's thermoregulation system is very imperfect and matures in the first years of the baby's life. It is important for parents to teach him to quickly and correctly adapt to changing weather conditions and temperature fluctuations. This will help the thermoregulation system adjust its operation and function correctly in the future. It is necessary to start training from the very first minutes of life. However, in order to properly train thermoregulation, it is necessary to know the signs of overheating, freezing, and hypothermia in a child, and, based on this knowledge, to properly organize care for the baby.
First of all, in order to prevent thermoregulation disorders, it is necessary to maintain an optimal temperature balance in the nursery. in the first month the temperature is on average 24-25°C, but gradually the temperature in the nursery decreases - the optimal temperature for sleep is 18-20 degrees; during the day you can allow a warmer temperature of about 20-22°C. At this temperature, the baby will sleep and stay awake comfortably. But, it must be remembered that the temperature in the nursery depends on what the child is wearing.
At home, there is no need to put on caps and hats, put on more than one suit and swaddle the baby. The number of his clothes should be approximately equal to the number of yours. If you put two undershirts on a child and also swaddle him, wearing a hat, he will overheat even at 20 degrees.

Signs of overheating and freezing
When overheated, the baby begins to refuse the breast, becomes nervous and anxious, he blushes, screams and becomes hot and wet. During such attacks of overheating, his temperature can jump to 38°C or even higher. If overheating is not eliminated and the parents ignore the child’s signals, he falls into a state of deep painful sleep and sleeps for a long time - this state is called protective inhibition of the brain, protecting it from overheating and dysfunction.
At the first signs of overheating, it is necessary to unwrap the baby naked, if it is a baby, attach it to the chest, covering it with a light diaper, if it is an artificial baby, give it some water. After half an hour, the child needs to measure the temperature and if it is elevated, you should call a doctor, the baby is seriously overheated.
When hypothermia occurs, children turn sharply pale, there is a blue discoloration around the mouth, the kids become restless, writhe their arms and legs, and sob heart-rendingly. But cold hands and feet in themselves cannot be a reliable sign of hypothermia - due to the characteristics of vascular tone and blood circulation in a child, they, along with the tip of the nose, are always cool. At the first signs of freezing, the baby must be placed to the chest, warmed with the warmth of his body, and changed into dry clothes if he is sweating and is cold because of this.
But how can you determine on the street whether the baby is lightly dressed, if a cool nose and hands are not a sign of freezing? In fact, everything is simple - place your hand on the back of the head or the back of the neck; by its temperature you can easily determine whether the child is comfortable. If the back of the head is wet and hot, you have overdone the clothes and the baby is overheated, dress him lighter. If the back of the head is cool, put on an extra blouse or cover the baby with a blanket. In optimal condition, the back of the head is at normal temperature and dry.

Practical advice for young parents
In order for children to easily tolerate any temperature changes, not to overheat or freeze, it is necessary to follow a few simple recommendations for caring for your baby. Then your baby will be hardened and will feel good in severe frosts and summer heat.

Firstly, at room temperature above +18°C, the baby does not need a hat, mittens for the hands and socks for the feet - the skin of the body must breathe, and the hands and feet are active reflexogenic zones, they need to be in active contact with the air. If your little one is slightly cold, cover him with a flannel diaper.

Secondly, if you need to go for a walk, put on your baby as many clothes as you are wearing. The child sweats and freezes just like you, there is no need to put more clothes on him - his body temperature is maintained the same as yours, about 36.5-36.8°C. Most of all, mothers and grandmothers are afraid of catching a cold in their child’s ears, considering them to be very weak - but if you wrap them up in five hats from childhood, they will be so, and if the child’s head will be perceived just like your own head, there will be no problems with the health of the ears , they are quite adaptable to temperature changes and air movement. At temperatures above 20 ° C there is no need for even the thinnest cap or hat, to protect your head from the sun's rays you need to buy him a cap, a Panama hat, a scarf, but you should not cover your ears with it. If the weather is windy, it is better to put a hood on your head and wear light hats to prevent your head from sweating - overheating the head is no less dangerous than overheating the whole body.

Thirdly, it is necessary to stimulate the baby’s thermoregulation mechanism through the hardening procedure. You need to visit swimming pools, pour cold water on your child after bathing, run barefoot and naked on the floor. In order not to be afraid of wet or frozen feet, teach your baby to walk on a wet towel that has been soaked in cool water. This trains the foot warming mechanisms and provides protection against freezing of the extremities.

Fourthly, and this is very important - go for a walk with your children in any weather, in the heat (but not in the open sun), in winter, in the cold, at least for a short time. The body needs to be able to adjust body temperatures and produce heat in accordance with changing conditions - this way the baby will be strong and hardened, and less likely to react to temperature changes by overheating or hypothermia.

