Take care of your baby's teeth!

·      When should I start brushing my baby's teeth?

It's a good idea to start cleaning your baby's teeth twice a day as soon as you see a tooth emerging. If you start early, your baby will get used to having his teeth cleaned, and hopefully you'll avoid problems later on.

Your baby's first tooth will most likely be a bottom front one, appearing when he's about six months old. However, a few babies are born with a tooth through already. Others are still toothless when they're one.

Your baby will eventually have 20 milk teeth, all of which should be through by the time he is about two and a half years old.

It may seem a long way off now, but it's best to carry on brushing your child's teeth for him until he's at least seven. By that age, he should be able to do it properly for himself.

·      Which toothbrush should I buy?

At first, you may find it easier to clean your baby's teeth using a piece of clean gauze or muslin. Wrap it around your finger, put a tiny smear of toothpaste on it, and rub around your baby's teeth.

If you'd rather use a brush, pick one with soft, round-ended bristles of differing lengths, and a small, angled head. This will allow you to reach all parts of your baby's mouth easily and comfortably. Look at the packaging to see what age range the brush is designed for.

Replace your baby's toothbrush after three months, or sooner if the bristles have started to spread out.

·      What kind of toothpaste is best for my baby?

Fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste, helps prevent tooth decay. Too much of it, though, can be harmful. When choosing a toothpaste, check the packaging for fluoride levels:

Under-threes should use a lower-fluoride toothpaste. This is one containing about 1000ppm (parts per million) of fluoride.

Over-threes can use an ordinary toothpaste, provided it contains no more than between 1350ppm and 1500ppm of fluoride.

Use the recommended small amounts and encourage spitting out as your baby grows. If you follow these guidelines, lower fluoride and ordinary toothpastes are safe to use even in areas where fluoride has been added to the water.

Swallowing large amounts of fluoride can damage teeth, giving them a mottled effect, and may even cause vomiting and diarrhoea. You may like to choose a toothpaste that doesn't have a tasty, fruity flavour because of this, so your child knows that toothpastes aren't food.

If you can't stop your baby swallowing toothpaste, then switch to a brand that contains 550ppm of fluoride or less.

·      How should I clean my baby's teeth?

Try to get into the habit of brushing your baby's teeth twice a day. Do it once in the morning, at a time that fits in with your usual routine. Then clean your baby's teeth again before bed, after he's had his last drink.

Apply a thin film of toothpaste to the brush. It should cover less than three-quarters of the bristles.

Brush with small, gentle circular movements, concentrating on the area where the teeth and gums meet. Remember that during teething, your baby's gums will feel tender, so make sure you don't brush too vigorously.

When you've finished, make sure your baby spits out the toothpaste, but don't rinse his mouth with lots of water. It's been found that rinsing after tooth-brushing makes toothpaste less effective.

You may find that sitting your baby on your lap, facing away from you, helps you reach his teeth more easily. This position will work well when your baby is a toddler, too. See more ideas for how to brush a squirming toddler's teeth.

If your baby resists having his teeth brushed give him a toothbrush to hold as well. This way he is more likely to feel in control. You can let him have a go himself and then clean up afterwards.

If you can, let your baby watch you brushing your teeth as often as possible. This will help him to get used to the idea.

Your dentist or dental hygienist will be happy to help if you need more guidance.

·      When should I start taking my baby to the dentist?

It's a good idea to take your baby along with you when you have an appointment more or less from the word go. That way he will become familiar with the sights, sounds, smells and routine of your dental surgery.

If you get anxious about going to the dentist, make a separate appointment for your baby. Then he won't pick up on your fears.

NHS dental treatment is free to under-18s, and your baby can be registered with a dentist soon after he's born. Some dentists will start dental checks on children from six months or when their teeth start to come through.

·      Should I give my baby fluoride supplements?

Some children may need to take extra fluoride in the form of supplements, but these should only ever be used on the advice of a dentist. Your dentist will prescribe the correct dose for your baby's age, taking account of whether the local water is fluoridated.

If your child has too much fluoride when his teeth are developing it can actually damage his teeth, giving the enamel a mottled look.

If you live in an area where fluoride has been added to the water supply then your child is less likely to need supplements. However, it depends on the level of fluoride in the water.

If you are unsure whether your water is fluoridated and to what level, ask your dentist or phone your local water company.

·      How else can I protect my baby's teeth?

The main cause of tooth decay is not the amount of sugar in your baby's diet, but how often it is eaten or drunk throughout the day.

Keep sugary foods to mealtimes only and limit sugary foods to no more than four times per day. This includes dried fruits, which are high in sugar and stick to teeth.

If you want to give your child a snack between meals choose savoury options such as cheese or vegetables. Read our ideas for tooth-friendly snacks for more information.

To really give your child the best chance of healthy teeth, you should also:

·        Only offer either breastmilk or formula milk, or cooled, boiled water as drinks for your baby.

·        Avoid squashes, fruit juices, flavoured milk and fizzy drinks. These usually contain lots of sugar and cause tooth decay.

·        Give your baby drinks from a beaker from around six months, and discourage him from drinking from a bottle after a year old. Once your baby is more than a year old only give him water to drink at night.

·        Provide your baby with a healthy, balanced diet. Encourage him to enjoy savoury foods, such as vegetables and pasta, and don't add sugar to his food.

·        If you use prepared baby foods, check that they are sugar-free or have no added sugars or sweeteners. Be aware that other sugars, such as lactose, fructose and glucose, are just as harmful to your baby's teeth as sucrose.

·        If your baby needs to take medicine, choose sugar-free versions.

Source: http://www.babycentre.co.uk

We wish you and your baby the best of luck.

Skin-to-skin contact helps raising a smart baby!

