What should a healthy day look like for your child?

Sleep is especially important for children as it directly impacts mental and physical development, learning, and growth. By the age of two, most children have spent more time asleep than awake,e and overall, a child will spend 40% of his or her childhood asleep!

• Develop regular daytime and bedtime schedules that work for you and your child(ren)
  • Active children are sleepy children
• Create a consistent and enjoyable bedtime routine that works for you
  • Avoid watching television before bedtime
  • The majority of children fall asleep in 45minutes
• Establish a regular "sleep-friendly" environment
  • Calm, comfortable, cool, and dark with no television or screens
• Encourage baby to fall asleep independently
  • Set limits that are consistent, communicated, and enforced
  • Encourage the use of a security object such as a blanket or stuffed animal

Toddlers need about 11 to 14 hours of sleep in 24 hours. When they reach about 18 months of age their naptimes will decrease to once a day lasting about one to three hours.

A poor diet can affect your baby's teeth. Start to brush your baby's teeth twice a day every day as soon as they appear. Use a smear of toothpaste (up to three years) or a pea-sized amount (three to six year olds). You should contact your dentist for a check-up as soon as the first tooth appears. 

Children aged zero to six should use toothpaste containing at least 1,000ppm fluoride. Those at higher risk of tooth decay should use a toothpaste containing 1350 to 1500ppm fluoride. Children aged 7 and over should use a toothpaste containing 1350 to 1500ppm fluoride.

Tooth decay is preventable.

Tips for healthy teeth:

• Do not offer your baby foods or drinks high in sugar
• Do not offer anything except milk or water in your baby's bottle
• Do not let your baby or toddler take a bottle of milk to bed and fall asleep with milk pooling around their teeth
• Do not dip dummies in anything sweet, or pacify children with sweet foods
• Introduce a cup from six months
• To get your baby used to it, start taking them to the dentist as soon as their teeth appear.

Visit the oral health section for more information.

Download the Brush DJ app here.

Preventing and managing weight problems isn't just about diet - it is also about behaviour around eating. Children - especially toddlers - need clear boundaries. Do not let all those good eating habits disappear as your baby gets older. These are some tips for enjoying food and preventing problems:

• Make mealtimes a family and social event. Sit together at a table and turn off the TV. This also encourages slower eating which in turn reduces the volume we eat. We all tend to eat more when distracted by a screen
• As they begin to finger feed and use a spoon let your baby feed themself - they are pretty good at regulating what they need whereas we tend to keep encouraging more. At mealtimes allow older children to serve themselves
• Set boundaries about eating - children often demand food or insist they are hungry when they know they have had enough to eat. They are often bored and/or thirsty
• Don't let your older children get into the habit of helping themselves to food from the cupboards or fridge between meals. Again, this is often a sign of boredom and the calories soon add up. Make sure they always ask and if you think they have had enough to eat or there is a meal coming up, do not allow it
• Remember that being hungry is normal as mealtime approaches - otherwise, we would have no appetite. Children need to learn to wait
• Do not worry if your toddler refuses something to eat - adults create fussy children because we tend to over-interpret likes and dislikes. In fact, children cannot make real choices before they reach four to five years old. Offer them what you expect them to eat with obvious allowances. If they choose not to eat it do not be tempted to offer something else - they will eat when they are hungry
• Try to avoid drinks laden with sugar, including pure fruit juice. These are also not good for teeth; tooth decay is preventable!
• Try not to reward with food and do not let others either. If grandparents want to offer treats suggest sticker books, reading books, or an outing instead

Download the Healthy Infant Feeding booklet here. 

It's just as important to make sure the lunchbox your child takes to nursery or preschool provides a healthy and balanced lunch. This means plenty of good quality foods from the five main food groups, with few 'processed' or packaged or ready-made foods (as these usually contains fewer good nutrients and often more salt and sugar).

A balanced packed lunch should contain:

• starchy foods – these are cereals, bread, rice, potatoes, and pasta. Starchy foods are a good source of energy and should make up a third of the lunchbox
• protein foods – including meat, fish, eggs, lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts, seeds and tofu/Quorn
• a dairy item – this could be cheese, yogurt or milk as a drink
• vegetables - raw and/or cooked
• a portion of fruit
• water or milk to drink.

Children often like food they can eat with their fingers, so chop up raw veggies such as carrots or peppers and give them hummus or cottage cheese to dip the veggies in. Breadsticks and wholemeal crackers are great finger foods that can be paired with cheese pieces.

Replace chocolate bars and cakes with fresh fruit. Vary the fruit each day and get them to try new things, such as kiwi or melon. You could also make up a tasty fruit salad. Be inventive and encourage your children when they try something new.

Some good ideas can be found here on the First Steps Nutrition website

Note that dried fruit is no longer recommended as a between-meal snack as it's high in sugar, and can be bad for teeth.

How much sugar should children be eating?

• Children aged under four - no more than 12g or four teaspoons of free sugars per day
• Children aged four to six - should have no more than 19g or five teaspoons of free sugars per day
• Children aged seven to 10 - should have no more than 24g or six teaspoons of free sugars per day
• Children aged 11 years and upwards, as well as adults - should have no more than 30g or seven teaspoons of free sugar per day.

An example of the sugar content of common lunchbox items include:

• A Petit Filous fromage frais (80g) contains two and a half teaspoons of free sugar
• Barney Bear cake bar (chocolate) contains two teaspoons of free sugar
• No added sugar fruit shoot drink (apple and blackcurrant) contains one teaspoon of free sugar.

This calculated together is five and a half teaspoons of sugar in a standard lunchbox, meaning in one meal, a child under four will have exceeded their daily intake by one and a half teaspoons.

Find more information on the Change4Life website.

Toddlers are keen to learn and most want to try new activities. Encouraging your toddler to keep physically active will help him/her to:

• Develop movement skills
• Keep up with friends in the playground and sporting activities as they get older
• Stay a healthy weight
• Keep a healthy heart.

All activities such as active play inside or outside, walking, running, and dancing count!

If at all possible try and limit TV and other screen time like computers to just one hour a day.

Be patient; some toddlers take longer than others to learn new skills. Some are better co-ordinated than others. Keep gently encouraging, make it fun and give lots of praise.

Messy play: Getting used to putting their hands in different textures can help toddlers who are fussy about their food.

Pretend play: When toddlers play with toys and other objects and pretend they are people, they are learning about the world around them.

Fun activities for indoors or outdoors

• Play 'keep it up' with a balloon
• Have a dance-a-thon
• Play catch with a bean bag
• Plan an in/outdoor treasure hunt
• Play musical statues
• Play hide and seek
• Read stories and sing songs that require actions in time with the words
• Dance or jump to music
• Make a den.

Physically active toddlers should be in a safe environment and supervised at all times.

For more information on physical activity for children under five here.