2017 Winter Kansas Child

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BRUSH BOOK BED Young Structuring a Young Child’s Bedtime Routines children thrive when they have structure. In Topeka, a new program is being launched that will help families start bedtime routines that will keep kids healthy, and make a habit out of reading. The Brush, Book, Bed program works with low-income families to make it a habit to brush teeth and read a book before bedtime. Bedtime can be a particularly stressful time for young families, but there is help available to address this challenge. The Brush, Book, Bed program, designed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, offers a simple and clear message for all parents of young children: •§ Every night, help your child to brush his or her teeth. •§ Snuggle up and read a book. •§ Get to bed at a regular time. Every night, help your child to brush his or her teeth. BRUSH Young children need assistance from an adult to ensure that tooth brushing is done effectively. The need for brushing before bedtime is essential in removing food particles from the mouth. This will prevent the onset of tooth decay during the night’s sleep. Look for guidance on tooth brushing in the article found on page 7 of this magazine. At bedtime, it should be noted that brushing teeth does not have to occur in the bathroom. Two minutes at the bedside might reduce the distractions that could otherwise unravel the routine. It is not necessary or recommended to rinse after brushing, as this simply washes away the helpful fluoride provided by the small dab of toothpaste. If it is absolutely necessary to spit, try having an extra cup on hand for that specific purpose. The intent is to minimize the distractions from the bedtime routine. Continued from page 17 16 Kansas Child A Publication of Child Care Aware ® of Kansas
Continued from page 16 Snuggle up and read a book (maybe more than one). BOOK It is never too early to start reading to a child. When selecting a book at bedtime, choose something that is appropriate for the child’s age and temperament, and provides the “winding down” mood you hope to create. Some children will insist on making their own choice. Don’t allow the selection process to get out of hand. Try asking: “This book or that one?” Providing a small number of options allows the child a sense of controlling their environment, while helping to avoid looking at all the books in your library. Get to bed at a regular (predictable) time. BED The importance of sleep to your child’s health (and yours) cannot be overstated. The closeness or “snuggle” time is a critical component of the going-to-bed process. Fostering a sense of warmth and security while reading the book(s) will contribute to the child’s willingness to go to sleep. A standard, nighttime routine that clearly helps the child wind down is a good first step. Striving for a regular bedtime and sticking to it is critical. If you are waiting for signs of sleepiness such as yawning, you might already have lost the battle by delaying the process. In Topeka, three home-visiting programs are pilot-testing the Brush, Book, Bed program. As a way to teach children about their teeth and visiting the dentist, they are providing families with children’s oral health books recommended by the Maryland Dental Action Coalition. Families also will receive some popular non-oral health children’s books. Through the pilot project, children and families will be able to learn how to create a bedtime routine involving brushing teeth and reading books. The lessons learned through the project will help create a program that organizations across the state can use to help families create healthy habits that will last a lifetime. Communities that are interested in offering Brush, Book, Bed should contact Doug Bowman at Oral Health Kansas: dbowman@ oralhealthkansas.org or 785-235-6039. Tooth Adventures By Alice Eberhart-Wright, Family and Early Childhood Specialist Books can help families and early childhood educators teach children to care for their teeth. This issue of Kansas Child is all about oral health, so I turned to my stash of children’s books on that topic. I limited myself to a few written by favorite authors and featuring wellloved characters. The Tooth Book, by Dr. Seuss, is a Bright and Early board book. Babies getting their first teeth will probably love to chew on it! The rhyming verses are fun for adults and beginning readers to read aloud and serve as a delightful introduction to a focus on teeth. There are some simple facts worked into this silly story about teeth in people and animals: numbers of teeth in your mouth, what happens when you gobble junk and how teeth help you talk, rather than quack like a duck. This Dr. Seuss book is so much fun that you could read it every day until children have memorized it: “They sure are handy when you smile. So keep your teeth around awhile.” Next is a pop-up board book from Sesame Street called Ready, Set, Brush! We love this book because it has all sorts of things to manipulate while learning how much toothpaste to put on the brush, the motions involved in brushing teeth and tongue, and how to swish water around in your mouth. Readers can also count the teeth in Martha Monster’s mouth. Children reading this book will need supervision from adults or older children. Otherwise, the toothbrush will disappear and Sesame Street characters will lose body parts! Some people may think that you can’t give children books because they will tear them up. Instead, consider that this is a book to enjoy together, to be read, put back on a shelf and retrieved frequently for positive time between a child and an adult or older child. Finally, I chose the old, familiar Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist. Children should start visiting the dentist as babies, so it’s important to have a book that orients them with some of their trusted, lovable literary friends. What will the dentist do in that room with all those gadgets? Will it be scary or an exciting adventure? Will the dentist be nice? Brother has a cavity and gets a filling that requires all sorts of interesting procedures while Sister curls up on mother’s lap looking a little worried. Sister only has a loose tooth. The dentist gives a little tug and out it comes. She heads home with a tooth for the tooth fairy and a balloon proclaiming “I brush every day,” instead of a lollipop. These are but a few of the many great books on this topic. See page 18 for more titles. www.ks.childcareaware.org Kansas Child 17
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Page 21 and 22: ACA Offers Private Dental Insurance
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2017 Winter Kansas Child

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