Watching babies grow is one of the most fascinating experiences anyone can have. Their tiny waving hands and feet become useful appendages, and they grow so fast it’s astonishing. Baby teeth are one of the most interesting parts of the process because they go from soft empty gums to a full mouth of teeth sometimes over two years and sometimes quite quickly. Many parents who have been successfully taking care of their own teeth for decades find themselves unsure of what to do about their tiny child’s soft gums and the itchy growing of their little teeth. When do you start brushing? What’s the proper way to brush baby teeth? No one wants to accidentally brush too hard or the wrong way, but we also don’t want to be responsible for a child’s first cavity before they’re old enough to understand what teeth are. In this post, we are going to learn how to brush your baby’s teeth.
Caring for Your Baby’s Gums
Before you ever see the first tooth, parents should start a dental care routine with their baby. To keep your baby’s gums clean, all you need to do is wrap a damp cloth or piece of gauze around your index finger and gently rub the surface of their gums along and round where the teeth will come in. This will not only ensure your baby’s mouth is healthy and clear of food residue, but it will also get them used to tooth brushing procedures to make the later stages much easier. When you start noticing little ridges under your fingers, your baby has begun teething, and it’s time to consider phase two.
Brushing Your Baby’s Teeth
Baby teeth start out quite small, far apart, and undeniably itchy. Every family has their own ways to cope with teething from frozen bananas to ice in a washcloth, but the way you brush your baby’s teeth should be done the same way every time. First, you’ll need a soft baby toothbrush with a handle that works for your hand. You’ll also want a very small amount, just a thin smear, of baby toothpaste that contains little or no fluoride.
Wet the brush, apply the paste and gently brush around your baby’s teeth. Your goal is simply to loosen any bacteria and lingering food particles before they have a chance to become plaque. Brush gently along the gums where you used to rub a washcloth and give a little attention to each growing tooth. There’s no need to worry about baby floss because the teeth are usually far apart enough that the brush can easily get between them. Rinse your baby’s mouth if you want to, but with so little toothpaste it’s not actually necessary.
Brush Your Baby’s Teeth Twice a Day
Dental hygiene for babies is incredibly important to keep them healthy and happy. Make sure to brush your baby’s teeth twice a day. First, brush them in the morning after breakfast and then again during bedtime preparations. This makes sure that plaque-generating particles and bacteria stay on your baby’s teeth the minimum amount of time and don’t have a chance to create problems. If your baby is having an especially hard time with teething, you can try to soothe them by rubbing their gums like you used to with a chilled washcloth.
Baby teeth are tiny and often quite itchy, but they’re also the teeth your child will be sporting for around the next seven to ten years so you’ll want to take good care of them now. Make sure to bring your child in to see the dentist either after their first birthday or six months after their first tooth surfaces, whichever comes first.
Know that you know how to brush your baby’s teeth it’s time to put into practice all that we discussed.
