@Yiggle09 I understand the overwhelming feeling. We do teeth brushing as we are drying off from the bath or as we are putting on PJs for the night if its an off bath night. It just takes an extra minute or so, and that way I don't look at it as a whole different chore, but rather just the last step.
@jens_hoes I imagine we will vote at least 5 people to make decisions and to be admins of the group? Who knows. I can barely remember how it was done on my last BMB! I'm guessing the "process" will start early may if not sooner
I like the idea of 5ish people. My last bmb started out with one who ended up getting very controlling. We had a lot of drama and split into two groups with some overlap. It worked out in the end, but I think a lot of drama could have been prevented if there were more people involved with decisions.
@kmd1106 I have to agree, one person can get very controlling. Like the idea of a few people. It's hard for me to bump sometimes because my internet at work is VERY monitored and I don't mobil bump because they made it so complicated. I mostly use FB and try to come here when I can sneak it in.
I guess my confession is I haven't started brushing ds teeth yet... he's 18 mo has 16 teeth and I'm so super guilty. The pediatrician has given him two fluoride treatments. We have a brush and paste. It's mostly I do everything bath, clean up room, make sure there's diapers stocked in the caddy and wipes, laundry, dinner most nights, pick up drop off daycare and night time routine that I feel like one more thing will break me. But I laugh because new baby is a new thing. Can't ask dh because he's horrible with dental care and if he's not going to take care of himself he's going to "forget" or barely do ds dental care
I know it's a hard habit and it's one that I honestly dislike but that I have always been very vigilant about. It seems like both DS and DD have gone through phases of not letting me brush and even then I try to do a quick brushing. Only in rare occasions do they go without brushing and yet DS got his first set of x-rays last time we were in and he ended up with 6 cavities. Both DH and I were floored. I have a friend who has a daughter that is 1 month older than DS and she has 5 cavities. Now I'm scared for what DD's mouth might be looking like because she tends to have bad breath first thing in the morning and after naps. All this to say as hard of a habit as it might be, it is so worth it. Hopefully your DS is lucky and has great teeth but I wouldn't take that risk. Maybe having your DH do it can help him with his own care?
Me: 38 DH: 36 Married 8/27/2011 BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012 BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014 BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017 BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
@emilyalso I have a November baby and looking at this I actually found myself kind of hoping I'd go a few days late (due 5/27) so I could do pearls instead. Then I realized I don't even wear jewelry and I absolutely don't want to go late so nevermind.
I guess my confession is I haven't started brushing ds teeth yet... he's 18 mo has 16 teeth and I'm so super guilty. The pediatrician has given him two fluoride treatments. We have a brush and paste. It's mostly I do everything bath, clean up room, make sure there's diapers stocked in the caddy and wipes, laundry, dinner most nights, pick up drop off daycare and night time routine that I feel like one more thing will break me. But I laugh because new baby is a new thing. Can't ask dh because he's horrible with dental care and if he's not going to take care of himself he's going to "forget" or barely do ds dental care
I know it's a hard habit and it's one that I honestly dislike but that I have always been very vigilant about. It seems like both DS and DD have gone through phases of not letting me brush and even then I try to do a quick brushing. Only in rare occasions do they go without brushing and yet DS got his first set of x-rays last time we were in and he ended up with 6 cavities. Both DH and I were floored. I have a friend who has a daughter that is 1 month older than DS and she has 5 cavities. Now I'm scared for what DD's mouth might be looking like because she tends to have bad breath first thing in the morning and after naps. All this to say as hard of a habit as it might be, it is so worth it. Hopefully your DS is lucky and has great teeth but I wouldn't take that risk. Maybe having your DH do it can help him with his own care?
This, DS is 3 and we've been really bad about brushing his teeth daily, a few weeks ago I pulled up his top lip all the way and found the tops of his front teeth are starting to rot... well I felt like the worst mother in the world, but we brush twice a day religiously now (the first week was a fight) he mostly has to do it himself but I got him an electric toothbrush so majority gets done. He likes to "race" me, so it was easier to get him to brush his teeth when I did.
