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When is toothbrushing advisable to do for a baby? At my age, I'm still not sure on when is really
the proper age and time to do toothbrushing. My baby has six teeth already and she's one year
and one month now. I wonder how and when to start brushing her teeth. I'd really love to hear
from all of you who bother to read this.
You can start brushing your daughter's teeth now. One of the best ways to do this is to get a really soft toothbrush and let your daughter hold it and "mouth" it. You'll want to be sure she doesn't slip and poke it in the back of her throat, but if you're holding onto it or holding her while she has it in her hand, she should be fine.
I used to sing to my little ones when I would try to brush their teeth, just to keep them preoccupied while I tried to get those little teeth clean.
Another thing you can do is to get a little finger brush that you can put on your finger, and then brush her teeth with that.
You can also use a piece of gauze to clean each tooth. But it's a good time to get her used to brushing each day, now that she's one :)
Hope this helps.
Warm regards,
Kate
Hi Kate,
Thank you for the ideas you've shared with me. I'm going
to do this with my little one.:)
Hi havingaprincess,
Yes I second Kate's advice that you should start cleaning your little one's teeth now. It would also be a good idea to get them checked by a dentist. At this age, this is more to get them used to the dental clinic environment and having their mouth looking in etc, and dentists are then able to pick up any potential problems early and try and prevent them.
I had some difficulties with getting my baby to willingly have his teeth cleaned and I received some excellent support and advice on this forum about this. I would like to share this with you here: Can teeth cleaning and gentle parenting go hand in hand? I am happy to report that teeth cleaning here is now going very well!
Please do let us know if we can help further.
Best wishes to you and your family,
LJ
So glad that LJ shared her story about cleaning her little one's teeth. It's always fun and helpful to see what others are doing.
As a rule, my children don't have dental appointments until they are 4. Now, having said that, I noticed a little dark area on one of my daughter's teeth when she was 3 years old. In that situation, her tooth had grown with a deep groove in it and food was easily caught and not easily cleaned from that area. So, at the age of 3, she had to have that little tooth filled.
This did not happen with any of my other children. In order to avoid any kind of fear in my children when they started seeing the dentist at the age of 4, I would always take them with me and with my other children when we would go for our teeth cleanings. When a little one sees that having their teeth cleaned is a happy, easy going event, it makes them much more at ease with the process as well.
The focus should be on introducing her to the dental environment when everyone is happy (you wouldn't want to take her along to watch if another child is uneasy). When they get to be about 4 years old, they are old enough to sit still in the chair, follow directions (open your mouth so I can county your teeth) and keep their mouth open for as long as is needed.
This is what I found worked really well with our family.
How is the teeth cleaning going? I'm curious to know what you have tried and what is or isn't working.
Warm regards,
Kate
It is definitely time to start brushing if she has teeth, even if you only use warm water. Most dentists recommend that baby's have their gums gently cleaned with a towel or baby brush even before their first teeth pop through. Once two teeth are next to each other, it is time to introduce flossing as well.
Though I, like Kate, tend to bring my children to the dentist closer to three or four, it is technically recommended that they begin seeing the dentist every six months, beginning around their first birthday.
-Angela