Baby first teeth appeared when it was around 7 months old. It was quite a torturing yet exciting milestone. His first set were twinnies and I found out cos he really likes taking a sip out of my porcelain mug. And that fateful day, I heard a distinct clank. Me being me, stuck my finger into his mouth and baby gave me a good nip to confirm my suspicion. Ouch!
After going through this painful process, we did notice some behavioural change in baby before they sprouted and thought some parents might want to know more:
- Baby didn't sleep very well (and so did us). He could wake up to 4 times in the night.
- Baby was always scratching his ears or knocking the sides of his head. And cos I saw a documentary of an autistic boy becoming blind because he kept banging the sides of his head, we were so worried, we actually saw a doctor because of this. The doctor even checked his ears and found some ear-wax HAHA
- Some babies have feeding problems, ours actually ate more during this period, maybe to sooth his gums. He expanded quite a bit during this period.
- Iced teethers/ cloths are recommended soothers, but to be honest ours were not particularly keen on them.
Basically, the process repeats itself when his new teeth sprouts. On the bright side, life gets a bit more interesting because he can eats food that are not completely pureed. He even managed to chomp down a few strawberries with his 4 teeth. Haha.
Now that his teeth are out, oral hygiene also becomes more important. Our baby isn't sleep-trained so he still drinks at night. Since I have weaning off, I avoid giving him breastmilk at night cos I think it is sweeter and may cause more cavities (not sure whether it is true, is just my own thoughts). I am trying to shift him to water, but sometimes this dude is smart and realize it. Bleh!
Here's a no big deal fact about myself, I actually have no cavities. I am quite proud of this actually and I always receive praises for my dentist. I did see a colleague's child who had 2 rotten front teeth that just scared the shit out of me. And so I really wanted to instil good oral habits to my child.
I have been doing this so far and since I experience success I thought I will share it too. Every morning, baby will join me and observe me brush my teeth. (Carrying him and brushing my teeth is training my arms to be real thick, bleh!) He is very curious and so we also introduced the Marcus & Marcus Baby Teething Toothbrush ($13.90) to baby every evening.
Baby has been responding very well to the toothbrush. My guess is that the silicone bristles also act as a gum soother. He has no problems gripping it so far. The whole point for now is really to get him used to the feeling and habit of teeth brushing so that he won't resist it when he is older. There is baby toothpaste available in the market, but after some thoughts I decided water will do for now as my preference is still chemical-free.
The Baby Teething Toothbrush is steam-friendly so it is quite easy to wash. After a quick cleanse I will throw it to the steamer. As it rather small, it can fit in our snack box ($13.90) quite easily (which we sometimes use as a storage to transport his spoon ($8.90) as well). Hope this post helps you fellow parents out there!
Note: Laptop is down, so posts won't be as frequent!