Me - 22 | DH - 32 | Married - 24 May 2014 DS - January 2014
TTC#2 - December 2015
BFP - 6 March 2016 | MC Confirmed - 21 March 2016 TTCAL | April 2016 CP | June 2016 CP | July 2016
Electric toothbrushes definitely help a bit! I also tell DD she has to be like Hulk and say "grrrrr" so she put her teeth together so they get brushed if that makes sense. I try to let it be an independent thing for her, I say, ok! Time to brush your teeth. I have to help her with toothpaste but she is good about brushing and she loves flossing with the kid one and done floss. She is obsessed with blue so she uses all the blue ones. Every few days I go back over her teeth. I think maybe trying to give her the "responsibility" of it took out a lot of the fight. We are still working on spitting though. She doesn't get the concept at all.
For all the tooth brushing mamas, one tip I have heard from several good sources is to skip the kids training toothpaste. They need the fluoride and it doesn't have it - fluoride is what makes real toothpaste "unsafe." However in a smear or rice-sized portion it's safe to swallow that much. Early childhood carries (the little white spots on teeth near the gums) can lead to cavities can really become an issue. Definitely no judgement here as the ADULTS in my house (read: MH and me both) struggle with appropriate dental hygiene and we only have the LO that's cooking in my belly. So just adding that as some encouragement to keep fighting the good fight and every little bit counts!!
@emilyalso and @RainyDays86 - I also have a November baby! I had not thought of the John Deere thing, I just thought the May color looked prettier. Dammit. Well, DH's family is from Iowa, so I may as well embrace the Midwest.
Fur daughter: 02/2011 Human sons: 11/2015 & 05/2017 *formerly kayemjay*
@RainyDays86 I'm due 5/29 and would definitely prefer pearl over emerald. But, pretty sure I won't be saying that in about 9-10 weeks! My selfish reason is that I'm August and I hate my birthstone and I think emerald and peridot would look awful together! Not sure I'd ever wear my birthstone and hers together anyway, honestly.
For all the tooth brushing mamas, one tip I have heard from several good sources is to skip the kids training toothpaste. They need the fluoride and it doesn't have it - fluoride is what makes real toothpaste "unsafe." However in a smear or rice-sized portion it's safe to swallow that much. Early childhood carries (the little white spots on teeth near the gums) can lead to cavities can really become an issue. Definitely no judgement here as the ADULTS in my house (read: MH and me both) struggle with appropriate dental hygiene and we only have the LO that's cooking in my belly. So just adding that as some encouragement to keep fighting the good fight and every little bit counts!!
We do the training toothpaste because there's already fluoride in the city water. The pediatrician dentist said if there wasn't fluoride, then he would recommend skipping the training toothpaste. Just wanted to share that!
Please, please, please do not blame yourselves if your kids get cavities at a young age! Yes, proper home care plays a factor into it, but a large part is genetics. I spend about 50% of my work day cleaning kids teeth (ages 10 and under) and educating parents about ways to prevent decay.
One of the reasons we tell people not to kiss babies on the mouth is because dental caries are caused by bacteria. Most of us are born with low caries rates, but whatever decay causing bacteria we are exposed to in the first 6 months of life stays with us forever. If parents or grandparents have had lots of dental work, you absolutely do not want them transferring anything from their mouth to your baby's mouth.
Acid production in the mouth also speeds up cavity growth. Whenever we eat or drink anything other than water, we produce acid in out mouth for 2 hours. Stopping that helps slow cavity development. If your kids are bad with brushing or you don't have access to a toothbrush after meals, giving them a piece of hard cheese, swishing with fluoridated water, or chewing a piece of sugar free gum will halt the process.
When kids are small, even using a washcloth and running it over the surface of their teeth to remove debris is good if they aren't up for a toothbrush that night. Or using the toothbrush without the toothpaste.
Fluoride is great if your kids don't swallow half of the toothpaste you put on their brush. Fluorosis (discolouration on adult teeth due to over-ingestion of Fluoride as a child) isn't the end of the world, but some kids will get upset tummies from eating too much of it. Once kids are about 3, they're pretty good at spitting so that's a great time for regular toothpaste. If you live in a city that has fluoridated drinking water, a safer way to get the benefits of Fluoride without the adult toothpaste is to cook and drink with tap water. About a third of our patients are on well water and we notice a huge difference in caries rates between the city kids and the farm kids.
Lastly, kids need help with brushing and flossing until they are about 8 or 9. They physically don't have the dexterity to do it properly on their own before then.
