Preparing for baby and teething #smilehood #ad

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Of all the things I was prepared for with baby number 1 (sleepless nights, constant feeding, the diapers, the crying), I was never prepared for teething. My son teethed early and often. Most times he would have two teeth come in around the same time, but at one point he had three and four teeth coming in. By 19 months, he had all of his baby teeth and we were scheduling dentist visits with a clinic similar to Dentist Massapequa. The teething periods were tough because he already had fairly broken sleep, and teeth were not kind when they were coming in. There are various common teething signs and symptoms which you’re able to see so you can be prepared for this time in your child’s life.

teethbrushing1
So wee. He was only 2 years old when I snapped this photo.

When I look back on introducing my son to the dentist, I wish we’d started even earlier. He has only recently started to warm up to the dentist, the chair and the x-rays. I feel that if we’d started him off earlier, we wouldn’t be fighting the dentist battle at 4.5-years-old.

Thankfully, he doesn’t fight brushing his teeth. We brush at least twice a day and floss. (Sometimes he’ll ask to floss, so I believe we’ve established a good habit.) I always brush first for him, and then he’ll do it himself. These are habits we established more than two years ago, and while he can tend to forget brushing in the morning, I try to make sure we’re consistent.

orajel-teething-tips2 Not tortured. I had asked him to make sure he got the back teeth.

Oral health is tricky and important. It’s tricky because you don’t really know when to start brushing, you don’t want to hurt your baby, but you also don’t want your child to develop longer-term illnesses or problems related to teeth by neglecting anything.

With a new baby expected to arrive in the next three weeks, I’m definitely better prepared – at least mentally. I will also have products on hand that will get us through the early stages of the teething process.

orajel-teething-tips

A few things that helped me the first time around:

  1. I loved having Baby Orajel Naturals on hand (when I finally discovered it!) This pain reliever is a homeopathic formula, benzocaine-free, belladonna-free and paraben-free.
  2. Purchase a toothbrush that is age appropriate – and get your baby used to you using it. Even if it’s just on his/her gums. You don’t even need a toothpaste to massage their gums. Orajel™ carries a baby finger brush – it slides over your finger to massage the gum.
  3. Teething tablets! These are similar to the gel, but the tablets dissolve in your child’s mouth. They’re tiny and effective.
  4. Teething toys. We kept a bowl of toys in the refrigerator to help soothe our boy’s gums. (Which reminds me I need to find a few more teething rings. Teething will be here before we know it.)

I’m excited to be part of the Orajel™ Smilehood community – a group of moms promoting healthy smiles and oral hygiene. I’ll be sharing my stories and tips over the next several months – and hopefully learning some new tricks and techniques as we navigate parenting a newborn again.

If you’re a parent, when did your child start seeing a dentist regularly? If you aren’t a parent, do you remember visiting the dentist when you were really young? (Say 5 or under.)

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9 Comments

  1. What a cute little model you hvae there! I used kids toothpaste till I was like 20! Eek!

  2. I love that Orjal makes such great products for little ones! I remember when our kids started teething, they loved using the plastic brushes on their gums.

  3. That is so nice to know that Oragel has a natural variety because I try to stay away from chemicals. Your little boy is such a cutie, you are very blessed.

  4. I’ve heard a lot of good things about this brand, I wish I knew this when my little man is ready for teething, but I think this is still good to my two year old son it’s awesome.

  5. I agree with you, I never thought that teething would be such a difficult thing to deal with as a new mother. Both of my boys suffered so much during this time and it was frustrating not to be able to take their pain and discomfort completely away.

  6. We were kicked out of a dentist’s office when my daughter was 2 because when she was 1, she had some decay and after they told us they had only one anesthesiologist who would work with us because of her weight (the other two refused) I felt it was too risky. So, the next year I called in to get an appointment and received a notice that they wouldn’t see us because we didn’t follow their care advise the prior year. Now that that story is all over that the baby died in California, I’m so glad I trusted my gut (big warning when 2/3 say no to anesthetic) and guess what, she’s fine – she’s 8 and we did remineralization (something the dentist said didn’t actually work)… and no issues.

    1. I read the story about the baby who died during the dental procedure, which is awful. Our dentist has been really great with our son and when he did require major dental work (he’s 4), we did it at a surgery center. Anesthesia in a regular dentist office for kids is not something I would take lightly.

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