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

Tue Jan 10 18:06:10 UTC 2012

Hi,

This post is so funny because I just started brushing the little
dude's teeth the other day. His daycare provider gave us all of these
pamphlets on brushing little teeth and that as soon as babies start
teething it is a good idea to clean their teeth. A little cloth and a
little rub is usually okay for the first few teeth.

The children's dentist that made an appearance at the daycare gave us
a finger brush with soft bristles and this normal looking tooth brush
except for the handle. The handle looked like scissors that didn't
open but had the two loops for your fingers. I assume it makes
brushing your kid's teeth easier.

As for teaching your kids how to brush, well, erik is only ten months
and he isn't quite coordinated enough to get a sippy cup in his mouth
and tilt his head far enough back to get anything. So, teeth brushing
is a bit down the road. However, I really recommend the Must Have Mom
mannual. If my memory serves me there is a chapter on teeth brushing.
It is a tremendously helpful book written by two moms who have, for
the most part, very different ways of raising their kids. The book has
lots of nuggets of wisdom that every mom should at least read and
think about.

LM

On 1/10/12, Miranda B. <knownoflove at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
> I never said toothpaste was hard to come by! Good grief!
> I'm sorry, but I never realized that asking for someone's opinion who has
> more experience with raising children would cause such negative response.
> When a child comes into our home, we just want to have as many things as we
> can available before they arrive. They may have many traumatic emotions at
> first, and I'm sure that toothpaste may be the furthest thing from their
> mind. Sadly, it is possible that their parents may not have been actively
> brushing the child's teeth, so the child may not know what toothpaste they
> may like.
> Please do not judge me or my motives for posting what may seem to you a
> silly or stupid question.
>
> In Christ, Miranda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)
> Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 9:14 AM
> To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth
>
> Um, is buying toothpaste that hard?
> I ask because what you may like and what whatever kid you get may like could
> be different. Mine likes toothpaste from various tv and book charactors,
> Thomas as in Thomas The Tank Engine comes to mind.
> Can you not swing by the store when you're getting say milk and snag some
> toothpaste maybe with input from the kid who will be using it?
> Toothpaste is easy to come by, really it is.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Miranda B.
> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 1:02 PM
> To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth
>
> Hi Barbara,
> Thanks for the flavor info and tips. We probably won't know what each child
> likes as they come into our home, and we plan to purchase toothpaste before
> we have a child placed with us to make our first placement shopping trip
> only the necessities that we can't store in our home for long.
> Thanks again, and have a great week!
>
> In Christ, Miranda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Barbara Hammel
> Sent: Monday, January 09, 2012 1:26 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth
>
> We have Colgate because it comes in watermelon flavor.  You'll do best to
> know what the child likes and buy toothpaste according to that flavor.
> There is bubblegum also but for my kids that's too close to bubblegum
> medicine.  (we get the painkillers in that flavor because the don't like the
> fruit or the grape.) Barbara
>
>
>
>
> A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. --
> Max Lucado -----Original Message-----
> From: Miranda B.
> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 8:50 PM
> To: 'NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth
>
> Hi Tammy,
> Thanks for your message! Where did you happen to find the finger toothbrush?
> Also, do you know the exact name of it so I can tell the store employees the
> right thing?
> Which brand of baby toothpaste has everyone found to work well?
> Thanks again, and have a great week!
>
> In Christ, Miranda
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Tammy
> Sent: Sunday, January 08, 2012 7:42 PM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Teething infants and brushing young children's teeth
>
> 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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