help!!! 14mtn grinding his teeth

[jinna]

my 14mnth boy has started grinding his teeth - i just cannot stand the sound it makes - help!!!
how do i stop this habit and is he doing any damage to his teeth by doing this

[Northerner]

Jinna, my ds (16 months)started doing this also a couple of months ago, and I too could not bear it. It still makes me cringe just thinking about it actually. I found that the more I reacted the more he did it. As soo as I ignored hims he stopped.

Don't think it will damage his teeth.

[Rebi]

My ds did this around the same age 6 years ago! We even have photos of his contorted face!!! Yes he did grow out of it!

And he has lovely teeth!!!

[Bobsmum]

ds (10 mths) does this with his front top and bottom teeth - makes my toes curl - I'm still always sure they'll snap in half, he puts a real effort into it - yeuch.

[jinna]

glad to hear that i am not alone - ihave tried to ignore it but i just cringe when he does it
bobsmum - my son has just the two top and two bottom teeth and grinds these
hopefully he will stop soon!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ness73]

My (nearly 14mth) DD does this too. Really fingernails on the blackboard stuff isn't it??

[codswallop]

My dh has to have mouth guard to stop him(36) gnashing his. He wears down fillings.Its stress

[2under2]

my dd does this too. There is nothing you can do other than try distracting him (not telling him off or drawing attention to it though) but hopefully it's just a phase! Teeth grinding serves a purpose in toddlers in that it helps with the bite by making the teeth fit together well. Also, some children do it when they are teething or coming down with an ear infection.
Agree that the sound is just awful!

[janh]

codswallop, it isn't necessarily stress. Some people just do it all the time. (How do I know...?)

jinna, the worst damage it will do is to your nerves, listening - won't hurt his teeth at all, honest!

[runragged]

I know loads of children who have done this, including mine, they all stopped of their own accord, the ones who's perants drew attention to it took longer. I think it's more to do with exploring their new teeth. In my humble opinion that is!