Brushing 9 Month Old's Teeth

My friend is a dental hygenist and she recommends not using any type of tooth paste at this age, even if it is for infants. Her recommendation is to take a warm cloth and rub the teeth.

I have a 15 month old and asked her this question when my little guy was about 7 months old and has his first teeth.

Hope this help,
JH

At that age we used an oral B baby tooth brush (stage 1) and fluoride free toothpaste (just a bit, even less than pea size). The training toothpaste doesn't really help with cleaning, but it has an appealing taste that may make the struggle less hard.
If your child is cooperative you can sit across from her, have her open her mouth and gently brush.
If she isn't (mine was almost never at that age), lay her down with her head in your lap. She will probably scream, which is helpful since then her mouth will be open so go ahead and brush.
Tooth brushing is not optional in our house, I have terrible teeth and would like to avoid this for my daughter, so we did it screaming and yelling about 8 out of ten times... but it got better once she was a little older;)

DO NOT USE TOOTHPASTE! At least not the fluoridated version. My dentist recommended using a clean, damp washcloth on new baby teeth and baby gums. There are also little rubbery slip over your finger things sold in stores from Gerber. Baby toothpaste, with no fluoride is okay. The important thing is to clean the food particles from their little teeth and to massage their gums. But watch out! Those little teeth are sharp business!

At 2 years old, this is still an issue most nights. She will "brush" them fine, but will not let me in there to finish up. I found a vibrating brush at babies r us http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3721550 that she really likes. We make faces and say "ahh" and she grins for me to get the fronts - you will try many things some will work and others won't. My ped said do what ever I have to to brush them once a day, even if I have to put her in a headlock. that has worked too.

Good luck. I only imagine eventually it will get better.

We use Tom's of Maine natural toothpaste and a soft baby toothbrush.

At this age you could easily just take a wet washcloth and wipe them off. No need for a brush or toothpaste. Or if you want to get her started give her a toothbrush to chew on so she gets used to it so when you do want to start brushing them she's ok with it. But if you use toothpaste make sure it's for kids and has no flouride! I give my daughter a toothbrush while we are changing into pjs for bed and have been doing this for a while. I can easily take it from her and brush her teeth.

I use either Tom's of Maine, toothpaste or Weleda (bought at Whole Foods) and a small baby toothbrush. Only a pea-sized amount of paste I started brushing for my little guy, then as he got a bit older, I let him brush after I already brushed his teeth.

Good luck.

They make infant toothpaste. You can find it in any store. it comes with a fingerbrush. They also have Stages toothbrushes. They tell you by the age. I started using the training toothpaste cause my daughter didn't like the infant. It's best that you start now so that they get used to it. My daughter is 2 and she brushes "by herself". of course my husband and I go back over them to make sure that she gets it all. They also have a kit that we found in target that has different stages of brushes that they can chew on. My daughter also liked that one. Good Luck

We use the Oral-B tooth and gum cleaner on our little one. They sell it paired with a small toothbrush or a fingertip cleaner. I recommend the fingertip cleaner, as it's easier to control and works great on those little teeth. Good luck!

I use Weleda, but got it from drugstore.com and used to use a pink teether shaped like the arched mouth with little bristles. It was from Buy Buy Baby. I just got her (16 months) a 0-2yr toothbrush from CVS, Colgate I think. I agree with the person below you don't really need all this, but my daughter loooooves to "brush" her teeth morning and night. Sometimes it's hard to get it out of her hand. I think it's fun for her to see us brush our teeth and have her own.