Brushing kids teeth

amother

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:01 pm

At what age did you start brushing your kids teeth every night?

amother

Copper

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:04 pm

Started brushing sometimes at two. Consistently at three.

amother

Mint

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:14 pm

Age 1.5

I do forget occasionally (my kids are 2 and 5 now). I still use children's toothpaste for both of them as my 5 yo refuses to use regular toothpaste.

amother

Papaya

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:18 pm

My pediatrician started telling me to do it at a year.

Realistically- my kid only had 2 teeth at a year. I try to brush once a day now at 16 months- she has 6 teeth. I think I only started doing twice a day sometime between age 1.5 to 2.

amother

Cerulean

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:31 pm

My kid brushes her own teeth from about age 2.
I try to teach her proper brushing but I let her do it on her own, it's just easier we both brush our teeth at the same time for 2 minutes (30 seconds per each of bottom right, bottom left, upper right, upper left).

thunderstorm

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 2:41 pm

My pediatrician has been talking about it since my daughter is 9 months. She had over 10 teeth by then. I still didn’t start but every day I keep saying we will buy her a tooth brush and I keep forgetting. She’s 16 months and I still plan to start this week.

amother

Royalblue

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 3:08 pm

Every night it's a fight to get the kids to brush their teeth. I don't always have the energy and their teeth doesn't always get brushed. I do get them to rinse with mouthwash most of the time though.

FranticFrummie

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 3:22 pm

At first DD fought me about the tooth brushing. Her dentist just said to let her chew on the bristles if that's all I can manage. At least a little bit of brushing will be accomplished that way.

She got her first two teeth in when she was 4 months old, so the tooth care started really early in our family!

caza

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 3:28 pm

My DS has been brushing his teeth since 1.5, basically chewing the bristles and licking the toothpaste (the0-2 one) and now that he is 2 I brush it for him- and he loves it!
I started brushing consistently as he is the type of kid that always finds something sweet, he literally smells them from far.... Very Happy

Rachel Shira

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 4:41 pm

No judgment, really, but I’m surprised at all the posters saying they don’t brush until past 1 or even 2 or 3. I’ve been (trying) to brush my baby’s teeth since they came in, but he hates it. Did your kids have cavities early? If not, it will ease my mind a little about not brushing well everyday.

amother

Bisque

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 5:00 pm

Its a nature of a child. Just started brushing my 4.5yo teeth. She has beautiful white teeth. I have a niece her age, been brushing since age 1 and always has cavities. go figure...

thunderstorm

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 5:07 pm

amother [ Bisque ] wrote:

Its a nature of a child. Just started brushing my 4.5yo teeth. She has beautiful white teeth. I have a niece her age, been brushing since age 1 and always has cavities. go figure...

I agree. My best brushers and earliest brushers had cavities. My kids that don’t cooperate as much and didn’t brush at an earlier age don’t have cavities. And yellow vs white is also a genetic factor more than the results of brushing.

amother

Royalblue

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 5:25 pm

Cavities don't have much to do with brushing the teeth. My kids have no cavities and they're not so good with teeth brushing.
I have very good dental hygiene and I go to the dentist regularly. Somehow I always have cavities. DH doesn't have the best hygiene and avoids going to the dentist, he doesn't have a single cavity.

rowo

Tue, Nov 12 2019, 6:04 pm

I buy my babies a toothbrush as soon as they get their first teeth.
They start chewing on it and getting used to the idea, and of course they see me brushing so it’s fun for them to do the same.

Some dentists even recommend to start brushing their gums with a cloth before they even have any teeth.