34-month-old children: Nutrition and oral care

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor II Le Thanh Cam - Department of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital. Uncle has 15 years of experience in diagnosis & treatment of pediatric diseases; She used to work at the Pediatric Department - Da Nang Hospital and Da Nang Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology. Her strength is diagnosis and treatment of pediatric diseases; resuscitation, pediatric emergency.
Your 34-month-old baby has cognitive skills that develop at an incredibly fast rate. Along with that is a growing and maturing body, always changing in quantity and quality, especially in height and weight. Therefore, proper nutrition during this period is very important.

1. Nutrition for 34-month-old children

What does 34-month-old baby eat? This is a question many parents often ask themselves. Nutrition for a 34-month-old child needs to ensure adequate supply of necessary nutrients:
Children in this age group need 2/3 of the nutritional requirements of adults. Practicing for children to eat rice like adults is very necessary to increase the ability of children to chew. You should note that the cooked rice should be a little softer than usual. Children need to eat 2 meals a day, 1 full bowl of rice for each meal. In addition, children need to eat 2 additional meals of porridge, noodles or soup per day, about 1 bowl of each meal. Let children drink enough 500 ml of milk per day for their comprehensive development. Special attention must still be paid to foods such as green vegetables, fruits, yogurt, whey... to help children digest better and prevent some diseases that are easy to get at this stage. To avoid malnutrition in 34-month-old children, it is necessary to pay attention to daily nutrition. Give your baby a high dose of vitamin A 2 times a year and prevent infections such as diarrhea, respiratory infections ...
If the baby has some congenital diseases related to digestion and breathing, it should be monitored. and periodical treatment for definitive. Set up a baby weight and height monitoring table to detect abnormalities compared to other babies.

2. Dental care in 34-month-old children

In addition to paying attention to nutrition for 34-month-old children. Parents also need to focus on taking care of their children's teeth because this is a problem that greatly affects their children's eating.
In 34-month-old children, most of the teeth have come in close enough, so it is necessary to take care of their teeth earlier:
If the child can use toothpaste, parents must be careful not to let the child swallow cream. Use only a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Fluoride-containing toothpaste will strengthen teeth. For children to have regular dental check-ups when they are 6 months old to detect health problems related to their teeth. Thereby, timely detect tooth decay and apply measures to prevent tooth decay. Do not wait until your child has a toothache or a toothache to see a dentist. It is recommended to drink less water immediately after feeding or eating. After that, you can use gauze or wet cloth wrapped around your finger to clean your teeth (don't forget to wipe the inside of your teeth) and massage your baby's gums and tongue. Have your child use a soft-bristled toothbrush with a small size. With children under 3 years old, should be careful when using children's toothpaste containing fluorine. Children over 3 years old can use fluorine-containing children's toothpaste, with a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Use dental floss to clean the inside.

Things parents need to keep in mind for 34-month-old children to have well-developed teeth:
Due to the characteristics of bacteria that cause dental disease, it is very easy to spread from one tooth to another and from one person's mouth to another. They are not present in an infant's mouth. When a baby's teeth begin to erupt, this bacteria can be passed on from parents through kissing, tasting food or sucking on a pacifier before breastfeeding. Parents with a low-sugar diet will help reduce the amount of tooth decay bacteria in the mouth, thereby reducing or slowing the ability of bacteria to pass to the child. Do not let the baby lie down to drink milk. When teething, babies often have a habit of latching on to the nipple of the bottle. Therefore, the teeth will be soaked in milk for a long time, so they are easily deformed, damaging the enamel, creating conditions for bacteria to multiply, easily causing tooth decay. Do not allow your baby to suck on her fingertips, or suck on a pacifier. This habit will cause the baby's teeth to grow unevenly and not in alignment. Do not let your baby chew on one side. This habit will cause the baby to deviate from the jaw, causing an imbalance in the face. Practice giving your baby solid foods. Mothers should pay attention to observe the development of incisors and feed the baby with foods of suitable hardness so that the baby's teeth develop more comprehensively. Hopefully with the above information, parents know how to take care of their baby's teeth as well as have a reasonable diet for a 34-month-old baby. Thereby ensuring the best health for children to develop comprehensively.
When the child has health abnormalities, parents can take the child to Vinmec Health system for timely examination and treatment.
In addition, parents should also apply some methods of changing habits and improving 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.