And some kids, no matter what you do, will still end up with decay - which is why we tell parents to never blame the kids or themselves. It breaks my heart to hear parents blame their kids for getting cavities when it almost never has to do with anything anyone has done wrong.
Aaaaaand... I just realized how long this got. I'm super passionate about this stuff so I'm sorry for the long post or if it got too preachy. There's just so much misinformation out there about pediatric dental care and I really do love educating people about it.
@CherryBananas So much good information! Now what can you tell me about hints/tricks/magic to get my three year old to stop sucking her fingers?! I see braces in our future already
Married 03.09.09 Sweet Baby H 12.21.11 Sassy Baby P 03.26.14 Little Brother Due 05.22.17
@hp_momma lol. At 3 it can be a really hard habit to break! Fortunately, a finger-sucking habit is much less damaging than a thumb-sucking habit.
As kid's permanent molars come in (around 6 years old) there are appliances that can be put in to keep the fingers out, but they aren't commonly used.
Again, at 3 they aren't really aware they're doing it, so we usually recommend giving them something to keep their hands busy so they stay out of the mouth. This works well if you can identify certain times of the day where the kiddo resorts to the habit. For example, if they only suck while watching TV, give them a stress ball, silly putty, or a stuffed animal to squish while they watch. Bribery works great for some kids too
What you don't want to do is replace the fingers with something else that goes into the mouth. Anything that prevents the tongue from filling the roof of their mouth will potentially cause poor arch formation that will later require expansion appliances to fix. Although if you or DH don't have ideal arches in your mouth or needed braces as kids, no matter what you do your children will likely need early intervention orthodontics. That's usually done around 9-10 years of age. Fortunately, we now know WAY more about treatment options than what was available when we were kids. Early intervention is so much easier on kids now, and gets way better results than just waiting till everything comes in crooked, pulling teeth, and straightening them out.
@CherryBananas Thank you! Her dentist and pediatrician agreed it's hard to break the habit especially when it's her comfort tool. I have noticed that she does it far less lately, mostly when she is getting tired or falling asleep. That's a really good idea about giving her something to keep her hands busy!! I have so many "fidget" tools from when I was a teacher I'll have to drag them out.
I pretty much knew we would be destined with a child with braces at some point. Both DH and I had braces as kids, and we both had a palate expander. I noticed that DD2s mouth is pretty narrow and crowded. DD1s mouth is so evenly spaced between her teeth, I'm just crossing my fingers all her permanent teeth start coming in that way as well!
Another random question, are the Miracle 360 cups really better than traditional sippy cups as far as dental/orthodontic view points? I use and love them purely because they are easy to clean and don't have a million parts. I also wean my kids from a bottle to sippy around 10months anyways so I'm not worried about damage done by over bottle use. At least that's one thing I CAN control!
Married 03.09.09 Sweet Baby H 12.21.11 Sassy Baby P 03.26.14 Little Brother Due 05.22.17
You're welcome ladies! As I said, I'm the only assistant in the office that loves working on kids so I've done almost all of them in our practice for the last 11 or so years. I even go out to daycares and schools to do education. So if you have any questions, ask away!
@hp_momma they are definitely preferable to sippy cups, especially if the child is walking around nursing what's in the sippy all day. When we drink from a rounded edge cup, our tongue rises up as we swallow to fill the roof of our mouth. That's really hard to do with the sippy cup still in place. My boss and a lot of my coworkers used cups with straws when their kids stopped using a bottle. I don't think I ever saw them with sippy cups, but then again the Miracle 360-type cups weren't around when most of those kids were small.
My FFTC -- I made a healthy lunch for myself and then left it at home. So at work I went to the cafeteria and bought a pint of ice cream and ate the whole thing.
I didn't make a lunch to bring so I went to Subway on campus and got a foot long sub, half for today and half tomorrow, and 2 cookies with the intention of eating one cookie today and one tomorrow...oops! They're both gone!
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
For all the tooth brushing mamas, one tip I have heard from several good sources is to skip the kids training toothpaste. They need the fluoride and it doesn't have it - fluoride is what makes real toothpaste "unsafe." However in a smear or rice-sized portion it's safe to swallow that much. Early childhood carries (the little white spots on teeth near the gums) can lead to cavities can really become an issue. Definitely no judgement here as the ADULTS in my house (read: MH and me both) struggle with appropriate dental hygiene and we only have the LO that's cooking in my belly. So just adding that as some encouragement to keep fighting the good fight and every little bit counts!!
