5 1/2 Year Old Losing First Tooth

For a fun tooth fairy reward, I used coins from different countries. If you know someone who travels internationally, you can ask them to bring you back cool looking coins, or you can go to a bank or money exchange to get them. The kids had a lot of fun looking up the coins to see where the tooth fairy had been!

Try not to make the same mistake my husband did. My 10 yo step-son lost a tooth and the tooth fairy didn't show up the first night because of a communication debacle. My DH felt so guilty, it ended up costing us $20! LOL

It really depends. My 8 year old didn't lose a tooth until he was almost 7, and last year he had a baby tooth that was loose for six months!

One way to make it fun is to have a special tooth fairy pillowcase to use whenever a tooth has fallen out. My MIL made one for us and my boys loved it. I did too, because at the edge of the pillowcase was a tiny tooth pocket with a snap, so it was easy to make the exchange.

My daughter's first tooth took about a month to fall out once it became loose. I gave her $5 under her pillow because I didn't have any ones and justified it by saying it was her first tooth. I've come to regret this a bit [laughing] as I'm feeling some pressure to keep up at that pace. I gave her $2 for her second tooth and she was fine with that. My daughter is five and a half too and I'm sure she'd have been fine with $1 each time.

Congratulations, playing tooth fairy is one of my favorite jobs as a mom!

J.

How long it takes depends entirely on how much she wiggles it. I remember working on a tooth all day once I realized it was loose and I got it to come out that night. But I was kind of a freak about loose teeth.

My mom made me a special tooth fairy pillow and I remember getting a nickel for the first few teeth and as they got bigger I got more. Of course that was almost 30 years ago.

The more she plays with it the faster it will fall out.

We have a little pouch that we put the tooth (and money in) he puts it on the bedside table so it doesn't get lost under the pillow.

We just give $1 for each tooth. We thought about give $5 for the first tooth, but didn't want to set a expectation for all the other teeth. He's perfectly happy with the $1, but he's still happy when he finds a penny on the ground and saves every one he finds. I think the amount you give depends on your family and the standards that you set.

I'll also agree with the 2-3 week timeframe, once again, depending on how much she's willing to wiggle it.
As to how much the toothfairy should leave. My 5 year old daughter has lost both of her front bottom teeth in the last month and a half. For both of them, I folded a one dollar bill into thirds, the long way and wrapped it tightly around a stack of coins and tape it. I go with 2 quarters, 2 dimes, 2 nickels, and 2 pennies. The dollar bill keeps all the change together, so it doesn't get lost under the pillow and then we can have a counting lesson to see how much she got. Comes to $1.82, but to a five year old, that seems even better than $2 in bills. Then as she gets older, and better at understanding counting money, I'll be able to mix it up, adding more coins for those harder to lose teeth, (I remember some of the bigger teeth hurting more when I was a kid and when my son was losing his teeth) or less coins, but show that they can still add up to the same. Hope this helps.
Merry Christmas!

P.S. J. read Heather's post about "forgetting" and wanted to add a funny story about my son. When he was about 7, he lost a tooth and opted not to tell M.. Well, he put it under his pillow and, surprise, no money the next morning. He came out and let M. know in no uncertain terms that he was "on to M.." Then he looked at M. and with big eyes and said "Please tell M. that you're not Santa Clause too??" That was when all of the childhood myths were put to rest. So, the next year I had another baby and we got to start over and he has a blast "tricking" his little sister into believing now!

I agree with the 2-3 weeks...and what I've heard (and do) is $2 per tooth. (Inflation and cost of living hit the Tooth Fairy, too. I remember getting a quarter! LOL!)

Hello!

Losing that first tooth really puts a child into the "big kid" category, doesn't it?!

How long it takes to fall out depends upon the child. Some of my kids will let it dangle in their mouth for weeks, but others will yank it out at the first sign of wigglyness.

We used to put the tooth under the pillow and the tooth fairy would come in the middle of the night and take the tooth and leave a dollar and a note about how great the tooth looks. The trouble with that plan is that it is under the pillow and hard for the "fairy" to remember to do before going to bed. Needless to say, the "fairy" forgot one night and my daughter was devastated. That is when I started making tooth fairy pillows. It hangs on the door knob or bedpost to make it easy for the fairy (and parent) to find the tooth. There is a pocket on the pillow for the tooth to rest in. This is also where the dollar and note are left for the child to find in the morning. Here is a link for you to take a look at it:

www.happymomonline.com/pages/toothfairy.htm

If you don't want to buy one and are crafty, there are many cute ideas on the web. Just google it.

Best wishes and have fun with this "big kid" time in your child's life!

Blessings!

H. :-)
www.happymomonline.com

my 6 year son lost his first tooth this past fall. and he was so excited!!!! i made fairy coins for his first tooth. use either 50 cent pieces of silver dollars and glue glitter on them. my son still thinks the coins are real fairy. i put them in his baby book. and he also got $5 for the first tooth. all kids are different about how long they take to come out. but eating apples and such will help!!!

It should be out for Christmas. I have always put the tooth in a ziploc bag and then money(about 2.00), in a ziploc, sometimes in change makes it more fun to count. I switch the bags and then with permanent marker write the details on the bag and hide it away! I know of friends that have always given a little toy(5.00 range), plus the cash, but that could get expensive when they start losing one after another!
L.

Encourage her to eat apples, celery etc that will help it come out. My daughter waits until it is practically falling out of her mouth and freaks when we try to pull it. A couple kind of fell out on their own, but one we actually had to pull out of her mouth. I would say from the time you notice that it is wiggly to the time it comes out is about 2-3 weeks. The one thing i forget is that they are getting new teeth and all the pain associated with it. We give our girl tylenol when she says her mouth hurts. I am sure there is pain just like an infant, but we tend to forget about that.

the money under the pillow is still a hit at our house.

My son who is 6 just recently lost his first tooth. He was so thrilled and now is working on the second loose tooth. I am not sure if he likes the tooth fairy and the money she leaves or if it really started out as being loose. But we did $5 for the first tooth and now $2 for each thereafter. Enjoy the excitement.

I'm sure it's different for each child, but my daughter's first loose tooth wasn't until 6 1/2. SHe noticed it was a tiny bit loose one day and didn't play with it too much. IT was probably about 3 weeks until it fell out. She got $5 for the first tooth only and the tooth fairy left a poem about how special the first tooth is.

I told my daughter that is falls out when the adult tooth kicks it out. We gave her $5 from the tooth fairy for the first one and $2 for each following. My mom used to buy me charms for my charm bracelet and hair stuff. My daughter saves her money for things she wants that we normally wouldn't buy. She paid to have her ears pierced and with a little help she got the earrings she wanted. Other wise I'd go get small things like my mom did.

I don't think there's a specific time limit for how long it takes for a tooth to fall out. It depends on how much she wiggles it and how strong the roots are. Just tell her to keep wiggling it =) We give our son $1 every time he loses a tooth. We put it in an envelope under his pillow. Sometimes he writes a note to the Toothfairy, to which she responds with very flowy, curvy, hand written note. It's lots of fun.

**On a side note: my son asked the Toothfairy in his last note for a Nintendo game. To which she responded that she doesn't hand out games, only money. But she would pass the request on to Santa. My son was stunned!!! He "had no idea that Santa and the Toothfairy knew each other!" LoL!