Teeth Grinding - Seattle, WA

It is normal for kids to grind their teeth when they are getting new ones and losing baby teeth!! It sounds horible but is very normal!!

Both my kids did this when their teeth came in. It made me bonkers, but our ped said not to worry and they would stop soon. They did. They were just testing out their new chompers.

My son who is 3 1/2 years now still does this occasionally in his sleep, and used to do this at roughly the same age as your daughter. In my experience, aside from being annoying, it was a passing phase and he eventually stopped doing it. It didn't last very long and I think we would tell him to stop doing it, which sometimes was effective because I don't think he realized he was doing it. Other times he was just "enjoying" the sound... either way, it didn't last and seemed pretty harmless, just annoying! Good luck.

My 15 month old daughter has done it everytime she starts to get new teeth. It drives me completely insane, but I think the pressure of the grinding relieves some of the pain the new teeth coming in. I remember when I had braces tightened it felt good to bite down really hard on my teeth, so that is why I think it has to do something with the pain and it probably gives a little relief.
Hopefully it will stop before you go crazy!
Good luck

my family has a history of teeth grinding. there are guards you can get. the dentist is the best to get them from. it might be costly. but best, i think, for her to get used to using it while she's little. grinding can cause problems as she gets older. my grandaughter has ground her baby teeth down to almost half of what they are. and my own teeth are sensitive. it can also affect the jaw bones.

My now-3 year old did the same thing, and still does occasionally. I asked her dentist about this, and he said its nothing to worry about. If she's still doing it when the permanent teeth start to come in, then take her to a dentist... but you've got YEARS to wait on that.

My son, who also turns one next week (crazy, huh?), has recently started doing this too! I'm hoping that the novelty will soon wear off because I find the sound to be a bit disturbing. When I hear him doing it, I just try and distract him, which more or less works.

Happy Birthday to your little girl!

My daughter who is almost 11 months old, has just started doing this too. She's had her bottom two teeth since she was 6 months old. But her two top teeth just came through in early January/late December. Now that those two teeth have almost come through the whole way, she has started to grind her teeth during the day. I hasked her doctor and she says that it's very common with babies that have new teeth. She's just exploring and after awhile she'll be used to those new teeth in her mouth and stop. She said it's nothing to be concerned about.

I know the sound of that can be pretty disconcerting! It depends on if she's doing it when she sleeps or when she's awake. If she's awake and just testing out the new things in her mouth, you might try just giving her more things to chew on--like hard teething cookies and see what she does. If she's doing it while sleeping, that's different. Often that signifies a calcium deficiency--which could be from either less calcium than she needs, or malabsorption of what she does get. Often the link is actually magnesium. There are herbs and foods that are very high in calcium--like sesame seeds and nettles (which make a yummy tea if you add a little maple syrup).

Good luck and Happy Birthing Day, Momma!

Fiora

Hi:)

When my son first got his first four teeth,he would grind them quite a bit.Then he just stopped.I think that babies do this because their is something new in their mouth,and it is a different sensation than what they have been used to.
When he first started doing this, I called his pediatritian,and he said it was perfectly normal for him to do it,and eventually he will stop....and that he did:)

So no worries:)

Food and drinks with refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup will stimulate that kind of behavior.