How do/did you teach your LO to spit?

[texanatheart]

I cannot get ds1 to spit when I'm brushing his teeth...or when he brushes. He just swallows. Whenever I notice he needs to spit, I ask him to lean over the sink and spit out what's in his mouth. He proceeds to swallow, then lean over the sink and make loud 'puh' noise with his lips. I'm not super concerned, as we have flouride-free toothpaste.

I guess I'm just curious:
-When I should expect him to be able to spit...and prefer it over swallowing.
-How I can help him along to learn how to spit.

TIA!!

[lindberg99]

I'd just give him a big cup of water and let him practice outside. I bet he'll pick it up pretty quickly! I have no idea when my kids started spitting, maybe 3'ish. Although my nephew couldn't spit for a long time, he was like 6 or something.

[Mom2M]

I spit with her into the sink, lol and she got the hang of it pretty fast!
At first it just dribbled out but we kind of made it a game.
Deb

[texanatheart]

Thanks, mamas! Glad it's summertime...we can practice outside. Good to know 3 is 'normal.'

[alegna]

Dd didn't really do it reliably until around 3.5.

-Angela

[texanatheart]

Another question...so what toothpaste do you use or what do you use for toothpaste until they get the hang of it?

[Rico'sAlice]

DS (26mo) loves spitting. He's been doing it since 15mo or so. I always just did it with him and he copied. We also spit out water in the pool.
But I can't count on him to not swallow. That definitely seems 6mo-1yr away.

[frontierpsych]

My son is 11 months old and doesn't swallow anything (besides breastmilk). He'll chew on solids for a bit, then spit them out.

Maybe we can get together and he can teach your kid how to spit and your kid can teach him how to swallow.

[texanatheart]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

My son is 11 months old and doesn't swallow anything (besides breastmilk). He'll chew on solids for a bit, then spit them out.

Maybe we can get together and he can teach your kid how to spit and your kid can teach him how to swallow.

:

[alegna]

We used the Tom's fluoride free until she could spit.

-Angela