Teeth brushing

Wondering how early you should start brushing teeth?

 

We started at 4 months as per our PED! They were all gums then but they love me doing it and now that DD has 3 teeth, I am happy we started early.!

 

As soon as a tooth appeared we started brushing.

 

Do you use tooth paste? How do they spit it out (seeing that they don't know how to spit)?

 

You should use a soft cloth as soon as teeth appear. Or if you prefer and your babies are agreeable, they sell infant tooth brushes. We brush our boys teeth after their evening bath. We started around 8 or 9 months I guess? I'm not sure how good a job we're doing of actually "brushing" but it gets them into the habit, I suppose. It's a lot of chewing and squirming, mostly.

Don't use toothpaste. You can use that when they're older (say 2 or 3) and know how to spit things out. Right now they'll swallow out of reflex.

 

QUOTE(New Mom @ Feb 28 2008, 11:51 AM) [snapback]645112[/snapback]
As soon as a tooth appeared we started brushing.

us too.

We use floride free toothpaste so it's okay to swallow. Tom's of Maine strawberry. My pet peeve is gum flavored toothpaste! Why would you flavor toothpaste something that is bad for your teeth? It's crazy!

We also use electric brushes and they LOVE them. They brush their teeth a lot and it's a lot less work for me!

We never used the cloth on their teeth. i can't stand the feeling of a cloth on my teeth so why would I do that to them!

Oh, BTW, we did the same with our older two and they have always gotten RAVE reviews at the dentist. He can't believe they brush their own teeth and no cavities for either of them.

 

THe recommend starting at 6 mo even if they don't have teeth to brush/wipe their gums. You can use children's toothpaste but it is not necessary yet.

 

I started wiping their teeth after every meal when the first tooth appeared for Ana. I wipe Meara's gums so she doesn't feel left out. I bought them both baby tooth brushes last week (not that Meara needs it- seriously WHEN is she going to get her first tooth!?), but haven't used them yet, but I should.

 

QUOTE(New Mom @ Feb 28 2008, 02:51 PM) [snapback]645112[/snapback]
As soon as a tooth appeared we started brushing.

Same here.

 

Oops...looks like I should start :FIFblush: !

 

We have the infant tooth brush (it goes on your finger tip) & infant toothpaste, but I can't for the life of me think of the brand name right now (I've seen it at BRU & Target). It said you can start it at 3 mos, I think--maybe 4, but we didn't start it til 6 mos. The boys LOVE getting their 'teeth' brushed & ironically, 2 days after starting, 2 little teeth popped out of their bottom gums! We only do it at night before their bedtime bottles, but eventually hope to encorporate it into our morning routine. I have horrible teeth (very cavity prone), so I want the boys to get good dental hygiene pounded into them at this young age!

 

ASAP! I didn't brush my baby's teeth until they are 2 and understand instructions better. I use a wet washcloth with a tiny dab of tooth and gum cleanser.