22-month-old children: Nutrition and oral care

This is an automatically translated article.

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Doan Ngoc Quynh Tram - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.
At the age of 22 months, babies can not only speak coherently, but also express emotions in each sentence. This is the period when the child's personality is most clearly expressed. However, to help children develop comprehensively, parents need to have knowledge about nutrition and need to know how to take care of their children's teeth properly.

1. How does a 22-month-old child develop?

1.1. Height and weight of a 22-month-old baby

According to the standards of the World Health Organization, the average height and weight of a 22-month-old baby is:
● 22-month-old girl: The average height needs to be 81.7cm. The average weight reached 10.4 kg.
● 22-month-old boys: The average height should reach 83.2cm. Average weight reached 11.1 kg.

1.2 Mobility

When children are 22 months old, their motor abilities are still developing, but somewhat slower than before. In the previous months, children were excited and excited to be able to walk on their own, at this stage, children are more lazy to walk, or ask for young relatives.
This is the time when children show their dominant hand, through play. If the child is left-handed, instead of the child changing hands, you can practice for the child to use both hands proficiently.

1.3 Cognitive and emotional development

22-month-old babies have a sense of their actions, so parents can guide children to do simple things such as putting away toys, washing hands before eating,...
22 months old This is also the time when children show their strongest emotions, anger, irritation, boredom, preferring to play with friends instead of playing alone as before.
During this time, parents should talk to their children often, instead of scolding them.

2. Nutrition for 22-month-old children

The 22-month-old baby has almost all teeth, but that's not why it's okay for them to eat foods comfortably. It is still necessary to cut food into small pieces so that it is easy for children to eat and swallow, to avoid choking due to the large size of food.
In addition to the 3 main meals, parents need to give their children extra meals to compensate for their energy during the day's activities such as fruit juice, yogurt, milk, fruit, biscuits, etc. ..
Supplementing nutrition for children with snacks to compensate for energy consumed in children's activities such as: Snack, biscuit, juice, fresh milk, yogurt, fresh fruit.
Special attention should be given to children eating fruit after a meal about 20 minutes, limiting children to eating fruit before going to bed because they will not be good for children's tooth enamel.
Teach children the habit of always having enough breakfast, because this is the most important meal of the day.
Top food sources of iron that need to be supplemented for young bones to grow, strong are also foods to add more in the meal including red meat, iron-fortified cereals, iron-containing vegetables and vitamin C (vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from plant sources).

3. What milk should a 22-month-old child drink?

Children 22 months old still need to be provided with enough 500ml daily. According to research, it is best for mothers to still breastfeed their babies when they are 18-24 months old. In addition to breast milk, it is possible to consider choosing other types of formula with nutrients necessary for the development of children such as: DHA, ara, lutein, taurine to help children develop their brains; calcium and vitamin D help children grow taller; Prebiotics help children easily digest and absorb, prevent constipation

4. Dental care for 22-month-old children

22-month-old children's teeth are almost fully grown, but their teeth are still soft, parents can give them rice, but they should still eat crushed rice. At the same time, give the child soft foods to eat more easily.
Feeding a child too hot or too cold food is not beneficial for the development of the child's teeth. In addition, it is also necessary to supplement children with calcium content in daily meals.
Teeth at this stage have grown a lot, parents can guide children to practice daily brushing habits. Children should only use a small amount of toothpaste containing fluoride, instruct the child to rinse out the toothpaste after brushing.
Currently on the market there are many toothpaste products suitable for each age of children. Do not let children use adult toothpaste products because they often contain high fluoride, which is not good for children's tooth enamel.
Closed parents need to pay special attention to nutrition and oral care for 22-month-old children. Hopefully, the article has helped parents better understand the development of their baby in the 22-month period as well as choose the right nutrition for the child to develop in the most comprehensive way. .

In addition, parents should also apply some methods to change habits and improve nutrition to support the child's teeth to develop better.
Besides, parents also need to supplement their children with essential micro-minerals such as zinc, lysine, chromium, selenium, vitamin B1, ... to fully meet the nutritional needs of children. The addition of these essential vitamins also supports digestion, enhances nutrient absorption, improves anorexia, and helps children eat well. Parents can simultaneously apply dietary supplements and functional foods derived from nature for easy absorption. The most important thing is that improving your baby's symptoms often takes a long time. Combining many types of functional foods at the same time or changing many types in a short time can make the baby's digestive system unable to adapt and completely not good. Therefore, parents must be really patient with their children and regularly visit the website vimec.com to update useful baby care information.