Plan a healthy pregnancy
Take folic acid and avoid drinking alcohol to help prevent certain birth defects and developmental disabilities. Know your family’s medical history to see if the baby or you are at higher risk for certain diseases and conditions. Make sure any health conditions you have are under control.
Get check-ups and vaccinations
Routine check-ups help find health problems early, when chances for treatment are better. Vaccinations help prevent many diseases and save lives. Keep track of your and your family’s check-ups and vaccinations to make sure they stay current.
Protect your kids
Take steps to make sure your home, car, school, and other areas are safe. Use car seats and seat belts for appropriate ages and sizes. Keep harmful substances and objects out of children’s reach. Ask a trusted friend or family member to watch your kids if you feel yourself losing control and need a break.
Provide healthy meals
Eating right will help provide the nutrients needed to have energy, build strong bones, and fight diseases and conditions. For babies, breastfeeding is best. As children grow, help them choose healthy meals and snacks. Pay attention to what and how much they eat. You’ll help them stay on track and may uncover hidden problems.
Keep your kids active
Kids should have at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most, preferably all, days of the week. Find fun, safe, and active things you can do with your kids to help keep the whole family healthy.
Live a smoke-free life
Being exposed to secondhand smoke is just as harmful as smoking directly. Be smoke-free during pregnancy to prevent premature birth and other health problems. Stay smoke-free to help reduce your children’s risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia.
Tobacco use is a childhood disease - most current smokers began to use tobacco before and during their teen years. Experimenting with alcohol use can also begin before teen years. Visit our Parents' Guide to Teen Drug Abuse and our Tobacco Use Prevention Web pages to learn what you need to know.
Monitor activities
Kids learn from family, friends, media, and more. Know who they spend time with, what they are listening to and watching, and whether the type and length of activities are age-appropriate.
Teach your kids healthy habits
Provide your kids with a good foundation to help them make healthy choices every day. Seat belts, helmets, sunscreen, tooth brushing, and hand washing are a few things that help keep us safe and healthy. Make good health choices every day to show kids how to do it.
Talk and listen to your kids
Talking to your kids may help them better understand how they can be healthy, safe, and happy. Find out what’s going on with them, how they are making decisions and handling problems, and what questions they have about life.
Provide love and support
Kids need the support and love of family and friends. Times of stress may make kids vulnerable to health and psychological problems. Find out if stress related to school, body changes, thoughts, feelings, family issues or changes in general are causing problems. Help your kids make connections and achieve balance in their lives.