New teeth

[Xavismom]

DS's 4 front teeth are all the way in now, but I have some worries!

They are new to him, and he has discovered how to grind the top ones against the bottom ones, and is making a habit of it the past few days. I am scared he might damage his teeth! Is this normal/ok??

Do I need to be cleaning his teeth? He doesnt like me even looking in his mouth, so I'm not sure how I would do it anyways.

Is it normal for a large gap to be inbetween the top front two teeth when they first come in? Will this close up as he gets more teeth? I'm worried about it, even though that may seem silly.

TYIA

[maptome]

DD did the grinding thing for a couple of weeks. She stopped on her own, but it really bothered me. I would give her a pacifier just to get her to stop for a moment.

From what I understand, if you LO is EBF, you don't need to worry about brushing his teeth. My DD is 11 months, and just started eating some solids, so we've started brushing. We use this silicone finger cap thingy with nubbins. DD likes it. I guess it feels good on her gums. But I don't use toothpaste. She doesn't like for me to mess around in her mouth normally, so maybe your baby will like it also.

[kismetbaby]

My LO ground his teeth for about two weeks once the top were in. . .then he lost interest. I think its just something they experiment with. I haven't heard of babes this young damaging teeth this way. I suppose if it were to continue more than a few weeks you could ask a Dentist.

As for cleaning I haven't yet (oops), but I just ordered a baby toothbrush. . .they say you should clean their teeth after they eat. I know you can just use a washcloth and wipe them off, but no way will DS let me do that! So I thought maybe a toothbrush would work, b/c he is fascinated when I brush mine. We'll see.

As for the gap, DS has this too and I was told that not only is it normal, but it's preferable since it suggests good placement for grown-up teeth. The gap may close as other teeth come in and push on them.