Tooth brushing questions

My kids have 7 and 8 teeth, and we have been brushing their teeth before bedtime for quite awhile now, but I was wondering - when do you start enforcing brushing teeth after every meal... and when do you start introducing tooth paste? And what kind of toothpaste do you use - given that my kids would be swallowing it for quite some time before they learn to spit it out...

 

We have just started brushing the boys teeth at night. We aren't a 'brush after every meal' family anyway so can't help there. Lara brushes morning and evening - she is very fussy about toothpaste so often its just water. I use a colgate one with the boys - from 6 months it says on the tube. I only use a very small amount so they really don't need to spit.

 

We also brush morning and night. For that age they have special toothpaste that is made to be swallowed (it should have no flouride in it). We used that type of toothpaste until about 3yrs old or a little older until they learned how to spit really well and didn't swallow it anymore. Most of the time we use the toothpaste at night and just water in the morning. Right now when my son gets the toothpaste on his toothbrush he just sucks it off anyway so I figure it can be a treat at night so that's why we only use water in the morning since it's not really doing anything anyway.

 

We have been brushing after breakfast and before bed for quite a while now, probably when they had about 6 or so teeth. I use just the Orajel kids toothpaste. They get flouride through their vitamins until they are 3 (there is none in our water) so at that point we'll teach them to spit and use regular toothpaste.



PS - Time to change your ticker.

 

We do both morning and night and have from about 7 months. We started using toothpaste from the beginning since it came in the package with the little finger brush. Now we use regular little toothbrushes and continue to use the kids Orajel toothpaste (just a tiny bit). The boys love to brush their teeth so it hasn't been a big deal, but we though the toothpaste would be an incentive for them to open up.

 

We didn't start using toothpaste until about 18 months. We used (and still use) Tom's of Maine fluoride-free, because even at age 3 they can't get the hang of spitting. Our supermarket doesn't carry Tom's, so occasionally I buy Orajel toddler training toothpaste, but they don't like the flavor nearly as much. (It claims to be "juicy juice" or something, but it smells like bubblegum to me.)