How Do I Clean My Babies Teeth?
Teething, a word that most parents will shudder at can start as early as a few months old or can even surpass a year old. One thing most parents will be asking themselves is how can they look after their babies teeth when they start to come through. After all, baby teeth have a range of differences when compared to adult teeth.
Before brushing you need to take a few things into account:
– Babies won’t spit out after brushing
– Certain toothpastes will harm baby teeth
How To Care For Baby Teeth – From Birth to Toddler
The first steps into the tooth brushing world should start with an infant sized tooth brush, a tiny bit of toothpaste (look for 0 – 3 months), and a tiny bit of water. By using a minimum amount of water/toothpaste you will both help clean the teeth but also reduce the amount that could be swallowed by your little one.
The older your baby gets the more you can do. For example, when they are around the 2 year old mark you can teach them how to spit out the excess solution after brushing. When they are comfortable with this you can move them up to a pea-size amount of toothpaste and allow them to add more water to swish and spit after brushing.
What Happens If I Swallow Toothpaste?
We thought we should address this, as many kids find toothpaste to be like candy – something minty and chewy that they can eat or swallow. So its important as a parent to educate as early as possible to the effects of swallowing toothpaste.
Incredibly there isn’t a lot of research surrounding this out there but what we can look at is the ingredients that make up toothpaste, the biggest being fluoride which isn’t intended for human consumption. Consuming fluoride regularly could lead to sickness, stomach pains and other more serious issues. As well as fluoride there are other inactive substances found in toothpaste such as artificial colours one being yellow which is under review due to links to hyperactivity, anxiety, migraines and cancer. Many colours have been banned but 7 still remain. All in all the ingestion of toothpaste should be avoided. We’ve all done it, whether by accident or on purpose as a kid but as a parent you should highlight to your children that it can be dangerous.
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