Weaning

[MrsK]

It's not a huge deal - just get her in when you can! DD went at about 10 months because they had an opening. Literally, they will just look in her mouth and talk to you about basic dental hygiene stuff.

Yeah, don't panic. Ask your ped who he recommends. With my boys, at the first appointment they brushed their teeth with a regular toothbrush, photographed their teeth/mouths with a tiny camera, put a sealant on their teeth, talked to me about dental hygene and how their teeth were growing [whether they have all the teeth they should, are the teeth cavity-free (believe it or not, this is not a given. people do put grape soda in baby bottles), do they have enough space between teeth], and then delighted the boys with toys, balloons, and gift cards to Red Robin. K1's 2.5yo exam was more complete and included x-rays. Amazingly, the adult teeth show up on the 2.5yo x-ray. They are all there from birth so it's important to have early dental exams. The boys both got through exams with very little fuss and looked forward to being the toys and whatnot that they got after the exam.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Wow! The highlight of our trip was a plastic frog and a Tigger toothbrush!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I've heard that. How would you define "sleep through the night"? I seem to find many places where 8 PM - 4 AM would be considering sleeping through the night. And others where it's not. I'm not going to let her cry it out but I will encourage her to do whatever is developmentally appropriate.

But, to quote myself...this is my main question.

[Pollyanna]

I consider 10pm to 4am sleeping through the night. Baby is sleeping about midnight to 5 or 6 and I consider that sleeping through the night.

And I know we differ with the K family but our dentist thinks it is unnecessary for chdren go have an official appointment until they are three. He does suggest bringing your kiddos to your own appointments and letting them watch and allowing the hygienist to count their teeth. Our guy is more about slowly building a relationship. And we never once wiped teeth before bed (not because we shouldn't because we're probably just too lazy, lol).

[Deebs]

We've always been told to make our first appointment between ages 3-4, so I think the recs are provider dependent. I'm glad one one else spoke up because I was sitting here wondering if I have. Knack for picking crappy dentists.

[GreyhoundsRUs]

There are signs plastered all over peds here about going to the dentist at 1. I wonder if it's a conspiracy with the dentists

[Deebs]

In IL, you have to take your kid to the dentist to get your report card, yet can opt out of vaccinations. The ADA is very powerful there and has worked extensively with the state legislature. The AMA, not so much. We've also almost always paid out of pocket for dental, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

[Pollyanna]

In IL, you have to take your kid to the dentist to get your report card, yet can opt out of vaccinations. The ADA is very powerful there and has worked extensively with the state legislature. The AMA, not so much. We've also almost always paid out of pocket for dental, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.

Holy crap that would piss me off. Sure, we take our kids to the dentist but I don't need the ADA getting involved in my child's school. At least the non-vaxers have pearly white teeth to go along with their pertussis

[MrsK]

Regarding dentists, I believe that the AAP or ADA recently recommended 1 yr and the pediatric dentists are pushing the peditricians to get the word out.

Regarding sleep, I recently asked the director of our SIDS program when a baby should be expected to sleep 6-8 hrs at night. She said that there is no expectation on that. Some kids don't do it until they are 14 mo or older. She said that (1) all babies are "good babies", a baby that sleeps longer is not necessarly "good"; and (2) babies are expected to wake every 1.5-2 hrs until they are well past 1yr. She also said that babies should sleep alone, on their backs, in cribs, in the parents' room. Nevermind if the parent doesn't sleep for years. Personally, I'd take that advise with a grain of salt.

Regarding night time feedings, our peditrician said that after 1 yr, there is no reason that a baby should wake to feed during the night.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I have an excellent baby who hates sleep. she's always been a sleep terrorist.

Ok, so 8 PM to 4 or 5 is fine and I'll provide nursing and/or the cows milk.

Do the rest of you brush your children's teeth at a year old? Do I have the dirty kid?

[GreyhoundsRUs]

She wipes her own mouth out with a washcloth at bath time. But...then she gets her bottle (although she's down to about 2 oz of milk), and we're probably going to switch her to AM baths...maybe...we'll see

I have brushed her teeth several times the past 2 days because of the puke. She likes it so much, I'm going to start brushing every night.

[spotty_dog]

I would say I started swiping the teeth and gums with a cloth or a finger toothbrush, daily-ish, when the first teeth started coming in. That transition time when babies are starting solids and their saliva and normal flora are adjusting to the new crumbs and things hanging out, can be a time of teeming bacteria just lurking to strike unsuspecting emerging toofers. I'm not diligent about it, and as they become toddlers mine love to play with the toothbrush and I mostly just let them chew on it and hope to get a few parent-directed swipes in there as well.

I would nurse all night to age two or beyond without thinking about it, but as soon as a bottle and/or cow milk is involved, I'd try to be diligent about cleaning off the teeth before sleep, even if it's just a swipe with a washcloth and even if it's 2am. Baby bottle mouth is really a thing.

[Thirteen]

DS had his first dentist appt at 18 months. He has all teeth, except the 2 yr molars (which he is working on). We brush his teeth, and have since he had I think 4 total? I sing the "Brush Your Teeth" song (LOVE RAFFI!), and he enjoys it. We use a special 4-24 mos. toothpaste.

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

Last night was breastmilk at bedtime and at 4 AM. I think you're right, when it's breastmilk I'm not worrying about it but if it's cow's milk maybe I should be wiping them off.

[civilspouse]

Wow! The highlight of our trip was a plastic frog and a Tigger toothbrush!

We must go to the same dentist, because that was exactly what we walked away with .

I've read that 5-6 hours in a row is considered sleeping through the night. I don't think anyone should be taking sleep advice from me though because DS still wakes up and wants attention 2-3 times a night.

I'm no help for weaning either. We switched to cow's milk around one. I think I just quit giving him a bottle at night, but followed our same routine otherwise and he was ok with that. He never really liked bottles much though and I think as long as I was there comforting him if he needed it he was ok not breastfeeding. Dropping feedings was very gradual and I don't remember all the details exactly. He relied heavily on the pacifier for sleeping too. When we got rid of that there was some screaming for a couple nights.

DS was late getting teeth. We started brushing teeth before bed probably sometime around 18 months and didn't make it into the dentist until after his 2nd birthday. As part of our bedtime routine he takes a turn brushing his teeth (chewing on the toothbrush) and then we have a turn (a few quick swipes before he tries to run away).