Of course, a baby is born with an incompletely formed thermoregulation system, but as the child grows, it develops and improves. Therefore, the health and well-being of the child is in the hands of the parents, as they teach the child’s body to react to the temperature of the environment, and this program will be carried out in the future.

In summer, children often experience overheating. This is due to the fact that children do not tolerate heat well. This condition can occur suddenly and symptoms tend to worsen quickly.

Why is this happening

Heatstroke occurs most often at air temperatures above 30 degrees. Additional factors may include stuffiness, crowded conditions, and exposure to sunlight.

The main cause of overheating is dehydration. In response to high ambient temperatures, sweat is released, which cools the body. If you do not replenish fluid reserves, then at a certain point there is not enough water for sweating, the body stops cooling, and overheating occurs.

How to understand that a child is overheated

Overheating is expressed in general malaise, weakness, and sometimes syncope (pre-fainting), the skin becomes pale, the face is hyperemic.

The child feels very thirsty, and body temperature may rise to 39-40 degrees. Older children may complain of severe headaches and nausea.

What to do if your child is overheated

If the child is overheated, if possible, you should move him to a cool room and completely undress him. You can place him in water, the temperature of which will be 2 degrees lower than his body temperature. Or wrap it in a towel soaked in cool water.

If overheating is not very pronounced, it is enough to apply cold to the armpits (this can be bottles of cold water, wrapped in one layer of diaper). You can cool your head with a wet, cool handkerchief.

Another method common for fever is to wipe the skin with alcohol diluted 1:1 with water. Particular care should be taken to rub the areas of greatest concentration of blood vessels: axillary and popliteal areas, inguinal folds, areas behind the ears.

A child who has suffered heatstroke must be given a cool (but not cold) drink. Moreover, the more he drinks, the better.

In case of fainting, a cotton swab soaked in ammonia will help.

Prevention

When the temperature outside is above 30 degrees, it is better for children to stay at home in a cool, well-ventilated area.

You don’t need to be in direct sunlight outside; it’s better to walk in the shade of the alleys. And you should definitely wear a hat.

The child also needs to be provided with adequate drinking regimen. If it is difficult for him to drink a glass of water at once, you can drink a little every 15 minutes.

And it is especially important that the child should drink water or unsweetened homemade compote. No juices, sodas or other sweet drinks can quench your thirst, and sometimes they can even increase dehydration.

With caring and restless mothers and grandmothers, it rarely happens that a child experiences hypothermia. As a rule, they wrap it securely :) But getting overheated from clothing is a very real danger.

The fact is that when overheated, a small and helpless child can do almost nothing to alleviate his condition, while when freezing, active movements and trembling of the body can help warm up. Overheating goes unnoticed much more often, and can very quickly develop to a critical stage!

Constantly wearing clothes that are too warm has a number of negative consequences. Here are some of them:

Colds and infections. Surprisingly, overheating also contributes to colds, as does hypothermia. When overheated, the body's immune defense weakens, and the baby becomes susceptible to infections. The most obvious thing is that clothes that are too warm make a child sweat, and a wet body only needs the lightest breeze to immediately become hypothermic. But in addition, constantly keeping a child in too “greenhouse conditions” does not allow the body to adapt to temperature changes, but the body’s defenses, like soldiers, need training, especially the defenses of a little person, in whom they have not yet been properly formed. If you do not give them the opportunity to develop normally, then they may completely switch off as unnecessary, which is fraught with permanent illnesses and problems with thermoregulation.
Dermatitis, allergies, prickly heat. The skin should regularly come into contact with air and “breathe”. Children who are always bundled up from head to toe often have skin problems. With low-quality clothing with a high synthetic content, the risk of this is especially high.
Developmental delay. A child learns about the world by all means available to him, and touch plays an important role here. For a baby, this is as important a source of information as vision or hearing. Children who, both in winter and summer, are constantly wrapped in all kinds of socks, tights and overalls with long sleeves, do not receive tactile information, do not feel the space and air around them.
Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D3 not only comes from certain types of food (it is found in some algae, for example), but is also actively synthesized when the skin is exposed to sunlight. Its deficiency leads to the development of rickets in children.

To quickly recognize the symptoms of overheating in a child, it is necessary to clearly understand what this process is. Overheating is a consequence of a malfunction in the heat exchange pattern between the body and the environment. The body begins to produce more heat than it gives off. The result of a violation is overheating with possible subsequent heat stroke.

Overheating can have serious negative consequences for a child. If for an adult an air temperature of 29 degrees in the sun brings discomfort, then for a child it becomes dangerous. The reason for this is the incompletely formed heat transfer regulation function. A child’s body temperature in the first year of life is extremely unstable and subject to significant fluctuations under the influence of a number of factors.

Parents of children under five years of age need to very carefully monitor the time their children spend in the sun. A child who has not reached the age at which he can already talk about his condition especially needs the close attention of adults. For parents of toddlers, recognizing the symptoms and signs of overheating is an important skill. With knowledge, an adult will be able to quickly provide help and prevent consequences. What to do if a child overheats?

