Teeth Health Tips: What If My Kid Likes Sweets
Whether we agree with the people who give candy to young children as a treat or not, we cannot refute the fact that children like eating sweets very much. An article entitled Is Your Kid Addicted to Sweets triggered me to write this post. I found many sites recommend parents not to give any sweets to kids for the sake of teeth health. I totally agree. Practically, as a parent, I’ve experienced the difficulty in ensuring my kids to have a 100 percent candy-free diet. If it’s not impossible, it’s extremely difficult. Here’s my realistic approach to sweets and tricks to keep my kids’ teeth healthy:
1.Only a small and appropriate amount of sweets was allowed.
2.Teach them to establish a habit of brushing teeth. Whenever they eat something sweet, they have to drink some water and rinse their mouths. Or even better, have them brush their teeth.
3.Help kids exercise self-control. When my two kids were small, people who we met liked to give them candy. (I didn’t know why people kept doing so. Maybe they thought my kids were cute or wanted to please them). So I taught my kids they should first give the candy to me and asked for my permission. (You might get an impression that I’m a strict person. Absolutely not. I always allowed them to take the candy or advised them to save it after dinner. They were not allowed to eat the candy right away. I used this strategy to help them internalize the external, parental control into certain degree of internal self-control.)
4. I allowed my kids to have some sweets only as a treat now and then, for example, after finishing dinner, they could enjoy their favourite dessert or ice-cream. (I don’t like making children feel miserable at the dinner table. A sweet treat can encourage them to eat what I want them to eat.)
5. Beware of sticky fruit snacks or chewy foods. We generally think that these foods are an alternative to junk food and healthier than candy. It’s true but not right to teeth health. In fact, sticky fruit snacks can easily get stuck on teeth and cause more decay. So I always reminded my kids of brushing and flossing after eating something sticky or sweet.
Following these guidelines, my two children still have very healthy teeth and beautiful smiles although they have enjoyed many sweets during their childhood.