Brushing Teeth

Ryan got his first tooth a little over a week ago and now it's really popping up. I read in some magazine that you should start brushing as soon as a tooth arrives. I'm not sure how or when to begin. Do I use training toothpaste or just water? I bought the boys cute little brushes (in hopes that Jake will get one soon), but have yet to open them.

Any advice?

 

QUOTE(mommymeg @ Apr 17 2008, 09:47 AM) [snapback]725866[/snapback]
Ryan got his first tooth a little over a week ago and now it's really popping up. I read in some magazine that you should start brushing as soon as a tooth arrives. I'm not sure how or when to begin. Do I use training toothpaste or just water? I bought the boys cute little brushes (in hopes that Jake will get one soon), but have yet to open them.

Any advice?



We started brushing gums 1x a day each night before bed. As they got tooth we added a second brushing in the AM. We just use water and on occasion (if they are grumpy) we put a hint of training paste on and they seem to like that!

 

I was going to post the same thing. Grace has one tooth and Hope just got her first one in.

 

Great question, can't wait to see what everyone says.

 

We brush teeth every night with a smidge of training paste.Both my little ones have their 2 bottom teeth.

 

Oragel makes a toothpaste just for babies. They have a pack that includes a toothbrush that slides on your finger and the toothpaste. They recommend using it when the tooth comes in.

 

At that age I did toothbrushing as part of the bedtime routine. As soon as they were done with their nighttime bottle we got an infant toothbrush (the plastic kind that slips over your finger) and put some baby training toothpaste on it then brushed. We just had to be quick so we wouldn't get bitten. At about age 1, we started using the toddler safety toothbrushes and loved them.

 

We just started brushing teeth as a bedtime routine at around 9 months. I kind-of wish we had started earlier, because our boy HATES it and fights us the whole time. Our girl on the other hand has actually recently started brushing HER OWN teeth she loves it so much.

They have little kid toothbrushes and we use the toddler toothpaste, just a very TINY amount.

 

Around 6 months old, we started with the fingertip brush on their bare gums each night with the training toothpaste (I think ours is Gerber brand...it came in a pack). Now that their bottom 2 teeth are up, we were sick of getting bit, so we bought the infant toothbrushes (I got ours at Target & they're for INFANTS, not TODDLERS---there were Colgate & Baby Einstein brands). We use the same infant training toothpaste & the toothbrush has a colored circle that shows you how much toothpaste to put on it. We do it nightly, but I want to start adding a morning brushing in sometime soon.

We brush for them first, usually long enough to sing the alphabet slowly. Sometimes we have to hold their hands down because they want that toothbrush SO bad! Once we're done, they're allowed to brush (with just water) for a little while.

Sometimes when they're fussy, or if I need to get ready, I hand them the toothbrush & they sit contently on the bathroom floor. They just LOVE those things! I'm glad I don't have kids that fight getting their teeth brushed & I'm guessing it's because we started so young. Oh, they do sometimes yelp when we brush their gums if they're teething, but for the most part, I think it feels good to them (they're BOTH working on their top 4 right now).

Start brushing away!

 

I didnt read other posts but my pedi said to use one of those finger brushes and wipe the tooth down every day.

 

In addition to the other posts, you can use a washcloth to wipe the teeth down.

We started using a finger toothbrush and my girls wanted no part of that, so we went straight to a baby toothbrush. We bought the baby toothbrushes and paste from BRU, and still use it to this day. I would do my best to brush them first, and then we pass it on to them to chew on while I read books.

 

I just use a washcloth and wipe them in the morning when we are getting dressed and washing faces, seems to work out well, the babies crack up, they love to chew on the washcloth.