About the toothpaste, if you're using one with fluoride, only use it once a day as they WILL swallow it, it's a balancing act because too much fluoride will weaken the enamel and not enough will encourage cavities, so once a day with and once a day without is the recommendation.
Me - 22 | DH - 32 | Married - 24 May 2014 DS - January 2014
TTC#2 - December 2015
BFP - 6 March 2016 | MC Confirmed - 21 March 2016 TTCAL | April 2016 CP | June 2016 CP | July 2016
I didn't make a lunch to bring so I went to Subway on campus and got a foot long sub, half for today and half tomorrow, and 2 cookies with the intention of eating one cookie today and one tomorrow...oops! They're both gone!
Do you still have the half sub or did you eat the whole foot long as well? No judgment here, as I was the person who posted that a pint of ice cream was my lunch yesterday! FWIW, as an update -- I was able to bring the healthy meal in today and I ate it. So today was not ruined, at least.
I didn't make a lunch to bring so I went to Subway on campus and got a foot long sub, half for today and half tomorrow, and 2 cookies with the intention of eating one cookie today and one tomorrow...oops! They're both gone!
Do you still have the half sub or did you eat the whole foot long as well? No judgment here, as I was the person who posted that a pint of ice cream was my lunch yesterday! FWIW, as an update -- I was able to bring the healthy meal in today and I ate it. So today was not ruined, at least.
I'm currently attempting to eat it now! Stupid heartburn is getting in the way though!
Glad you remembwred your your healthy lunch today! You can still have ice cream later though if you want, no judgement here either!
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
soooo...how do you know if you are a lurker?! Or if I have to ask I probably am one? I post but not a whole lot mainly because when I go to post something I realize it has already been said like 10 times before, so I feel like I would just be expanding the post unnecessarily.
Guess I shall just wait and see if I get a letter...
@rosemarylaff IMHO, people who rarely participate that we know nothing about them or those who only comment on very specific threads like their ticker change, AW related stuff like nursery/hdbd. From the look of your history I can see you were a late joiner, but you jumped right in and participate in various threads
@rosemarylaff I don't consider you a lurker at all. I feel like you're active in various threads every week. Maybe someone else could explain "lurker" status better than I could, but I guess I consider a lurker to be someone who rarely ever participates...you might see one post from them a month, aimed at getting help or support, but they don't really provide anything (even words of support) back to the group.
Re: FFFC 3-17
1st Baby 5/12/17, Henry
@kmd1106 I have to agree, one person can get very controlling. Like the idea of a few people. It's hard for me to bump sometimes because my internet at work is VERY monitored and I don't mobil bump because they made it so complicated. I mostly use FB and try to come here when I can sneak it in.
Married 8/27/2011
BFP #1 9/28/2011 DS born 5/22/2012
BFP #2 4/24/2013 m/c 4/25/2013 at 4w
BFP #3 1/31/2014 DD born 10/14/2014
BFP #4 1/20/2016 m/c 2/12/2014 at 7w2d
BFP #5 8/19/2016 DS2 born 4/29/2017
BFP #6 3/7/2018 EDD 11/18/2018
ETA: Posted from my phone and didn't realize the pic would take up the ENTIRE page. Glory...
DS - January 2014
TTCAL | April 2016
CP | June 2016
CP | July 2016
We are still working on spitting though. She doesn't get the concept at all.
Definitely no judgement here as the ADULTS in my house (read: MH and me both) struggle with appropriate dental hygiene and we only have the LO that's cooking in my belly. So just adding that as some encouragement to keep fighting the good fight and every little bit counts!!
Human sons: 11/2015 & 05/2017
*formerly kayemjay*
My selfish reason is that I'm August and I hate my birthstone and I think emerald and peridot would look awful together! Not sure I'd ever wear my birthstone and hers together anyway, honestly.
One of the reasons we tell people not to kiss babies on the mouth is because dental caries are caused by bacteria. Most of us are born with low caries rates, but whatever decay causing bacteria we are exposed to in the first 6 months of life stays with us forever. If parents or grandparents have had lots of dental work, you absolutely do not want them transferring anything from their mouth to your baby's mouth.
