Your toddler's health

Oral health

Once your baby's first milk tooth breaks through, it's time to start showing them good dental hygiene.

You can help your child maintain healthy gums and teeth by teaching them good dental habits, such as regular brushing and not eating or drinking too much sugar. To find out more visit:

Weight and nutrition

HENRY provides support for families from pregnancy to age 12 including workshops, programmes, resources and online help.

They will support you and your family to make positive lifestyle changes.

You can find:

Developing a healthier lifestyle on the HENRY Healthy Families: Brighter Future programme

Sometimes it can be hard to know what to do as a parent in the early years.

On the free, 8-week, Healthy Families Brighter Future programme, you can get support including:

parenting strategies
eating well
balancing family life

You can join if you live in Croydon and have a child aged 7 and under. It's held face-to-face across the borough, as well as online.

Playtime

Playtime activities can help your toddler's:

language development
cognitive growth (thinking, concentrating, problem-solving and decision-making)
gross and fine motor skills (big and small physical movements)
social interaction

Find out about playtime activities and bonding with your toddler at NHS Start for Life

Physical activities

All kinds of physical activity helps your toddler's muscles, bones and brain to develop, whether it's walking, running, climbing, jumping or dancing.

Your child needs around 180 minutes of physical activity every day (they can do this in more than one session, for example, 10 or 20 minutes here and there).

Find out about physical activity guidelines for children under 5 years – NHS.

Croydon Children's Centres

Find services, activities and support for families with children under 5. Most activities, apart from childcare, are either offered free or at a small cost.

Go to Croydon's Children's Centres to find out more.

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