[blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth

[Tammy]

Hi,

I find that letting the baby suck on frozen bananas work well for teething 
infants.  Just peal it and stick it in the freezer and then when the baby 
wants it it's there.  You can put it in an infant feeder if you want but the 
baby won't choke on it because by the time it's not frozen anymore it's soft 
enough to swallow.  Bananas also have a sedative in them so they'll help a 
little with the pain of teething.

As to the questions about brushing teeth, start with one of those finger 
brush things and start young, before they don't have teeth just to get them 
used to you sticking your fingers in their mouths and going through the 
motions of brushing their teeth.  This will also help get food gunk and 
bacteria out of their mouth. when you take out the real tooth brush let them 
see and play with it before you use it, it will invariably end up in their 
mouth cause that's where most toys go.  I usually brush little one's teeth 
while they're sitting on my lap so I can have more control over their 
movements.  It's a messy business but then with babies lots is messy so we 
don't worry about the mess too much.  I start with the smallest toothbrush I 
can get and try to hold it as close to the head as I can.  Put a little 
toothpaste on it, baby toothpaste of course, and then just start by brushing 
the outside of the front teeth a little bit.  Oh, I usually give the baby 
another toothbrush to keep their hands busy and distract them while I'm 
doing horrible things to their mouth.  grin  At some point the baby will 
open their mouth to yell or something and then I just sort of get in with 
the brush and get as much of the back teeth brushed as fast as I can before 
they bite me.  After I do this a couple of times they will realize it's not 
so bad and they let me brush their teeth.  I always make sure to talk to 
them while I'm brushing and tell them what I'm doing and what things are 
like toothpaste etc, and they get the hang of it pretty fast.
My answer to teaching them is pretty simple.  When they get old enough to 
stand at the sink on one of those stools I start teaching them to brush on 
their own.  I still stand behind them and help them, but aside from putting 
the toothpaste on, I let them try it by themselves.  Since they like to 
follow your example, I often brush my teeth before I let them brush theirs 
so it makes them feel like big boys when they brush at the same time I do. 
I usually have them tell me how they're going to brush their teeth before 
they actually do it so I know they know a bit about how to do it.  Generally 
the task makes a huge mess cause spitting  in the sink usually means spit 
all over the counter, but most of their teeth get brushed most of the time, 
or so the dentist says.

I hope this helps some,

Tammy

-----Original Message----- 
From: Miranda B.
Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 5:12 PM
To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
Subject: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth

Hi,

I have two questions along the same lines, so I thought I'd just put them in
one post.

1.       What have you found to be the best things to help soothe teething
infants? Whether it be comfort methods, specific teething products or
specific forms of origel (tablets, swabs, drops, ETC.)

2.       How does a parent who is Blind safely and effectively brush a young
child's teeth? I'm thinking when they first start using a toothbrush, but
they can't brush their teeth on their own. Also, what's the best way to
begin teaching a child how to brush their teeth independently?

Thanks, and have a great week!



In Christ, Miranda

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