When our kids are babies, they smell sweet. They are easy to take care of. They smell great even if they perspire. Too bad that this sweet smell does not last forever.
As we grow older, we attract or pick up more germs and bacteria. Our diet makes our body produce a less clean scent than the one we produced as babies. Worst of all, the lack of water in our body means that our system doesn’t clean itself out as quickly since it doesn’t have enough water to flush the system clean.
When is the best time to develop good hygiene habits? When we are kids! The sooner we get our kids trained into keeping themselves clean, the better. Not just because of the diseases but also for their self-esteem. As we all know, the teen years are full of angst and can be quite stressful for some as they struggle to come into their own uniqueness. Let’s not add teasing or avoidance over body odor or halitosis to the list of things they have to deal with.
Typically, kids don’t clean the nooks and crannies of their body. Giving them bathing tools that are helpful and can be played with at the same time can help. For example, there are cloth duck scrubs that you can get instead of a rubber ducky. They have fun while you use the duck to get the dirt behind their ears, neck, armpits and all nooks and crannies.
They need to learn to brush their teeth, floss and clean their tongue as well. Many parents stop at cleaning the surface of the teeth; forgetting the bits trapped between as well as the icky stuff stuck on the tongue. Your kids may find it a drag now but they’ll thank you for it when they are older.
Originally posted on July 11, 2006 @ 9:55 pm
