children health Archives - Easy Mommy Life

How To Get Toddler To Brush Teeth Without A Struggle

OphiraLeave a commentMay 1, 2019

Read time: 6 minutes

how to get toddler to brush teeth without struggle

Are you wondering, How to get your toddler to brush teeth without a struggle?

What if I told you its possible. Yes, you heard me right!

I talk a lot about Gentle Parenting on this blog and its social media pages. But sometimes everyday tasks like brushing toddler teeth are a challenge no matter what parenting strategy you use. Many of you have asked me in the past, how do you brush your toddler’s teeth without using force or pinning him down.

Well, today I am going to share with you our toddler teeth brushing tips and tricks. These are simple things we do in our home that make brushing teeth easier.

GET THE TOOTH BRUSHING ESSENTIALS RIGHT

Make sure to buy a brush with soft bristles. For babies, you may want to start out with a baby finger brush and then move to a brush with soft bristles as the baby grows more teeth.

I usually go with the recommended age on the toothbrush package since I find that the manufacturers have done their research right and make age-appropriate toothbrushes that are easy for toddlers to hold.

Our favorite toothbrushes

Mee Mee Baby Finger Brush

Dr. Browns Infant To Toddler Toothbrush

Chicco Baby Toothbrush

Children’s toothpaste

Chicco Toothpaste (Strawberry flavor)

TIPS ON TODDLER TEETH BRUSHING: HOW TO BRUSH A TODDLERS TEETH WITHOUT A STRUGGLE

Introduce the concept of tooth brushing

Start talking about brushing teeth as early as possible, don’t wait to talk about brushing and its importance until when they are older. An easy way to introduce the concept of brushing teeth is through children’s books and nursery rhymes.

Children quickly pick up catchy rhymes like, “this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth”.

I also noticed my son will do a daily task better when he reads about it in a book. When he sees the characters in the book performing these daily tasks he is more inclined to try for himself.

Books on tooth brushing for children

Tiger’s toothbrush – Ladybird series

Monkey Bandit and the funny toothbrush – Maria Ellis

Let the child have a go at it

Children love to copy adults. Hand your toddler a brush and let him copy you as you brush your teeth. Brush together in the morning’s so that a routine is set.

Do not expect children under 6-7 years of age to be able to brush their teeth clean. At best most of them are just chewing on the bristles and cleaning a tooth or two. But this act of showing confidence in them when they are doing it themselves helps maintain the motivation to do it every day.

Help him finish the routine

I always let my toddler have a go first and then follow up with the real teeth cleaning process.

For this part, I like to use a little bit of storytelling. Read the next point to know more about how we incorporate storytelling and make tooth brushing fun for the toddler.

Makeup stories with the child’s favorite characters

Between the ages, 1-2 our son was learning about different animals so we made stories using animals as characters. First I would hand him the toothbrush and tell him how all the jungle animals are having a grand party in his mouth. He needs to get them out of there so his teeth can also go night-night (go to sleep)

He would brush his teeth, while I cheered him on saying, “oh look, I just saw you catch a little bear in your brush”. This would excite him and he would continue brushing his teeth.

Once I felt that he is done trying on his own I would say, “give me the toothbrush, let me have a look and see if you caught them all” this is when I would start the actual brushing process.

When brushing I use a steady and gentle hand making sure not to brush too hard.

In between the brushing teeth process, I always add in a line or two more to my story so that he will sit through the process longer. I will exclaim loudly and say; “Hey! a giraffe was hiding here, wait let me get him out” This way both of us would be laughing and giggling while we brushed his teeth.

Now that he is older ( 2 and a half years plus) and obsessed with cars I have changed the storyline to that including cars.

Recently I also introduced the concept of “germs” and what they do to our teeth if they are not removed each night and we pretend that the toothbrush is his favorite vehicle who goes in each night to kill all the germs from his teeth.

So, one night we have a ‘big digger’ in action getting rid of germs from his mouth and another night there is a ‘police car’ doing the cleanup work. I make all the sounds these vehicles each night, trying my best to add a little fun to our daily routine.

