1. Visit your doctor for regular well child exams and keep up to date on all of the recommended vaccines.
2. Ensure proper nutrition, with three meals a day and two nutritious snacks, limiting high sugar and high fat foods, eating fruits, vegetables, lean meats and low fat dairy products (if over 2-3 years).
3. Encourage regular exercise, adequate sleep, and participation in age appropriate extracurricular activities at school and in the community.
4. Provide your children with a safe environment that gives them lots of opportunities to explore without danger to themselves or your home.
5. Always use the proper age appropriate car restraint system for your child and never place your child in the front seat of a car with a passenger side airbag.
6. Learn effective discipline techniques, which is not the same as punishment.
7. Avoid physical punishment, including spanking or yelling, that just reinforces to your child that these behaviors are acceptable.
8. Limit television viewing and encourage reading and storytelling.
9. Practice food safety: washing fruits and vegetables, not eating undercooked meats or poultry, and not drinking unpasteurized milk or juices.
10. Brush teeth with a fluoride toothpaste (use a non-fluoride toothpaste until your child is able to spit it out) twice a day and have your child seen regularly by a dentist (after age three).
11. Supervise your child's use of computers (younger children should not have unsupervised access to the Internet), computer games, movies, and know what they have access to at their friend's homes.
12. Prepare your school age child for puberty and sexual development and begin sexuality education, including that abstinence is the safest way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
13. Communicate with your school age child to help prevent them from picking up bad habits, including the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs (including the use of inhalants; especially aerosols and glue).
14. To prevent infections, you should teach your children and care providers to practice frequent handwashing, especially after using the bathroom (including diaper changes) and before eating.
15. To prevent infections, you should also teach your children to avoid sharing foods or drinks with other children.
    

Tips:

1. Learn to pay positive attention to your child and give frequent praise, so that he feels secure and loved.
2. Learn to communicate with your child, by avoiding too much criticism, actively listening to his problems, and showing respect for his ideas.
3. Help build your child's self esteem.
4. Raise your child in a smoke free environment.

Related Information:

• Immunizations
• Childhood Safety
• Nutrition for Children
• Guide to Preventing Infections
  

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