February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, so I thought I’d share a post on this topic! Good oral hygiene is so important to me, and I want to be sure my daughter realizes how important it is to take good care of her mouth and teeth! After talking to my dentist, here are some tips for starting your baby out on the right track to good oral hygiene. My daughter is 9 months, and we’ve started practicing all of these things!
*note: I am not a doctor, dentist, or dental hygienist. I just love my daughter and love her teeth.
Here are my 5 tips for starting to practice good oral hygiene with your infant:
1. Start early
Buy an infant toothbrush and start putting it in your baby’s mouth early, when she begins teething. Massage her gums. It will feel really good, and get her used to having something in there. I hold my daughter on my lap, and put her toothbrush in. These are some of our favorites; we have and love this, this and this!
2. Start small
Don’t expect to have the starter brush in her mouth for 2 minutes! Just do it for a few seconds, and work up to doing it longer so she gets used to it. My daughter is 9 months, and now opens her mouth when she sees me bring out the brush! She knows it won’t hurt, and knows it won’t be in her mouth forever!
3. Make it a routine
Build it into your morning and nightly routine. Before bed, we usually do a bath, a bottle and book, and brush teeth!
4. Make an appointment at your pediatric dentist
Once your baby has teeth, consider making an appointment at a local pediatric dentistry practice. My daughter will be going in around the time she’s a year old. I thought that would be a good time, because even though the dentist usually won’t actually clean teeth before age 3, going in will get her used to the idea. I’m a huge believer in having a pediatric dentist as well; I went to one when I was little, and I LOVED it! The dentist I went to had an office totally dedicated to kids. There were cartoons on the walls, everyone would dress super fun and colorful (and they were so nice!); they asked what flavor toothpaste I wanted, and would play cartoons on TVs throughout the office. They also had a HUGE toy box, and at the end of your appointment, kids could pick out a toy while mom and dad talked to the doctor about their teeth. It was a wonderful experience, and because of this, I want to find a really great pediatric dentist nearby that will provide the same fun office visit that I had growing up!
5. Make it a priority
If you don’t take it seriously, your kiddo won’t either!! So make it fun, make it routine, and make it a priority to have great dental hygiene!
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Great tips! I especially agree with starting early! I used baby toothbrushes as their teething toys and brushed their gums every day.
Stephanie recently posted…“The Intentional Bookshelf” A Full & Honest Review
This is a great tip, I need to try this at home. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, I haven’t even thought about just putting a brush in my baby’s mouth so he can get used to it. What a great idea! Thanks for these tips!
Alina recently posted…5 things to do on Valentine’s day
Thanks so much!!
Start early is a great tip! We always had a small toothbrush with water so my little ones could brush with us.
Leah | Five for the Road recently posted…7 Magical Reasons to Stay On-Site at Walt Disney World
That’s so great! I feel like the more I can get my daughter used to it, the more I WON’T have to fight her later! HAHA!
We just stared our babe brushing without toothpaste and a real brush the last few months. Love these guidelines for kids!
Thanks Kari!! I can’t wait til she can have cute little girls’ toothpaste…those little hello kitty and barbie toothpaste bottles are adorable!!
These are great tips! I agree with starting early and sticking to a routine. These really helped with my kids!
Belle | http://www.OneAwesomeMomma.com
Thanks girl!
These are great tips! Our doctor told us to start using a toothbrush with our daughter when she was a few months old so she would get used to it, and now she LOVES brushing her teeth! She reminds us if we forget!
Vicki @ Babies to Bookworms recently posted…Great Books for Strong Girls!
That is so cute!!!!! I figure the more we get her used to it now, the more she’ll like doing it like your daughter does! (that’s my hope anyway!!)
My 18 month old stands outside the bathroom door all day, doing a sign he made up for tooth brushing, and asking ‘tee? tee?’ until we finally let him in, haha. These are really great tips for raising kids with healthy teeth from the start- thank you for sharing!
Kate Aquino Losito recently posted…Comment on Books & Flower Fun For Toddler Valentine Play by Kate
Awwww that is ADORABLE!!!!
Great tips! We’ve been brushing my toddler’s teeth since he was around a year old and he loves it! Lately he’s trying to do it himself!
Yay little guy!!!
These are definitely great tips. My son is now three. He first went to the dentist when he turned one and didn’t feel comfortable until after his third visit. Eekk mommy was always having to hold him down. The third time around I was so surprised.
These are definitely great tips. My son is now three. He first went to the dentist when he turned one and didn’t feel comfortable until after his third visit. Eekk mommy was always having to hold him down. The third time around I was so surprised.
Thanks so much for sharing this information. I have to admit that I wasn’t good about giving my son a toothbrush when he was a little younger even though my Mother kept giving me the tip to “start early”. However, we are now starting to make it a routine and although it was a little rough in the beginning, things are slowly easing up! 🙂
Innana recently posted…Indulge in veggie-rich muffins!
Saw your IG post about lullabies…we sing “You Are My Sunshine” every night. 🙂
I love that song!!!! Thanks for commenting!!!
Oh wow! I actually didn’t know about all this. Thank you for sharing 💗
So glad it was helpful!! Thanks for the comment!!!
Love these tips! We have started singing the song “1-2-3-4-5 once I caught a fish” while we brush our 14month olds 8 teeth! Helps baby and I both knowing when we will be finished and just how much longer we need to keep going 🙂 He enjoys my crazy singing so he’s all smiles during!
OMG that’s such an amazing idea!!!! I think I’ll steal that one!! Thanks!
Starting early is a great tip.And we also love to keep our routing.Thanks for the great tips.I am going to share in FB.
Thank you so much for the sweet comment and share!! 🙂
Love your graphic! These are fantastic tips!
Risa Kerslake recently posted…My Breastfeeding Journey (So far!)
Thanks so much for the sweet comment!!!
starting early is once of the great things to do. thanks for the great tips
Thank you so much! I appreciate the comment 🙂