I haven’t brushed my baby’s teeth yet

[newmum234]

I feel so guilty - DS is 8 months, he’s had 4 milk teeth since about 6.5 months and I haven’t even attempted to brush them yet. I’ve been so caught up with weaning that it didn’t even cross my mind - bad I know. Could I have caused his teeth to decay?!

Also, his top two teeth have a large gap between them - is this normal and will it close? Or will he just have very gappy teeth until his adult teeth come through?

Lastly, is he still okay to chew on his hard plastic toys that he loves (like the Newby teething necklace) or could it break his teeth?!

But a toothbrush and some toothpaste and crack on!

*buy

Don't worry about it but start now gently with a soft tooth brush.

I'm sure your baby's teeth will be fine!

I'd start brushing immediately!
He can still chew on hard stuff and the gap will probably lessen as more teeth appear.

No point in worrying about the past, there may or may not be damage but baby teeth aren't permanent so it's not the end of the world.

Just start now, I gave mine a toothbrush to chew on after meals to let them get used to it and meant if they fussed too much when I was brushing it wouldn't be such a big deal to leave it.

Happy teeth are normal, lots of space to grown but other teeth around them will most likely push them together. My 7yo is back at the gappy stage as her front teeth are growing in!

As for chewing, I figure they just pick stuff up and chew it anyway. He'll soon figure if it's uncomfortable!

Thanks all - I feel so bad, like I’ve let him down And I’m so worried I could have harmed his teeth!!

When is a good time to brush and what is the easiest way to do it? I don’t really want to brush between his last milk feed and bed - I put him down after his final bottle and if I take him into the bathroom and start brushing his teeth he will be wide awake again!

No point in worrying about the past, there may or may not be damage

I feel so bad - how could this not have crossed my mind?!

Brush twice a day. Re: the evening at that age I brushed teeth and then gave the night feed- then by about 1 I realised the toothbrushing should happen after The feed and switched it round.

Well yes obviously if you dont brush the teeth theres a risk the teeth could decay. Good news is being a baby their diet is likely to be very low in sugar and so the risk is low. Most likely it will be absolutely fine, however start now

A gap in childrens teeth is normal, most children will have gaps.

Don't worry about it but do start doing it ASAP. They do need to be done after the last bottle, otherwise he's going to bed with his teeth coated in milk.

Thanks. Do you find that brushing their teeth after the last bottle causes them to be wide awake again and harder to settle for night time sleep?

@newmum234

Thanks. Do you find that brushing their teeth after the last bottle causes them to be wide awake again and harder to settle for night time sleep?

When my first child was a baby, the dentist told me just to gently wipe them with a damp flannel or muslin. If you did that last thing at night he'd probably get used to it. You could brush them in the morning.

It's absolutely fine. Unless you are feeding him a load of junk, it won't matter. Babies teeth are hard to brush and they don't usually get brushed very well for the first few months.

Thanks @mindutopia. I’m worried about how to accommodate the evening brush into his routine. I read you’re not meant to brush for half an hour after the last feed, so will have to bring that last feed forward I think, or DS will be falling asleep whilst I brush!

Don't worry about the bottle. At 8 months there's no need for a bottle. Give milk in a sippy cup so they don't fall asleep, then brush, then story then bed. That way they learn to self settle too. It will make things a lot easier if they're not dependent on a bottle falling to sleep.

Thanks @Redwinestillfine. Should all milk feeds be given in a sippy cup now or just the bedtime one? DS has four milk feeds a day currently.

It’s not unusual for an 8month old to still have bottles, pls dont stress about moving to a sippy cup yet

You can try a sippy cup if it appeals to you, but I don't know anyone that gave formula from a sippy cup. Ours didn't give up the bedtime bottle till 18 months, we just brushed his teeth after it. I take his toothbrush to the bedroom. It did wake him up a bit, but he's been put down awake since 6 months.

Now he's older, he has milk in his sippy cup before his bath.

Thanks. I’m struggling with the brushing - DS just clamps his mouth shut! So worried that his teeth are going to rot

There are toothbrushes you can get that babies can chew on, rather than it being a formal process. Look up finger toothbrush for early on and then my kids loved the brush baby chewable toothbrush once they were a around 9 months or so. You can squeeze a little toothpaste into it and then they would happily chew it during their bath. You don’t have to get a perfect and totally thorough brush at your baby’s age. My youngest is 17 months now and only just switched to a baby version of a conventional toothbrush and he doesn’t mind having a brush at bath-time. We didn’t brush in the morning as well until they were a little older.

If you can OP try not to worry. Your baby's teeth will be fine.
I have always been told that at this age teeth brushing is as much about encouraging good habits (ie teeth brushing twice a day).
For a long time we just put toothpaste on his brush in the bath for him to chew on and then gradually intervened more with more "brushing". He is two now and we brush in a more formal sense.
If your LO sleeps after the final bottle I wouldn't start brushing teeth, just do it before bedtime routine presumably milk hasn't got too many bad things in it!

@newmum234 buy a brush, give to them to play with. They will start brushing themselves (sort of). Give them 2-3-4 to play with (yours preferably, but beware of it ending up in the toilet). Our one is 14m and brushes whenever he gets his hands on a brush when me and DH brush, he just cries till we give him our brush and gets on. It soothes the teething pains (maybe even the toothpaste helps, who knows...). No worries, they do so much chewing on things (like puppies) that they do quite a good job but it's a very good habit to get into. Don't force it, I do 2-3 strokes then leave him get on, then repeat. Good luck!

Hi everyone I’m new here. I just feel I should put this out here and I feel guilty about this, My baby is going to be 8month on the 5th of July and I don’t brush he’s teeth regularly, I do it like 0nce in 3 to 4days since when he clocked 3month and I usually brush he’s teeth after morning bath. Just wanted to know if this is going to damage he’s teeth or is going to be fine because I’m really worried. Thanks🙏