Summer vacation with children – How to make summer heat bearable for children

Many families have been looking forward to their summer vacation for a long time – but now the persistent heat, which has southern Europe in particular firmly in its grip, is making the vacations difficult for them. Especially for smaller children the high temperatures are no pleasure. Fortunately, however, there are some tips that can help even younger children survive heat better.

Enjoying the sun and time with the children on summer vacation.

Heat is especially burdensome for young children

Germans like it warm on their summer vacation – but they are less able to cope with extreme heat. For this reason, the particularly high temperatures in Spain or Italy are currently making it difficult for them to enjoy their vacation.

The heat is particularly unpleasant for smaller children. While their parents "merely" react to the temperatures with irritability, sweating or circulatory problems, children's "heat reactions" are often even more extreme. This is due to the fact that the child's organism is less able to regulate body temperature and therefore has more difficulty dealing with the heat. Children therefore react to high heat not only with grogginess or sleep problems, but often also with dizziness or faintness.

How to make heat more bearable for children

If, for example, you are surprised by oppressive heat during a family vacation in Turkey, you will often have a hard time, especially with small children: they are less able to tolerate the high temperatures – bad moods and sleepless nights are then pre-programmed. However, there are some helpful tips that make the heat more bearable for parents and children:

The daily routine of people in southern European or tropical countries is very different from that of Germans: Most strenuous activities take place in the morning or evening. During the particularly hot time of day, on the other hand, there is as much peace and quiet as possible.

If it is particularly hot at the resort, it helps to adapt this daily routine. This means that tours and excursions should not take place between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. during lunchtime. In this time the heat is usually particularly oppressive. Especially smaller children should better take a nap in the cool room during this time. Well rested, it's no problem if dinner – as usual in hot countries – is a bit later in the evening.

Tips for heat in summer

Child skin is particularly sun-sensitive and sun protection in the summer therefore straight for small holiday-makers an absolute must. Nevertheless, it makes sense not to stay in the blazing sun with smaller children when it is very hot. After all, too much sunbathing is harmful to the skin, despite UV protection, and the little ones quickly lose their desire to splash around in the sun. Even at the pool or beach parents should therefore better choose a shady place.

During the summer vacation with smaller children families should not do without a room with air conditioning ("air condition"). In many southern countries, sleepless nights without air conditioning are pre-programmed: If the windows remain open, mosquitoes soon populate the sleeping area and a fan merely stirs up the heated air – so it doesn't really sleep well.

So that the air conditioning air does not overload the organism and promote colds, the temperature should be set so that it is only about 5 degrees below the outside temperature. Here's how to sleep in a relaxed manner without scratching your neck the next morning.

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