It doesn't take a genius to help our beloved children reach their intellectual potential, it is just a loving, involved parent. Here are some easy ways to encourage your little smart baby.

Just bond with your baby to feel security:

When brain feels security and safety, it can learn. So, you have to establish your baby’s feeling of security and safety. It is so easy task to do. You know how?!

 

1-  Skin-to-skin touch generates sense of safety!

As we said on the subject title, skin-to-skin touch is most important thing you can do to help your baby feel safety.

Creating that sense of safety can be tough when you're a new parent battling sleep deprivation, social isolation, and potentially unequal new duties. But a strong relationship with your partner is one of the best ways to make your baby feel secure.

 

2-  Talk to your baby!

Experts recommend talking to your baby a lot.
"The brain is a pattern-seeking organ," says Jill Stamm, an expert in early brain development.

By age 3, kids spoken to more frequently have an IQ that's 1.5 times higher than that of children who weren't. By the time they're in elementary school, they have much stronger reading, spelling, and writing skills.

Now let us know how can we plant a strong language development?

There are three elements which can help:

·      The number of word we use.

·      The variety and complexity of words we use.

·      The way we say them.

By narrating your day, you'll naturally use all sorts of words. And by using descriptors like "red car" and "extremely strong coffee," you'll spice up the vocabulary you're exposing your baby to.

The tone of your voice is also important. You know the baby-friendly, sing-songy voice – higher pitch, exaggerated vowels (think: 'Helloooooo, baaaa-byyy!') – that you use instinctively? You're onto something! Researchers call it "parentese," and it's an excellent way to help a baby’s brain learn language because each vowel sounds more distinct. The tone helps infants separate sounds into categories and the high pitch is easier for them to imitate.

Stamm warns that parents tend to talk less if their infant hasn't started babbling yet. But don't let your little one's silence stop you – be loquacious for your baby's sake. "We know for a fact it makes language learning easier."

 

3-  Point your finger

Researches show that children learn language faster if you point to an object while saying the word. 

At first, your baby will look at you when you point. As he gets a bit older, he may look at your pointing finger, too. By about 9 months, most babies start to follow your pointing finger and notice what you're pointing to.

At around 9 or 10 months, babies will start bringing objects to show you. Having this shared interaction is called "joint attention." It means your child is developing the ability to relate to you about something (and someone) outside the two of you.

What can parents do to build this skill?

Continue to point things out and talk about them. Your baby may not understand the words you're saying, but your communication with him will gradually become more complex.

You can head to the zoo, for example, where you can both give your attention to an animal like a polar bear. "Point at it, talk about it, describe it," to promote social, cognitive, and language development.



We wish you and your baby the best of luck!

Tutti fruiti smoothie recipe

Ingredients:
Serves 4

1 cup frozen or fresh strawberries
1 cup crushed pineapple & juice (canned is just fine too)
250ml plain vanilla yoghurt (soy or diary based)
1 cup orange juice
1 large ripe Banana (sliced or cut into pieces)
1 cup ice cubes or crushed ice.


Preparation:

Pour all ingredients in a blender and watch as they mash and smash together. Blend for 3 minutes or until smooth with a velvety texture.

All what we want is your satisfaction

Teach your kid how to makes friendships!

The process of making friendship and managing this friendship is vital. And there are some shills that you should keen on teaching them to your kid.

Kids usually can be picky about other kids who they play and mix with. But we should realize that Popularity should not be confused with sociability. In fact, A number of studies in recent decades have shown that appearance, personality type and ability impact on a child's popularity at school. Good-looking, easygoing, talented kids usually win peer popularity polls, but that doesn't guarantee they will have friends.

Those kids who manage and develop strong friendships have a definite set of skills that help make them easy to like, easy to relate to and easy to play with. The following skills have been identified as important for helping kids make and maintain friendships:

•    Ability to share what they have and space.
•    Getting confidence and keeping others’ secrets.
•    Usually offering help to the others who need it.
•    Tolerance and accepting others' mistakes.
•    Have the ability to be positive and enthusiastic.
•    Have the ability for Winning and losing well.
•    Listening to others.
•    Starting and maintaining a conversation with others.
•    Ignoring someone who is annoying them.
•    Cooperating with others.
•    Giving and receiving compliments.

We have to realize that friendship skills are generally developmental. That is, kids grow into these skills given exposure to different situations, and also with adult help. In past generations, "exposure to different situations" meant opportunities to play with each other, with siblings and with older and younger friends. Children were reminded by parents about how they should act around others. They were also taught these skills from a very young age.

Today's children grow up with fewer siblings, fewer opportunities for unstructured play, and less freedom to explore friendships than children of even a decade ago. A parenting style that promotes a high sense of individual entitlement rather than the notion of fitting in appears to be popular at the moment. These factors can lead to delayed or arrested development in these essential friendship skills, resulting in very unhappy, self-centered children.

You as parents have to watch your children and see if your child needs help with making friendship skills.

 Here are some ideas if you think your child experiences developmental delay in any of these essential skills or just needs some help to acquire them:

1.    Encourage your kids to play and work with each other: Give kids the freedom to be kids is part of the message here but parents have to construct situations where kids have to get on with each other. For some kids, "Go outside and play" is a good place to start!

2.    Share your kids with their playing: Interact with your kids through games and other means so you can help kids learn directly from you how to get on with others.

3.    Talk to them about these skills: If you notice your kids need to develop some of these skills, talk about them, point out when they show them and give them some implementation ideas.

4.    Kids are quite egocentric and need to develop a sense of "other" so they can successfully negotiate the many social situations that they find themselves in. As parents, we often focus on the development of children's academic skills and can quite easily neglect the development of these vitally important social skills, which contribute so much to a child's happiness and wellbeing.

All what we want is your satisfaction