I'm a 21 year old single dad with a 10 month old son I'm raising on my own since he was 4 months old. I"m currently in college taking a 2 year Drilling & Blasting course which I hope to be completed by mid April, 2004. Whenever I'm not in school , I'm at home taking care of my son. He seems to be growing up so fast. I think he'll be walking on his own in a couple of weeks. With him growing up so fast, he's now starting to get teeth. His two bottom ones are just starting to come through. With him getting teeth, I am wondering when should I start brushing them? I'm also wondering at what age do they start to use toothpaste? Any info you can give me would be appreciated.

As soon as those teeth come in, you can start using an infant tooth brush to clean them. Toothpaste doesn't start until much later, 3 or 4. A dentist around year 1 is good too.

Hello single mom of 3 girls here.
you know this is a question that I take seriously..When my oldest was a baby. I was only 17yrs old I too was a little uncertain about things and I did take here to the drs. for all her well baby checks (there are so many before the age of 5 really..) any way I never asked and no one told me.. and I started to late.. My oldest daughter had horrible teeth until she started getting her adult teeth.. Then my middle daughter was on iron drops for sever anemia- which while on they suggest a lot of juice for the digestion part of it.. and even though I brushed hers from the time she got them she had bad teeth due to the juice.. my youngest has wonderful teeth I made sure she got her vitamins from real fruit and vegetales not a lot of juice nothing but milk and water in the bottle and I burshed them sense she got them and after she was one year old I started using childrens tooth paste just not that much until she learned not to swollow it. she learned that at about 2yrs old.. but sense I started so young she loves brushing her teeth -and if you stay commited to it. Its so much easier than dealing with a child with dental problems beleive me....(don't make the mistake...) any ways hope I helped and good luck..

hey welcome!
im a 20 year old mother to a 4 and a half mo old son. he just got his two bottom teeth not too long ago. my doctor told me that i should only really brush his teeth if there is food or residue on them. since he is still little and doesnt eat foods like your ten mo old i havent done anything yet. thought he told me to take a little bit of baking soda and dilute it with water and dip a towel thats around my finger in it and rub it on his teeth. havent done it yet but just telling you what my doc told me! good luck with everything. school and all thats great! if you ever just want to chat to someone around your age please feel free to send me a private message on here or email me at kbear_04*hotmail.com kara

quote:

Originally posted by luke:
[qb]I'm a 21 year old single dad with a 10 month old son I'm raising on my own since he was 4 months old. I"m currently in college taking a 2 year Drilling & Blasting course which I hope to be completed by mid April, 2004. Whenever I'm not in school , I'm at home taking care of my son. He seems to be growing up so fast. I think he'll be walking on his own in a couple of weeks. With him growing up so fast, he's now starting to get teeth. His two bottom ones are just starting to come through. With him getting teeth, I am wondering when should I start brushing them? I'm also wondering at what age do they start to use toothpaste? Any info you can give me would be appreciated. [/qb]

When they get teeth you should brush them. But it's not recommened to use toothpaste till they are 2yr. So it says on my childrens toothpaste. There is something by Oral B that you can pick up for lil ones. That's what I used before toothpaste. Have fun and they'll enjoy biting the brush too!

You can also start to brush the gums before the teeth come through, it helps massage the babys gums and gets them used to it. Just make sure it is a soft toothbrush, or one of those finger things that looks like a rubber glove finger with brisles.

There are many ways. Before teeth you can do two things the finger tooth bruth or a wash cloth sweep of the mouth. Once teeth start to peek through. You can get gerber or johnson and johnsons, or oral gel infant tooth paste and apply a small amount to the finger tooth brush. As a person who has worked in a dentist office. I must say this never clean off anything with your mouth and put it in your babies mouth. You have germs in your mouth that can cause plaq and can get down to the baby teeth and cause them to come up rotten. so be very careful. Do not give an infant a regular baby tooth brush until they are old enough to eat solids. This is because once they have started on solids they know how far to put something in there mouth before it makes them gag. Also whether using a wash cloth or a tooth brush always do it twice a day. Once in the morning and before bed. Hope this helped

Shannon

HI,
When my son started getting teeth i started brushing, gums too. i was using baking soda to keep his mouth clean, but so it wouldn't burn him. at about 1 year we went to kids toothpaste and at 2 we went to big people toothpaste. what a pretty smile.

quote:

Originally posted by luke:
[qb] I'm a 21 year old single dad with a 10 month old son I'm raising on my own since he was 4 months old. I"m currently in college taking a 2 year Drilling & Blasting course which I hope to be completed by mid April, 2004. Whenever I'm not in school , I'm at home taking care of my son. He seems to be growing up so fast. I think he'll be walking on his own in a couple of weeks. With him growing up so fast, he's now starting to get teeth. His two bottom ones are just starting to come through. With him getting teeth, I am wondering when should I start brushing them? I'm also wondering at what age do they start to use toothpaste? Any info you can give me would be appreciated. [/qb]

Oral B has a great baby gel for infants. I also would recommend a finger brush. I used it every time my children ate. The brush is very soft and they like to **** on it. The gel tastes good and they always looked forward to using it.

Hey, my son is 15 mo and has a all of his teeth now. He started when he was 4 months. I started out using one of those finger tooth brushes that are really soft.(feels good on there teething gums too) I did it 2 times a day b/c milk leaves tarter on the teeth and more if they eat food. I now brush his teeth with a starter infant tooth brush he loves. I also use the starter toothpaste. It is the kind where it is safe to swollow. But Start getting into the habbit now b/c it is fun for them. My son loves to get his toothbrush and tear it up!!

Let me start off by saying I think its great that you took responsibility for your child..Not too many men like you in the world..You can get toothpaste made especially for little ones at a wal-mart or something..I work at wal-mart and its by oral-b and they also have the baby tooth brushes..

When my son was little, I used one of the finger tooth brushes, too. I started that before he ever had his first tooth. I also used the baby tooth gel by Orajel. It tasted good and kept his mouth clean. Babies put everything in their mouths, so it is important to keep them clean for sanitary reasons alone.

Good luck!

actually they have these great finger brushes that u slip on ur finger and rub on his gums even before he gets teeth it helps him get used to ir and they think it's way cool be sure to sterialize it regulary

Wellcome to the forum. I would suggest you look at the dates on the post, not that this is not a good topic.

Sorry had to post. The finger brushes arent so good when they get their teeth in. They will bite the heck out of you lol.

But last night my little one brushed her own teeth for the first time. Was so cute. She would put the toothbrush in her mouth and then she would shake her head lol