Everyone raises their kids differently. That’s because adults have different beliefs, so no child’s upbringing will be identical.

For the most part, that’s fine. When kids start getting older and socializing, they’ll make friends who will have different viewpoints based on what their parents taught them.

However, while there’s nothing wrong with instilling your values in your kids as they grow, there are some fundamental steps parents should take to protect their kids, and those parents should never deviate from that.

Let’s look at some ways that all parents should keep their young ones both safe and healthy.

You Should Get Them the Proper Car Seats

Parents should know that when their kids are young, they should have the proper car seat for each of them. Even once a child outgrows a car seat, many experts feel that children ages 8 to 13 must sit in the back seat if the family piles into the car to go somewhere.

Seat belt laws sometimes differ from state to state, but if you go online, there are websites where you’ll find recommendations as to what car seat your child should use and for how long. Once they’re into their middle teens, there’s no harm in them riding in your vehicle’s front seat. Until they reach that point, experts feel they’re safer from impact riding in the back.

Teach Them to Look Each Way Before Crossing the Street

Parents can also teach their kids that every time they cross the street, they should look both ways to see if any traffic is coming. They should also direct their children to head to a crosswalk if there’s one nearby.

You might live in a neighborhood where there’s not a lot of traffic. That’s great since there’s much less chance of an accident if your child goes out to play.

Even in quieter neighborhoods, though, you never know when some speed demon will go shooting through much faster than they should. You’ll have to leave it up to the police to catch these individuals, but in the meantime, if you know you’ve taught your kids to look both ways, you can feel a lot better about the situation.

You Should Teach Them to Never Go Anywhere with Strangers

It’s scary to think that there could be adults out there who mean to do your children harm. Some people just aren’t wired right, and they might have bad intentions concerning your kids.

If your kids go out to play in the neighborhood, you should teach them from a young age that they should never go anywhere with an adult who they do not know. If someone offers them candy from a van, tells them they have a puppy waiting for them, or any of the other stories predatory adults use, your child should know they need to back off as fast as possible and let you know what’s going on.

That applies to adults who hang around your child’s school as well. Some predators like to stalk their prey around school property because that’s where kids congregate, and your children should know to watch out for them there too.

You Should Take Them for Regular Checkups

Ideally, you want your child to grow up with as few medical issues as possible. Still, every human goes through some health problems sometimes. Some are hereditary, while others are unique to each of us.

You have a much better chance of catching any medical issue your child has if you take them for regular checkups. They might not love going to the doctor, but every time they do, your trusted medical professional can detect any problem, hopefully before it gets too serious.

If your child doesn’t like going to the doctor, you might bribe them with a small toy or their favorite dinner after the appointment.

You Should Feed Them a Balanced Diet

Some kids are picky eaters, and you might struggle to get them to eat healthily. You can’t allow them to live on candy and ice cream, though.

You’ll need to get creative about what your child can eat. Try and have them sample many different foods to see if you can come up with new favorites.

If you’re still worried that they’re not getting the proper nutrition, talk to your doctor about giving them vitamin supplements. Proper diet is vital at any age, but particularly as a child is growing up.