More toddler life-related blog posts:

How To Ease Your Toddler’s Fears

How To Get Your Toddler To Listen Without Yelling

5 Simple Toddler Sleep Tips To Help Them Sleep Fast

Practical Potty Training Tips By An Experienced Mom

Praise their efforts and reinforce the good habits

This is a very important point that most of us forget in the rush of our daily routines. Do not forget to praise your child’s efforts. It’s not easy for a 1-2-year-old to have someone bring in a foreign object that’s rubbing at their teeth and tender gums. You wouldn’t enjoy anyone else poking around your mouth either. So praise them when they try on their own and when they allow you to have a good go at cleaning their teeth.

Even with all these efforts, there may be days or nights when the toddler won’t comply. We really can’t tell, he may be having a bad swelling on some teeth going through the teething phase.

When my toddler is having a particularly bad day like this I let it go and request him to gargle his teeth and get the germs out. This helps him relax and also reinforces the concept that we must clean our teeth before we start the day and before bed. It also shows him that I trust him and I am understanding of any discomfort he may be feeling in his gums or teeth that moment.

Believe me, it’s not often that we skip brushing teeth. Once set into such a routine the child enjoys brushing his teeth, its more fun than a routine.

As he grows I will modify the story or my approach altogether to suit his developmental needs. Whatever new method I use, it will be one that will gain his cooperation over forceful compliance.

What is the tooth brushing routine in your home? Do you use storytelling as a way to gain your toddler’s cooperation? Leave me a comment below.

Surviving The Stomach Flu In Kids And Toddlers

Ophira1 CommentApril 1, 2019March 5, 2019

Read time: 6 minutes

stomach flu in kids-what to feed a toddler with stomach flu

Most young children don’t follow proper hygiene rules, it can be difficult as a parent to get them to wash their hands thoroughly. The end result is the common childhood disease, stomach flu. Stomach flu in kids is a nasty illness. Not only are our littles troubled with trying to keep any food inside, but that coupled with diarrhea leaves them exhausted and irritable.

Viral gastroenteritis or stomach flu is an intestinal infection caused by viruses like rotavirus and norovirus.

Stomach flu is caused by coming into contact with an infected person or contaminated food or water. Raw or undercooked food can also make one sick.

The first step to prevention is to maintain hygienic environments when cooking and preparing foods and drinking boiled or properly filtered water. Be especially cautious about where you eat outside the home. Look for restaurants that maintain good hygiene standards on-premises and in the kitchen. And yes, do not risk offering street food to toddlers and young children.

STOMACH FLU SYMPTOMS

The most common stomach flu symptoms include

Watery stools or diarrhea
Pain in the abdomen or cramps
Vomiting
Muscle aches and pain
Low-grade Fever – monitor your child’s fever, if the fever exceeds 102 F (38.9 C) contact your doctor immediately.

Since most of these symptoms are similar to a bacterial infection caused by E.coli or Salmonella, it is important to monitor the child’s progress and stay vigilant about child’s energy levels.

A common concern with diarrhea is the onset of dehydration, and keeping your child hydrated becomes the first line of action.

If any of these symptoms worsen that is,

fever above 102 F,
blood in stools,
the child is vomiting every hour,
the child has loose watery diarrhea, one every hour
No improvement in condition in 24 hours

it is best to contact your child’s doctor about the condition and set up an appointment on discussing signs and symptoms.

STOMACH FLU TREATMENT

Stomach flu gets better on its own and there is no effective stomach flu treatment. Even so, there are certain things you can do to help your child feel better during the illness like replacing lost fluids with electrolyte water. This prevents dehydration from setting in.

For more expert counsel and advice specific to your child’s case always call a doctor.

Contact your doctor to get the name of the pediatric electrolyte solution specific to your country and any other medicine to relieve some of the other persisting symptoms your child may be suffering.

TODDLER STOMACH BUG WHAT TO FEED

The first question that comes up when you face the stomach flu is, what to feed a toddler with stomach flu?

