I was wondering if anyone out there has any ideas on how to get my 1 year old son to stop grinding his teeth. He does not do it when he is sleeping only when he wakes up and it is only for a little bit.
I just want to thank you all for all the advice.... I hope it passes really sooooooon.
My daughter is at that age too. It drives me nuts! I found that if I ignore it she doesn't do it as much. It must feel good to them with those new teeth coming in.
Hi J.,
Yes I agree with the other moms...my daughter did this same thing at around 11 months and although it is an annoying sound and at first I was worried about her teeth, it proved to be just her experimenting. I tried my best to ignore it and soon enough she never grinded her teeth again.
Edited to add- all of the responses cater to a response for a baby- my son did this as well during the day- it stopped as he was just experimenting. Though if you hear it at night as he or she is asleep- listen to my advice below.
I have always ground my teeth. My parents said they heard it but never did anything about it- and when as an adult I finally had a dentist that said- "you need a guard to wear at night- you have teeth of a 60 yr old person (I was 28.)
There is not much you can do now with his baby teeth coming in- but once his adult teeth come in - get close with a dentist and have them make guards (when they say they can -probably when all of his teeth come in) and make sure he wears them at night. My parents went to the effort of making sure I had braces- but I never had a guard to protect them.
It is not something you can stop. He is unaware he is doing it... I am also unaware.
UGH! I hate that sound!!! My son used to grind his teeth (probably lasted about 3 months), but his pediatrician said it was nothing to worry about at his age. She said that it is easy for babies to grind their teeth because they don't have ridges and they slide across each other easily.
J.,
I'm going through the same thing with my 9 month old, please let me know how you make out! It is driving me crazy!
Thanks,
A.
I just wanted to reiterate what Melissa said. My daughter did it too, at a about 5-6 months as her teeth all came in early.
It is a highly annoying sound, but your son is just experimenting because he can control a new part of his body that makes a new sound.... to him, it's exploration. He'll tire of it (soon, I hope, for your sake!) and move on to a new thing. If you make a big deal out of it, he'll do it longer because at this age he loves being in control - and you don't want it to be a power struggle. You can save that for potty training!!
Good Luck!
I know, my daughter did this at your son's age! My doctor said it is just your child getting used to his newer teeth. DON'T make a big production out of it, just ignore it, and they will eventually stop. If you do make it a big deal, it could turn into a habit, and it could damage their teeth. My daughter rarely does this anymore, and we have taken the docter's advice, and just ignored her. She did eventually stop doing it! Hang in there!
My son used to grind his teeth alot too, I know that they say its due to him recognizing that he has teeth in there, and he is exploring with what those teeth can do.
My son eventually stopped for the most part, but every once and awhile I will catch him doing it.
I am also a stay at home mom, my son is 15 months old and my daughter is 9 weeks old.
Give it some time and it should taper down.
One suggestion would be giving him a cold wet washcloth when you notice him doing it, that way he can still explore what his teeth do, and get some relief from teething.
