Squeezing dental care into the daily routine has been something I have been avoiding for the last 9 months. All the books say to start wiping the gums off with a damp cloth as soon babies start eating solids. Ha! If you've been at our house for mealtime, you would laugh too. The pediatrician will ask you about dental care at the 12 month well baby visit. When you have twins, life is just nuts most of the time and I have viewed these timelines as recommendations, not as mandate.
As I mentioned recently, my Grandma Westerlund was a dental hygenist. Now that we have molars coming in and S&Z are 15 months old, I am trying to brush their teeth more regularly. I bought them kid-sized toothbrushes and fluoride-free toothpaste at Target a few weeks ago. I keep them in a cup on the bathroom sink. I'm trying to teach them the routine: we get them from the cup and put them back when they are done.
One night before bed I showed them what to do, one at a time sitting on my lap. Since then, of course they want to do it all by themselves. Derek took this picture of us today.
While one sits on my lap, the other one toodles around with the brush in their mouth.
The biggest challenge I have is getting them to relinquish the toothbrushes once we're done. The first two nights they threw such a fit when I took them away that they woke Derek up!
My new trick is to coincide teeth brushing with bathtime. They LOVE taking baths, so we "put the toothbrushes away" (i.e., I pluck them out of their little fists) right before they get plopped in the bathtub.
Maryjane would be proud :)
123
As I mentioned recently, my Grandma Westerlund was a dental hygenist. Now that we have molars coming in and S&Z are 15 months old, I am trying to brush their teeth more regularly. I bought them kid-sized toothbrushes and fluoride-free toothpaste at Target a few weeks ago. I keep them in a cup on the bathroom sink. I'm trying to teach them the routine: we get them from the cup and put them back when they are done.
One night before bed I showed them what to do, one at a time sitting on my lap. Since then, of course they want to do it all by themselves. Derek took this picture of us today.
While one sits on my lap, the other one toodles around with the brush in their mouth.
The biggest challenge I have is getting them to relinquish the toothbrushes once we're done. The first two nights they threw such a fit when I took them away that they woke Derek up!
My new trick is to coincide teeth brushing with bathtime. They LOVE taking baths, so we "put the toothbrushes away" (i.e., I pluck them out of their little fists) right before they get plopped in the bathtub.
Maryjane would be proud :)
123
Comments
Post a Comment