In most cases, if the child is not throwing up and can keep food down you can continue with regular home cooked food.

Many children loose appetite which makes it a little more complicated to serve food that appeals to them during the illness.

Following a BRAT diet [diet comprising of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast] helps to a large extent. These foods make the stools more firm.

The stomach flu diet includes:

Bananas – potassium which helps replace this nutrient lost during vomiting and diarrhea.
Plain white rice – easy to digest and provides the necessary energy in the form of simple carbs. Brown rice may be difficult to digest because of high fiber content and should be avoided.
Applesauce – provides energy and easy to digest.
Toast/White Bread – helps make stools firm and is easy on the stomach.
Include foods rich in probiotics like yogurt, these can boost the good gut flora and help with reducing diarrhea.
Starchy foods like potatoes also help fill the stomach and maintain energy levels.
Oats- Make a simple porridge. It is easy to digest and not too irritating on the tummy.

Some of the preparations I use in our home is mashed potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes, soups like plain corn soup or tomato soup, plain toast, citrus fruits like oranges, sweet limes, and rice dish called Kongee.

To make Rice Kongee slow cook rice in 6:1 water: rice proportion.

Slow cook until rice is done. I have added a picture for you to get an idea of the consistency.

In case you are wondering what are the foods to eat after a stomach bug, well, this depends on your child. Start by slow introduction of a regular diet, and depending on how well the child is keeping the food in you can increase intake back to old portion sizes and foods.

WHAT FOODS TO AVOID DURING THE STOMACH FLU IN KIDS

You may want to avoid other dairy products like milk and cheese as these are harder to digest.
Go easy on fruits and vegetables as they are high in fiber and can aggravate the problem.
Avoid greasy foods like fried chips.
Avoid processed meat and meat-based dishes.
Avoid spicy foods.

WHAT TO FEED A TODDLER AFTER VOMITING

If the child is throwing up, wait on solid foods for a bit.

Let him sip on some electrolyte solution or coconut water in order to rehydrate.

Also, continue breastfeeding to help the child get some nutrition.

Once his stomach settles, offer non-irritating bland foods like toast, crackers, potatoes or applesauce.

Continue on the BRAT diet until vomiting has subsided, do not force feed at such a time. Understand that low appetite is normal when feeling sick.

HOME REMEDIES FOR STOMACH FLU IN KIDS

Other than staying hydrated and eating a BRAT diet you can also try the following:

Rice water left over from boiling brown rice can be given to kids to help ease diarrhea
Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties: Boil water with a stalk of ginger in it. Give this water to your toddler to sip on. Add a tiny bit of honey to sweeten this ginger water for your kids.
Fennel seeds can be given to older toddlers to chew on. Fennel helps relieve gas and bloating. If the toddler cannot chew on fennel, you can steep some fennel seeds in hot water and strain out the seeds before giving your toddler this fennel tea as a drink to sip on.

Once again to summarize for you,

Hydrate with fluids like water, coconut water, clear soups, and electrolyte solutions
Eat a simple and easy to digest diet consisting of bananas, applesauce, white bread, crackers, rice, and potatoes.
Eat probiotic-rich foods like yogurt.
Rest and lots of cuddles.

I hope these tips help you out in the unfortunate event your child has the stomach flu.

Try not to stress too much, our kids pick up on our stress, which only makes them feel worse.

Stay vigilant, monitor the progress of the illness and most importantly provide your kids with more love and some encouraging words to help them stay positive through the illness.

Do you have some home remedies for stomach flu that worked for your kids? Let me know what worked for you, leave me a comment below. Share this post with other moms you know.

Until next time, Ciao!

Sugar And Childhood Obesity

Ophira49 CommentsJuly 3, 2018July 6, 2017

Read time: 8 minutes

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, highlighted that in 2015 India had the second highest obese children in the world. What has led to this increase in obesity in young children in India? Where have we gone wrong? Are our cultural notions that obese kids are healthy to blame or the growing urbanization and adoption of western diets to blame? Scientists think it’s both.
Sugar has a considerable cultural relevance in India. In the land of festivals, sugary sweets are everywhere. How aware are we as parents about the effects of sugar consumption on our kids?

