We have believed that children are so delicate that anything will make them sick. But it's not like that. I do not think that exposing children to enclosed spaces loaded with viruses makes them stronger, or, of course, that we should make them cold, but if it is convenient, with some logic, let them decide whether or not they have to put on more warm clothes.
It makes more damage to go warm sweating than to run with the right clothes letting the body itself decide if they really need the coat or not. So I propose to make an effort and rely on the thermoregulation of our children
Over the years I have realized that we tend to warm the children too much and impose our thermal sensations on them, incapacitating them, in the end, to know for themselves whether they are cold or not. I have also discovered that, when they decide, they usually choose to wear less warm clothes than we put on children who cannot decide and that the former are usually healthy and do not get cold.
I usually talk about this topic with my friends, with different opinions. But when I talk to children, their response is unanimous: adults are cold and very heavy on this issue. Do you think we should let the children decide how much warm clothes they should wear?.
Babies
I have to clarify that in no way do I propose to do this with very young children or with babies. It is not convenient, since its thermal self-regulation mechanism is immature and they can remain frozen or overheated without their bodies being able to put in place the natural mechanisms to save or lose heat.
I don't mean that, it should be clear. But if we should, I think, stop overcoating them. They do not have to sweat to be hot and, especially to the kids that go in the stroller, I usually see them stuffed as Eskimos when it is not really necessary.
With a baby at home we must maintain a moderate ambient temperature and not overcoat them, controlling especially when they sleep that their body temperature does not rise. When babies move a lot at night, they uncover and, although they have to be careful that they do not stay cold, what you never have to do is keep the blankets so tight that they do not let them move. If we collect the advice it is the same, and sometimes we must put their own blanket rather than put them under huge common comforters.
Children playing
But yes to what, when the children are older, and especially if they are playing and running, let them decide how much clothes they need, since when you exercise your muscles get hot and an overcoat is harmful.
I know children who have left, since they were little, decide whether or not they need more clothes and, naturally, I find that they usually need much less warm clothes than the one we wear, without that influencing their status at all. Health.
The children who decide
Also, even let them decide when putting on a coat thicker or a sweater, well, sometimes we are going to be cold but they feel comfortable, since, in reality, the thermal sensation is not the same in all people.
To me, I must confess, it costs me a lot. I have already come to tell the child “put on a jacket that I am cold” which makes us laugh and he gives him the opportunity to reflect on whether or not he needs that layer of clothing that the environment is asking of me.
Not overcoat
Normally we should take the children with the same clothes that we wear, in several layers to be able to release them if they are hot. With babies, if we do not wear them in a shoulder bag, how much to wear an additional layer that would be the body or the shirt and in the smallest ones, put a cap and thick socks, because it is at the ends where they can lose more heat.
To have home heating It is another issue to consider. Houses and offices are usually overheated in winter, sometimes above 22 degrees and many people end up suffering from the drying of the environment, sudden changes in temperature and excessive heat in the home, which is especially Harmful to young children. If we use heating that is moderately.
The truth is that we get used to the ambient temperature and, just like when we see a Nordic in short sleeves at 15 degrees, in the end, we can also remove the body so that it gets used to not always being heated.
I have not put the heating in the house for years and I usually have the windows open until January except the wet days. Since I do that, we get a lot less cold.
What do you think about letting children self-regulate in terms of clothing What do they need to wear at any time of the year, especially with the cold?
