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Comment by jl6 | Hacker News Reader

> cool water makes small children shiver

Is it just my kids then that seem absolutely immune to cold water and will happily jump into unheated swimming pools, and will happily have a cold bath?

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I noticed my boy was happy getting into cold water as a toddler (compared to adults who suffer during the transition from air to cold water).

Now he's four years old, and a few weeks ago we swam together in a cold lake. He was happy to get in, but after ten minutes I noticed that his teeth were chattering and his lips were blue, while I was quite comfortable.

Having been a cub scout leader and now a parent you see that kids don't really have a great sensitivity to their own body temperature. They'll wear hot coats in Summer and tshirt in Winter unless you tell them not to, they're usually pretty far gone (sunstroke/hypothermic) before they will realise for themselves that there's something wrong.

I don't think they really get a good idea until they are about a year in to puberty, and even then they're more prone to mismanage their clothing (but I think that's just experience).

Also worth bearing in mind that younger kids have higher body temperature, and that they usually have lower surface area:volume ratios than bigger people.

There are two dimensions here -- one is that they may not feel it at all; the other is that they may feel it but not realize it's bad until it's too late, and might not attribute cause.

For example, going out in the cold doesn't hurt at first, but the pain builds up. As an adult, you may react to the initial no-pain sensation because you correctly predict you'll be freezing later.

Also consider that as an adult the same feeling can be both good or bad by mental context: consider a warm toilet seat -- warmed by a fancy Toto heater at home vs warmed by a stranger's buttocks in a fast food bathroom.

I have a hunch its the same ‘physiology’ that causes selective hearing. “Please turn off the iPad!” vs “who wants ice cream?”

I was like that as a child. As an adult, I’m always hot, unable to live without air conditioning, always looking forward to cooling down with a swim or a cold shower. (And I live in Canada; it’s not like the ambient temperature is all that high!)

Maybe I was that way as a child as well, and just wasn’t introspective enough to notice.

As an adult, I do get cold eventually, though; I can’t stay in cold water for hours, like I could as a child.

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