Let’s dive into this topic and look at some important points to be considered.

What is sugar?

Sugar is a carbohydrate found naturally in most plants, but mainly in sugar cane and sugar beets.

Simple sugars or monosaccharides are glucose, galactose and fructose. Whereas disaccharides are combinations of two sugar molecules. Examples of disaccharides are lactose, maltose and sucrose.

Many of the foods we eat contain naturally occurring amounts of sugars; especially dairy, fruits and some vegetables. When experts talk about reducing sugar content, they don’t mean the naturally occurring ones. They’re referring to added sugars.

What is added sugar?

The words added sugars and free sugars are used interchangeably, but there are slight differences in their definitions.

Added sugars are sugars and syrups put in foods during preparation or processing or added at the table.

As per the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines: “Free sugars include monosaccharides and disaccharides added to foods and beverages by the manufacturer, cook or consumer and sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.”

Point to note here is that, the definition for added sugars does not include honey, fruit juices or fruit juice concentrates. The definition for free sugars is therefore more apt, encompassing all known sugars.

Recommendations for sugar

The WHO recommends reducing the intake of these free sugars to less than 10% of total energy intake in both adults and children.

In fact recently in view of the rising obesity levels and related disorders globally, WHO’s expert panel recommended decreasing sugar intake to 5% of total calorie intake to combat obesity. [1]

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends no more than six teaspoons of added sugar to be consumed by children 2 to 18 years of age. [2]

The AHA also recommends that added sugars should not be included at all in the diet of children under the age of 2 years.

Where are these added sugars?

Well most parents think sugars are only found in sweets and pastries. But that is not the case, with rapidly changing diets and dependence on heavily processed foods, hidden sugars are everywhere.

You can find sugars in everything from baby cereals, purees, granola bars, ketchup, mayonnaise, pasta sauces, cheese spreads, nut bars, peanut butter, yogurts, breads, cured meats and healthier looking versions of toddler snacks labelled from fruit concentrate.

As mothers it becomes important to learn to read labels. Look for the following words on packaging:

Sucrose
Maltose
Lactose
Dextrose
Fructose
Mannitol
Sorbitol
Xylitol
Glucose Syrup
Corn Syrup
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Disaccharides
Molasses
Invert sugar
Honey
Jaggery

These are all names for SUGAR!!

How do sugars affect my child?

Sugar intake contributes to accumulation of body fat, hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, fatty liver, high level free fatty acids. [3]

It is important to mention here that Indians already have higher NEFAs (Non-Esterified Fatty Acid), insulin resistance, hepatic steatosis and dysglycemia compared to Caucasians. [4]

To add to this, Indians are increasingly consuming traditional Indian sweets along with sugar sweetened beverages, and westernized sugar-loaded food items, which are now easily available due to globalization.

Children are not far behind, the consumption patterns of sweets and beverages are rapidly changing among the children in our country. Sugar sweetened beverages and sugar containing high calorie foods are easily available around school premises.

A study conducted on 1800 school children aged 9-18 years and their mothers from four cities in India: Delhi, Bangalore, Pune and Agra in 2013 showed a high consumption pattern of sweetened food items among children and their mothers.

The study highlighted the role of mothers in deciding the food choices of children and reported a strong association between the dietary intake of children and their mothers for all the studied sweetened food items [5]. The study also showed that any food or food preparation was considered “healthy” if it was “hygienically” prepared. Furthermore, the results showed that the consumption of food among children is influenced by television advertisements, peer pressure and the fashion for consuming westernized foods.

Think about this

Nutritionally sugar provides only “empty” calories (1 gm of sugar gives 4 calories). It lacks the natural minerals which are present in the beet root or sugarcane.

When we say it’s okay to consume 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar per day, we have to consider the following:

1 tablespoon of ketchup contains 4 grams of sugar
1 small 100gm/3.5 oz container of flavored yogurt contains upto 13 grams of sugar.

