Hopefully all of your children had a great time this Halloween. They got to dress up in fun costumes and go door to door, receiving lots of sugary treats. It’s one of the many joys of childhood, but it can also be a nightmare for parents as well as your family dentist. All of those sugary snacks can wreak havoc on a child’s dental health as well as their physical health, and finding a way to limit the amount of candy your child eats is important. Here, we will look at a few tips to help you keep the sugary snacks to a reasonable level.
Encourage Healthy Eating
Let’s face it. When there is a bag of candy bars sitting on the counter, most kids are not going to reach for a cup of yogurt or an apple. With that said, however, it’s important to encourage them to select healthy snacks when possible. Dole out candy sparingly. Encourage your child to eat a small, healthy snack before allowing them to dive into a candy bar. It will help weaken cravings for candy, promotes better health, and will help to keep them full so that they don’t want to eat as much sugar.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
While your little ones aren’t likely to forget entirely that they have a bag of candy in the house, you can keep them from grazing by storing it out of sight and preferably out of reach. When the candy isn’t right in their line of vision, they are less likely to turn to it every few minutes for a small sugar rush or even out of boredom. Try putting it in a high cabinet or atop the refrigerator where little eyes can’t see it.
Share the Bounty
In truth, most kids these days end up with far more candy than they need (if candy can be a need) after a night of trick-or-treating. A great tip for limiting consumption is to let your child pick out a set number of their favorite pieces of candy to be doled out daily or twice daily. Take the rest of the candy and put it in the treat bowl at work for your co-workers to enjoy. Your kids will still get candy, and your co-workers will be happy as well.
Limiting candy for kids around Halloween can be a challenge, but it is certainly worth it. Keeping your child’s teeth healthy can help prevent the need for restorative dentistry down the line, something both you and your family dentist will be happy about.