How to Make Teeth Brushing Fun for Your Kids
Tooth brushing is tremendously important for everyone, but especially so for kids so you can build a habit that follows them for the rest of their lives. Not all children enjoy brushing their teeth, so we have to find ways to experience the fun and enjoyable. Here’s how you can help.
1. Sing a tooth brushing song
Some kids aren’t opposed to brushing their teeth, but they can’t seem to focus on it long enough. Find a song that your kids enjoy that lasts at least two minutes and sing it with them while they brush their teeth. This will help them keep their mind off the chore.
2. Play pretend
Ask your kids to pretend to be an animal like a lion or a hippo while they brush so they keep their mouth open. Challenge them to come up with other animals that open their mouths wide.
3. Work in the tooth fairy
Most kids like waiting for the tooth fairy and finding their special gift under the pillow. Use this to your advantage. Tell your kids that tooth fairy only takes clean teeth and that she determines what type of gift she’ll leave by inspecting the other teeth.
4. Set a good example
Kids love nothing more than trying to be like mom and dad. Make sure you are brushing your own teeth regularly where they can see. While you brush, laugh and dance so they feel like you’re having a good time and want that for themselves.
5. Make it a family routine
Brush your teeth each night and morning as a family. It might sound silly but your kids will enjoy the spectacle of everyone cramming in front of the mirror to brush together. Call out changes in position and switch together as a team.
6. Start as early as you can
Start brushing your child’s teeth as soon as one appears. Start flossing as soon as two teeth are next to one another. This will help your child to not feel afraid or irritated by the brush since they have been doing it as long as they can remember
7. Create a brushing chart
Sometimes it’s hard for kids to see the big picture. Use a chart to track their progress. Each time they brush their teeth on schedule, make a check or add a stick. Come up with a small reward for them after a week or successful brushing. They’ll have fun with this and before you know it, you won’t need the chart t motivate the anymore.
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Written by Stephanie Parker from Sleepingbaby.com, inventor of the Zipadee-Zip
The motto for Sleeping Baby, makers of the Zipadee-Zip, is: "Inspiring Dreams One Night at A time," and that, in a nutshell, is how it all started…with one little dream that has since become the Parker family's reality. When Brett and Stephanie Parker's daughter, Charlotte, was born, the feeling that welled up inside of them was indescribable; they never realized until first looking into those baby blues of hers that they were even capable of that kind of love.
When it was time to transition baby from swaddling, the Parkers tried every sleep sack on the market and every swaddle weaning trick they could find for nearly two weeks and nothing worked to get baby Charlotte to fall and stay asleep.
Stephanie became determined to restore sleep and sanity to their household and set out to find a solution that would soothe Charlotte's startle reflex and provide her the cozy womb-like environment she loved so much but still give her the freedom to roll over and wiggle around in her crib safely. Out of sheer desperation and exhaustion, the Zipadee-Zip was born. The first Zipadee-Zip(R) Stephanie put together on her little sewing machine worked like magic!
To date tens of thousands of Zipadee-Zips have been sold and all from word-of-mouth marketing. It is so rewarding for the Parkers to see other parents and babies getting the sleep they both need and deserve!
For more information, visit sleepingbaby.com.
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