The Top 3 Things a Healthy Child Needs

Most of us have heard that to have healthy and happy children, we need to make sure they have a balanced diet, exercise, and good sleep. It is also important that a child has a safe and healthy home life, where they don’t fear for their safety. There is a ton of research out there showing the importance of exercise and play for children, as well as the impact of growing up in high-conflict homes. All children need this and most of us are already aware of the importance of these things. But what else do children need in order to be healthy?

1. Boundaries

The first thing is that children need boundaries. Boundaries can give children a sense of safety and security, such as crossing the street with an adult, not opening the door for strangers, and so on. Boundaries can also help reduce conflict by establishing limits and consequences for violating those limits. But boundaries are a two-way street. As an adult, it is our job to not only establish boundaries for our child, but teach our child how to establish and enforce boundaries. This means that we also need to respect our children’s boundaries. It is important to be empathetic and establish trust with our children. So if they don’t want to hug an aunt or sit on grandpa’s lap, that is okay. Sure, that might hurt the other person’s feelings, but this is important to teach our children about basic…