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Brushing teeth and when to do it?

Hi there. Hugo has just got his first tooth and I'm not sure when I need to start brushing it - or even how to go about it? It's still very small so I'm not sure a brush would even do anything.

Also, we have had a fairly settled nighttime routine since he was 3 weeks old: a bath then straight upstairs to his dimly lit room to get in pyjamas, a breast feed then in his cot drowsy but awake. I presume I would need to now brush his tooth/teeth after the breast feed? This would mean going back in to the bathroom which is brightly lit and really waking him up to brush his teeth, then back in to his cot in a more stimulated state.... Is this right?

Lastly, is it morning and night, or after every meal, or just once a day?

And I thought waiting for them to arrive was the hard part!

Replies

  • we brush LO teeth and his are not through properly yet, we do it before we get wahed in a morning for him to get used to it, we use a milk teeth brush and milk teeth toothpaste to get him used to it and we brush bottom then top then rinse and repeat, i just softy brush them, i intend to start doing the evening soon and will do it after his bottle, he goes down fully awake so that isnt an issue for us x
  • My LO is 7 months and I started brushing teeth the minute his first one peeped through at 5 1/2 months. I use the term brushing lightly though!

    On a night, after his feed (in darkened room), I then put the brush in his mouth, brush the teeth/gums and finish, takes 10-20 seconds at most. I use a tiny smear of toothpaste and no water, so there's no need to go to the bathroom to do it. They shouldn't be encouraged to swallow the toothpaste so I figure less water used, the less they can swallow.

    On a morning we do it after breakfast, as this coincides with me brushing mine and he absolutely loves it. I start brushing mine, then brush his and leave him with the brush to play with for a few minutes while I finish mine. More often than not he keeps the brush in his mouth and moves it around chewing on it. I do rinse his toothbrush after he's used it, just not before or during. HTH xx
  • Yay for Hugo!! First tooth, how exciting!

    Toby hasn't got nay yet but my Plunket nurse said to start brushing as soon as they appear - but basically to just put the brush in his mouth with a tiny smear of paste on it and let him chew on it - so I wouldn't be worried about going into the bathroom, you could do that in his cot. And I think she said just at night to start and then add morning once they have a few, although obviously it wouldn't hurt to do the morning from the start too.

    C image
  • I brush LO's tooth just before the bath. We too then give a bf. I think at the moment its more getting them used to a brush and get it into the routine etc. i also do it in the morning after breakfast.

    em x
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