How to Teach Your Kids Good Hygiene

Good hygiene is an important part of being a good member of society. People with poor hygiene often suffer poor health, and will also struggle with basic social situations. Teaching your child good hygiene habits will help them for their whole life. Here are some tips:

Lead by example. Kids want to be like their parents. They want to look like them. They want to do whatever it is that they do. So, help your kids get good hygiene habits by showing them what good habits they should have. If you wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, if you brush and floss between meals, if you bathe regularly, they will want to as well.

Make it fun. Good hygiene does not have to be tedious or difficult, and your kids do not have to hate the idea of practicing healthy hygiene habits. So, make sure that you do things to make brushing teeth, wiping well, bathing, and hand washing fun. You can create a chart and let them mark it with stickers. You can sing little songs or ditties to help them remember how to do it right, like for hand washing it can include lathering, soaping the top and bottom, washing between fingers, using hot water, etc. The more fun it is, the easier it will be for your child to establish it as a healthy habit.

Follow routine and rituals. When teaching your kid good hygiene habits, making it a part of your actual routine and ritual are key. You need to include good hygiene into your basic daily routines. For example, include teeth brushing in your bedtime routine. Include hand washing before meal times. Include bathing as part of your morning routine, or evening routine. The more normal or basic it seems, the more routine it actually is, the more often they do it, the more likely it will be to become an instinctive part of their life.

Teach them how to do it right. When helping kids establish good hygiene you want to teach them how to do it right. Show them how to wipe. Show them how to brush, and set a timer for how long they should be brushing. Show them how to soap up when they shower, etc.

Make sure they can ask you questions. Hygiene is about the body, and keeping it clean and healthy, so make sure your child can ask you any questions they have about the body. This will help them understand and be more in tune to good hygiene.

Show, don’t just tell! There is less impact in words than actions. If you want to teach your kids good hygiene habits, then make sure you show them how to do everything the right way. Make sure they understand how to wash right, how to brush their teeth right, etc.