A sick child can make you miserable. Do what you can to keep your child healthy and help everyone to be happy!
Make sure your child gets enough sleep; children need about 10 hours of sleep per night. Very young children also benefit from naps during the day. Make bedtime special with a routine that includes bathing, teeth brushing, and reading a bedtime story. Choose relaxing or happy stories, avoid scary stories just before bed.
Make sure your child eats plenty of healthy food and drinks water every day. There is no great secret to healthy eating. Follow the following advices to keep your child healthy:
- Keep junk food to a minimum: empty calories in soft drinks and fatty foods promotes obesity, which causes all kinds of health problems.
- Provide plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole-grain products.
- Include low-fat or non-fat milk or dairy products.
- Choose lean meats, poultry, fish, lentils, and beans for protein.
- Serve reasonably-sized portions.
- Limit consumption of sugar and saturated fat.
- Practice food safety: washing fruits and vegetables, not eating undercooked meats or poultry, and not drinking unpasteurized milk.
You should ensure regular exercise for your children, and let them play outside every day, if possible. At the same time, set a time limit on the amount of time your kid spends on the Internet, TV, online gaming or messaging.
Promote good personal habits in your children; make sure they always wash hands before and after eating, before helping with food, after wiping their nose, and after using the bathroom. Teach them how to blow their nose into a tissue, and how to cough into the crook of their elbow instead into the open air.
Properly clean and bandage cuts and scrapes to prevent infection. Also keep kids away from smokers; second hand-smoke can cause asthma and other respiratory problems. Take them to the doctor for annual checkups, get recommended immunizations and keep up to date on all necessary vaccines.
If they are sick, do not send them to school in order to limit their exposure to friends who are sick with communicable illness. To prevent infections, you should also teach your children to avoid sharing foods or drinks with others.
As for dental care, it begins before a baby’s first tooth appears. Just because you cannot see the teeth does not mean they are not there. Running a damp washcloth over a baby’s gums daily will help clear away harmful bacteria. Parents can brush kids’ teeth as they come in with an infant toothbrush, using water with just a smear of toothpaste until about age 2.
Raising healthy kids is a big job! Keep these habits and help your children to acquire them to keep them healthy and ensure their optimal growth and development.
References
http://m.wikihow.com
http://m.kidshealth.org
http://pediatrics.about.com
http://m.voices.yahoo.com