Brushing baby's teeth

[avisccs]

Hi all

My baby is 8 months old and has 3 teeth (2 at bottom and 1 at the top). I haven't started brushing her teeth yet. I think I should start.

She doesn't seem to like me touching her teeth. She doesn't like me to open her month to check on her teeth. Applying Anbesol liquid was difficult. I think she may not like me brushing her teeth. But she does like to bit my finger.

Do you think I should buy a baby toothrbush or finger bursh? Any suggestion on how to brush her teeth when she doesn't like it? I saw some youtube videos on brushing baby teeth. They all seem to be suprisingly co-operative. lol

Is baby toothpaste eatable?

 

[Louise2013]

My LO was very adverse to me brushinghis teeth so I started letting him play with the toothbrush (I tried a finger brush but he woukd just clamp down on my finger and not open his jaw!) a bit like a chew toy and now he is quite good at letting me do it. Took a little while but now he finds it funny when I try! It is nothing like a good brush around each tooth but a general quick scrub and then he grabs the brush and chews it for a while which as far as I am concerned is doing a lot of the work anyway! Good luck xxx ps. We use a teeny amount of baby toothoast and he seems to like the taste x

 

[Rachel87]

I've got a 15 week old with 2 teeth and it's impossible to brush them, so I just put toothpaste on a muslin cloth and use that.x

 

[juliekim0908]

My HV advised I started as soon as possible, even before teeth fully appeared. so as soon as I saw he was cutting a tooth we started brushing twice a day.

He doesn't really like it, but as long as you get a half good brushing, the fluoride helps. I also often let him chew on toothbrush if hes being really difficult.
x

 

[Maud]

When you start it's more about them getting used to having them brushed than a perfect clean. You will definitely need a baby sized toothbrush, but you dont need to use baby toothpaste(although we got lots in our Bounty/Emma's Diary packs so have been using it up) just a smear of standard family type toothpaste (as opposed to whitening/sensitive type ones). Most of the guides suggest sitting with them on your lap facing away from you, but we carry ours (although she does tend to rub toothpaste onto our shoulders this way).

 

[Smileygirl]

I can't recommend this product more highly. My baby went from full on tears at teeth brushing time to really enjoying it!

http://www.brushbaby.co.uk/products/Chewable-Toothbrush-and-Teether.html

 

[OMGbabyno3]

I can't recommend this product more highly. My baby went from full on tears at teeth brushing time to really enjoying it!

http://www.brushbaby.co.uk/products/Chewable-Toothbrush-and-Teether.html

Me too...fab!

 

[littlemonkey]

Just watch using normal toothpaste with your baby. It can have too much fluoride for babies and kids.

 

[iWitch]

^wss they an only have a set amount of flouride

 

[T84]

Best tip is probs to let lo play with toothbrush biting and chewing themselves then slowly add toothpaste into the mix (I would stick to kids toothpaste as they are less minty which could be a put off. Stay away from fruity toothpastes too) even getting the toothpaste in lo mouth is a step closer and still preventative. Then work up to brushing. Treat it like a game in the bath and introduce songs and toys. Good luck!

 

[avisccs]

Thank you all for your replies!

An update:

Yesterday I bought a 0-2 year toothbursh and kid toothpaste. No sure what it tastes like, but it doesn't have 'mint' or 'strawberry' on the pack. It smells like my toothpaste. I put a smear of toothpaste on and gave to my baby. She put it straight into her mouth, like every thing else. Then she sucked on it!!! Arr! It's not suppose to be eatten, so I start burshing her teeth. I think she found it strange, but her response is not too bad. At least not screaming. I don't know how to make her split out the toothpaste, so I just stuck a bit of a mulin cloth into her mouth and hope it would absorb some toothpaste, but I think she had swallowed it!

 

[kumber]

It's ok for them to swallow toothpaste as they need the flouride anyways. For rinsing, just clean off the tootbrush, wet it just with normal tap water and brush it round her teeth a couple of times, then rinse it again under the tap. It doesn't get rid of all of the toothpaste but it gets rid of the bulk of it.