How Do I Stop My Baby from Grinding His Teeth?

Grinding their teeth is pretty normal. It's just pure facination at the sounds they can make. What you might try is to give your son something to chew on that is hard and rubbery and that he can slide his teeth on to make noise. Try something like the Gerber Orbiteether or maybe something made of silicone like a spatula. Obviously whatever you choose must be free of choking hazard. My little one went through this at about 9 or 10 months. I kept giving him other things to bite on. Eventually, the novelty of the grinding does wear off.

My daughter did the same thing at 14 months old. It's probably because they're just learning that they can make cool noises with those little white things growing in their mouth. My daughter grinded her teeth constantly, it drove me nuts, I hate the sound of it. But I relized that the more I tried to get her to stop the more she did it. So, we tried ignoring it. It's not easy but it works. It may take awhile for him to realize that it's not getting your attention anymore. But if you ignore him when he does it eventually he will stop. It also helps if you get him into something like a favorite toy or book. And these are just his baby teeth. He can't really do any damage to his permanent teeth yet so I wouldn't worry about it making his teeth crooked. Well, good luck. Hope I helped.

Oh, and if it gets too bad and you just can't ignore him anymore, give him a snack. He can't grind his teeth if he's munching on something. My daughter loves the goldfish crackers. And you can get them in cool colors. and I dont mean stuff him with snacks all the time but it works if he's been grinding his teeth for awhile and it's starting to drive ya crazy.

Hey H.,
I am a dental hygienist and I see a lot of teeth grinding in children. There isn't anything you can do from a dental point of view and he will grow out of it. My son also did it and I have seen teeth flattened out in my office but it does not last forever. Most of the time it is worse during teething. Good luck to you.
K. C

I know I am late with this....but my son is 9 1/2 months. he got teeth VERY early....he already has 8, and I just noticed this morning is working on his 9th! I just wanted to let you know that when the first 6 were in he started that grinding, probably around 6 months....he is now 9 1/2 and doesn't do it anymore. :O) There is hope!

my three year old son is also a grinder and recently we brought it up at a dentist appointment and they said believe it or not it is something that he will grow out of. So good luck and give it time hopefully he too will grow out of it. Good Luck

the best advice, just to ignore it, teh more you pay attention to it the more he will do it, (it's an attention getter at that point) My son did it for a few months constantly, now it's getting less and less, abot being crroked, tehy are just his baby teeth but also I spoke to my dentist, and no matter what we do, it's like 90% of kids will need braces at some point in their life.

hope this helps,