Acid production in the mouth also speeds up cavity growth. Whenever we eat or drink anything other than water, we produce acid in out mouth for 2 hours. Stopping that helps slow cavity development. If your kids are bad with brushing or you don't have access to a toothbrush after meals, giving them a piece of hard cheese, swishing with fluoridated water, or chewing a piece of sugar free gum will halt the process.
When kids are small, even using a washcloth and running it over the surface of their teeth to remove debris is good if they aren't up for a toothbrush that night. Or using the toothbrush without the toothpaste.
Fluoride is great if your kids don't swallow half of the toothpaste you put on their brush. Fluorosis (discolouration on adult teeth due to over-ingestion of Fluoride as a child) isn't the end of the world, but some kids will get upset tummies from eating too much of it. Once kids are about 3, they're pretty good at spitting so that's a great time for regular toothpaste. If you live in a city that has fluoridated drinking water, a safer way to get the benefits of Fluoride without the adult toothpaste is to cook and drink with tap water. About a third of our patients are on well water and we notice a huge difference in caries rates between the city kids and the farm kids.
Lastly, kids need help with brushing and flossing until they are about 8 or 9. They physically don't have the dexterity to do it properly on their own before then.
And some kids, no matter what you do, will still end up with decay - which is why we tell parents to never blame the kids or themselves. It breaks my heart to hear parents blame their kids for getting cavities when it almost never has to do with anything anyone has done wrong.
Aaaaaand... I just realized how long this got. I'm super passionate about this stuff so I'm sorry for the long post or if it got too preachy. There's just so much misinformation out there about pediatric dental care and I really do love educating people about it.
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
As kid's permanent molars come in (around 6 years old) there are appliances that can be put in to keep the fingers out, but they aren't commonly used.
Again, at 3 they aren't really aware they're doing it, so we usually recommend giving them something to keep their hands busy so they stay out of the mouth. This works well if you can identify certain times of the day where the kiddo resorts to the habit. For example, if they only suck while watching TV, give them a stress ball, silly putty, or a stuffed animal to squish while they watch. Bribery works great for some kids too
What you don't want to do is replace the fingers with something else that goes into the mouth. Anything that prevents the tongue from filling the roof of their mouth will potentially cause poor arch formation that will later require expansion appliances to fix. Although if you or DH don't have ideal arches in your mouth or needed braces as kids, no matter what you do your children will likely need early intervention orthodontics. That's usually done around 9-10 years of age. Fortunately, we now know WAY more about treatment options than what was available when we were kids. Early intervention is so much easier on kids now, and gets way better results than just waiting till everything comes in crooked, pulling teeth, and straightening them out.
I pretty much knew we would be destined with a child with braces at some point. Both DH and I had braces as kids, and we both had a palate expander. I noticed that DD2s mouth is pretty narrow and crowded. DD1s mouth is so evenly spaced between her teeth, I'm just crossing my fingers all her permanent teeth start coming in that way as well!
Another random question, are the Miracle 360 cups really better than traditional sippy cups as far as dental/orthodontic view points? I use and love them purely because they are easy to clean and don't have a million parts. I also wean my kids from a bottle to sippy around 10months anyways so I'm not worried about damage done by over bottle use. At least that's one thing I CAN control!
Sweet Baby H 12.21.11
Sassy Baby P 03.26.14
Little Brother Due 05.22.17
@hp_momma they are definitely preferable to sippy cups, especially if the child is walking around nursing what's in the sippy all day. When we drink from a rounded edge cup, our tongue rises up as we swallow to fill the roof of our mouth. That's really hard to do with the sippy cup still in place. My boss and a lot of my coworkers used cups with straws when their kids stopped using a bottle. I don't think I ever saw them with sippy cups, but then again the Miracle 360-type cups weren't around when most of those kids were small.
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
DS - January 2014
TTCAL | April 2016
CP | June 2016
CP | July 2016
Glad you remembwred your your healthy lunch today! You can still have ice cream later though if you want, no judgement here either!
"A day without laughter is a day wasted." ~Charlie Chaplin
Guess I shall just wait and see if I get a letter...
Married: October 2014
Began TTC: April 2015
BFP #1: 9/18/15. EDD 5/18/16. MC 10/26/15. (9w)
BFP #2: 2/27/16. EDD 11/7/16. MC/D&E 4/20/16 (11w)
BFP #3: 9/22/16. EDD 5/29/17. DS born 4/24/17
BFP #4: 5/20/18. EDD 1/23/19.