These make up just the sides of a single meal. This is where our role as parents really kicks in.

How to avoid too much sugar consumption?

Many Indian mothers add sugar even to savory dishes like poha, upma, sabzis and curries. This can be avoided.
Enjoy foods with natural sweeteners like jaggery and honey in moderation.
Always leave the house prepared. You don’t want a last minute hunger tantrum on your trip where you give in and provide your child with biscuits and sweets. Carry theplas, parathas, boiled sweet potato, vegetable/non-vegetarian patties, wraps, chappatis, fruits or your child’s favourite snacks.
Many times mothers prefer packaged foods including bottled beverages at restaurants as they are concerned about hygiene. Again offering coconut water or bottled water instead of sugary drinks can suffice.
Always stick to whole foods instead of packaged foods. Labels can be deceiving, not all products may have complete breakdown of added sugars. Look for the “Carbohydrates (of which sugars)” figure in the nutrition label to see how much sugar the product contains for every 100g: Less than 5 gram of sugar per 100 gram of product is considered low in sugar.
Offer your child fruit over fruit juice, fruit rollups and fruit pouches.
Food pouches for kids are a new trend. But many experts suggest limiting the use after first year of baby’s life. They contain high amounts of sugar, don’t teach the child about the real texture of foods and may lead to tooth decay. These are okay for travel or occasional consumption but definitely not as a replacement for everyday meals.
Lastly, it is important to educate our kids on nutrition. What is good food? Why is it important for the body? Also to lead by example, kids learn everything from their parents. It’s best when we model good eating and healthier lifestyle to them.

In conclusion

The intention of this post is not to showcase sugar as the devil that needs to be avoided at all costs instead it is to educate and increase awareness about our knowledge of sugar. Many of us know too much sugar is bad for our health but how many of us are truly aware how much we end up consuming in a day through a seemingly healthy diet.

We owe our children knowledge of good nutrition so we can raise a healthier generation for tomorrow. Stick to home cooked whole foods and leave processed packaged foods for rare occasions. Let’s teach our children how real food looks and tastes like. These minor changes in our perspectives and daily eating habits will impact our children in a great way. My own love for nutrition and good home cooked food was instilled in me by my grandfather. There is no greater gift you can give your child than the gift of good health.

Resources:

1] World Health Organization. WHO Opens Public Consultation on Draft Sugars Guideline. (2014). [online] Available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/notes/2014/consultation-sugar-guideline/ en/ [Accessed on 06 Jul. 2017].

2] Children should eat less than 25 grams of added sugars daily. (2016). [online] Available at: http://newsroom.heart.org/news/children-should-eat-less-than-25-grams-of-added-sugars-daily [Accessed 6 Jul. 2017].

3] Gulati, S. and Misra, A. (2014). Sugar Intake, Obesity, and Diabetes in India. Nutrients, 6(12), pp. 5955-5974.

4] Misra, A., Ramchandran, A., Jayawardena, R., Shrivastava, U. and Snehalatha, C. (2014). Diabetes in South Asians. Diabet. Med, 31(10), pp. 1153-62.

5] Gulati, S., Misra, A., Colles, S.L., Kondal, D., Gupta, N., Goel, K., Bansal, S., Mishra, M., Madkaikar, V., Bhardwaj, S.(2013). Dietary intakes and familial correlates of overweight/obesity: A four-city study in India. Ann. Nutr. Metab, 62, pp. 279–290.

6] Hubbard, M.D, S. (2013). The Kid’s Doctor: Pass on those fruit and veggies in a pouch. Chicago Tribune. [online] Available at: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-07-03/lifestyle/sns-201307021400–tms–premhnstr–k-n20130703-20130703_1_pureed-baby-food-fruit-and-veggies-apples [Accessed 6 Jul. 2017].

7] The Indian Express (2017). India has second highest obese children in world: Study. [online] Available at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/india-has-second-highest-obese-children-in-world-study-4702274/ [Accessed 6 Jul. 2017].