Teaching Your Kids Good Hygiene Habits

Teaching your child good hygiene habits is key to lifelong health and happiness. The following are a few simple ways to teach your kids good hygiene habits.

1. Make it fun! When kids are little, there is not much fun in brushing teeth, or cutting finger and toenails. However, it does not have to be as big of a chore as they may regard it to be. One of the best ways to teach your kids good hygiene habits is to make a chart for them. They can put a sticker on it each time they complete the habit, and when they get a certain number of stickers they get a reward. Be sure to include things like changing your clothes, brushing teeth, washing hands, bathing, clipping nails, etc. They will be more inclined to do it if they know they are working toward a reward.

There are other ways to make healthy hygiene habits more fun, for example, you can sing songs that teach tips for good hygiene, or set timers for how long they should brush for, or how long they should wash their hands for, etc.

2. Make it routine. If your child is used to doing it, and it is part of the daily routine, they will adopt it as a habit, and carry it with them through their life, no matter how their circumstances change. So, adopt the habits of good hygiene into your daily routine. For example, when they wake up, make sure they get on clean clothes. When you get them ready for bed at night, be sure that you bathe them, help them brush their teeth, etc. You can do dinner, bath, teeth, story, bed. This routine includes two big points of hygiene habits.

The more often they practice good hygiene, the more “stuck” it becomes as a habit for life. So, do not make a big deal out of it, just make it a normal thing, and it will become one.

3. Teach by example. One of the best things you can do to help teach your kids good hygiene habits is show them, not just tell them. The “do as I say, not as I do” tactic does not work very well. If you want to help your kids have good health and hygiene habits, you should be the one they look to. Kids always want to live up to their parents. They want to be just like them when they are little. So, make sure the things they emulate are good things, like brushing and flossing every day, showering, changing your clothes, washing your hands between meals and after going to the bathroom.

Good hygiene is going to help you stay healthier. Good dental hygiene affects overall health. Regular bathing helps you keep your skin healthy and helps you avoid problems like germ spreading. So, teach your kids healthy habits of good hygiene.