All aspects of a child’s health are equally important to grow up to be responsible adults and make sound decisions. Nevertheless, it can be challenging for parents to manage their child’s health and well-being on top of their own health and responsibilities.
A better way to go about it is to instill healthy habits in kids earlier. Young minds can learn quickly during their developing stage.
It is also essential to ensure a healthy and positive environment conducive to their learning. For this, parents’ presence and their healthy relationship are equally important.
While it can be a struggle to manage everything together, start by developing and sticking to your own healthy habits. Your child may imitate you or follow you.
06 Tips for New Parents to ensure their Kids are Healthy
Healthful foods and beverages, adequate sleep, regular physical activities, and other factors help children grow, build strong muscles and bones, maintain a healthy weight, and stay protected from diseases.
Similarly, their emotional, spiritual, and mental development are equally crucial in their learning capabilities, emotional intelligence, mental peace, and ability to make the right decisions.
Let us look at tips you can follow to ensure your kids’ overall well-being.
Physical Fitness
Make sure that your kids stay physically active to remain fit and maintain a healthy weight. This is crucial if your child sustains a birth injury during delivery.
If you suspect your child was a birth injury victim, it’s time to investigate. Cerebral or Erb’s Palsy are common congenital injuries children sustain during delivery.
If it’s the latter, you should contact an experienced Erbs palsy attorney to hold the negligent party accountable and possibly finance your kid’s medical expenses. They may even require physical therapy to cope with their condition.
Toddlers and young kids find themselves with a lot of physical energy after they are well fed, well-slept, and feeling good about themselves. Let them play outside, take them to the park, or play with them in the house.
Additionally, plan any other physical activities that they find interesting or something that you can do with them. Let the kids enjoy themselves in the water during summer, which is fun and physically immersive.
Make Sure Your Child gets Enough Sleep
Babies and toddlers might take more naps throughout the day than older children might. You must ensure sure they get well-rested naps in a peaceful environment. They may get cranky if they skip their usual naps or are tired but unable to sleep.
It is also essential to let them finish their sleep and not wake them in the middle; otherwise, the child might cry or get cranky or annoyed after waking up.
It is crucial for the child’s mental, emotional, and physical stimulation for the rest of the day. As they are too young and in the most critical developmental phase, taking in new things throughout the day can be tiring for their tiny bodies.
Promote Good Habits beyond Your Family
Caregivers and other family members may also play a vital role in your child’s upbringing. For example, spending time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and then their kids.
They may even provide additional support and guidance on caring for a firstborn through their experiences.
If you leave your child in the care of a caregiver, make sure they know what to feed them and when to take them to bed, to give baths, and to spend little time watching television or playing video games.
You can also check their school activities by seeing what the school provides for breakfast and lunch and its physical education program. Besides that, keep in touch with your child’s teachers to update yourself about their education and class performance. Please work with the teachers to improve your child’s development by identifying their needs.
Consider Other Influencers
When your child watches television, surfs the internet, goes to the movies with you, or sees billboards and ads about certain things, try to educate them about those exposures healthily.
Explain how influencers and media outlets try to sell things and convey values through made-up images and graphics.
They may witness a fast food joint’s billboard and plead with you to take them there. You might buy your child food that brings them joy but teach them about the health benefits of every food they consume.
Speak to your child during such activities and answer their curiosity in a way their minds can grasp. But, do not overload them with information if they do not understand something.
Only try to teach as much as they understand or need to know. You can continue where you left off after they have grown enough to understand more.
However, children can be very bright, sometimes act ahead of their ages, and ask almost adult-like intelligent questions. Don’t hold them back, and motivate them to learn healthily.
Security and Protection
It is perhaps the most crucial element in keeping kids healthy and safe. Maintain an environment where your child feels welcome to express themselves, talk to you whenever they want, and always feel protected.
The home must be a haven for kids if you want them to have a good childhood. It includes no yelling, shouting, or fighting around the kids. It can harm the child’s mind, and they may not feel safe.
Sometimes, toddlers and young children randomly go to their parents’ room to be close to them. It indicates that they need your love, affection, and attention.
Always make sure to be physically and emotionally available to them. It can have a long-lasting impact on your kids as they grow up.
Early Learning
Always ensure that the child has enough learning material as soon as their curiosity piques and they start taking an interest in academics.
Books, toys, and interactive material are essential for their early learning. Before they start going to school, they must begin at home.
Before joining the school, kids sometimes act like they are already in school. Use their interest to engage in productive learning techniques like flashcards, drawing, and coloring, teaching them about numbers and animals to make them feel like they are already learning in school.
Conclusion
Taking care of your child as a new parent can be challenging. However, seek help from your family and professional caregivers who can help you in child rearing and provide you with the proper guidance.
Ensure their physical fitness and healthy diet to help them maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. When exposed to media, television, technology, and ads, teach them how these things influence their values and choices and why they exist.
Do not shut them out if they ask an unexpected question. Instead, explain it to the child in a way they can understand. Always provide them with the security and protection they need and ensure early learning.
Keep these tips in mind to ensure better health for your children.