Causes

The cause of overheating in children can be the sun, too warm clothes or heat in the room, especially thermoregulation in children.

The sun can cause children to overheat in a short period of time. The danger is the high probability of subsequent sunstroke. Overheating occurs during long walks in the heat, long stays near bodies of water with unprotected skin from the sun's rays and a missing headdress.

Dressing children in clothes that are too warm and inappropriate for the weather conditions and creating heat in the room where the child is located also leads to a disruption in the body’s heat exchange processes. Young parents, due to an exaggerated desire to take care of their child, often wrap their child up and maintain the room temperature at a level much higher than that recommended for children. Dr. Komarovsky, for example, strongly recommends not exceeding the temperature threshold of 19 degrees.
Due to not fully formed thermoregulation in children, body temperature may rise. Therefore, the child should always drink plenty of fluids to maintain fluid balance. Lack of fluid causes dehydration, which is very dangerous for babies.

Dr. Komarovsky, speaking about the causes of overheating in children, clarifies that diapers can be an additional factor. If a child is dressed too warmly, but is in a cool environment, then normalization of body temperature will occur due to breathing. If the external environment is hot, then the body will be cooled due to skin contact with air. In this situation, a diaper will not allow the body to completely get rid of excess heat. Dr. Komarovsky suggests using diapers to determine the presence of overheating. If the skin underneath does not differ in color from the epidermis of the entire body, then the child’s condition is optimal. A pinkish or red color indicates overheating.

Indicators of heat transfer disturbances

Any parent needs to know the symptoms of overheating. They may not appear immediately. Early detection of signs and prescribed treatment, if necessary, can prevent serious complications. Symptoms in young children include:

Reluctance to eat, increased need to drink.
Temperatures reaching 38 degrees and above.
Dryness of the mucous membranes of the mouth and lips.
Changes in skin tone (pale, red, bluish).
Sore eyes.
Feeling tired, lethargic, or restless.
Rashes or diaper rash on the skin.
In the youngest children, a sign of overheating is constant movement of the head from side to side. This is also a sign of headache.

Those who are older may experience:

Headache.
Weakness.
Nausea.
Fever.
Difficulty breathing.
Dizziness and fainting.

If such symptoms are detected, it is necessary to clearly understand what to do in the current situation. Treatment may be required to reverse the effects of exposure to the sun or heat. But the first and most important step is to help the child when signs of overheating are detected.

How to help a child?

When signs of overheating appear, the most important thing is to identify the factor that triggered its occurrence and immediately eliminate the impact. If the cause is the sun, it is necessary to move the child to the shade or a cool room. Free yourself from constricting clothing, ensuring maximum skin contact with air, and allow you to breathe freely. Subsequent actions should consist of a set of measures:

Put the child to bed.
Remove the diaper if you have one.
Cover your head with a damp, cool cloth.
Give fluids regularly. For this situation, it is best to make a solution of 0.5 teaspoon of salt, the same amount of soda and two tablespoons of sand.
If the temperature is above 38, give medications to reduce it. Rub with exclusively cool water.
Do not expose the child to the sun.

In serious cases, when a child has suffered sunstroke or heatstroke, treatment is required. You should consult a doctor immediately.

Precautionary measures

What to do if a child overheats is clear. By following the assistance algorithm, parents will be able to quickly alleviate the baby’s condition. The best treatment, according to Dr. Komarovsky, is prevention. By taking precautions when your child is in the sun and not dressing him too warmly, you can save your child from many problems.

To prevent health problems in children, the following rules must be followed:

Minimize your child's exposure to the sun. Dr. Komarovsky places particular emphasis on the period from ten to sixteen hours. Regardless of the time, the child should be covered with sunscreen and have a hat.
Clothing should be loose-fitting and not restrict breathing and movement. The fabrics are only natural, the colors are light.
Drinking water must be available at all times. It is necessary to regulate fluid intake. The minimum number of urinations is four. If this happens less often, or the urine is dark in color, the child needs to drink more.
Periodically, it is necessary for the child to stay in a cool room and bathe to eliminate overheating of the body.
Dr. Komarovsky also recommends the use of air conditioners in rooms where children are. But to eliminate too much dry air, which is harmful to the child’s body, it must be moistened. An alternative solution is to spray a saline solution into the nose.
Minimize the time your baby spends in diapers.
The temperature in the room where the child is located should not be higher than 23 degrees. The room must be ventilated.
Place the child's sleeping place away from appliances that generate heat.

Compliance with precautions in the summer and careful attention to the child’s condition will relieve the sad consequences for the body. In matters relating to heat and clothing in the summer, it is worth adhering to the principle: it is better to cool slightly than to overheat. It is necessary to perform any actions in relation to a child, maintaining balance and a golden mean.