Daughter Started Grinding Her teeth...please Help Me Stop Her!!!

My Oldest daughter went through this at about the same age, she's 2 now. The ped said as long as there was no night grinding it wasn't an issue. My best advice is to ignore it and eventually she'll stop. It drove me crazy but I found the more I made a big deal of it in telling her to stop, she'd do it more. Good Luck mama, such a small hill in the mountains to come! LOL!

It will be o.k. She is just learning about her new teeth and that they can make that sound. The worst part is the noise, I assure you! My son did the same thing around her age and i would squeeze his little cheeks in to stop him when he did it. It lasted about 2 or 3 weeks and then he was on to finding new noises to make with his mouth. I took him to his first dentist visit at 18 months and they said his teeth were perfect, so just try to relax and cope however you have to with the noise, it's only temporary!!!

Just a follow up question - how is she doing now? Has the grinding stopped? I have a seven year old who has always done this and it's gotten worse since her dad left for Iraq.

Hey K.!

My daughter also does this. She has done this since she was about your daughter's age. But to be honest, it wasn't as bad until she gave up her pacifier. (Which was much later, I have to admit.) Now, it can still be bad at night, depending on how her day went. Stress plays a big factor. I am taking her to see an orthodontist soon. My dentist didn't see anything wrong with it. (We have since switched dentists.) But his hygenist did. (She has since quit this dentist...long story.) She told me her son did it and they had him fitted with a mouth piece. I don't know that they could do this for your daughter because she is so young. I wouldn't normally recommend this, but until she gets older to be fitted for a piece, maybe give her a pacifier? My daughter chewed on hers and it made it not so bad. I know it isn't the "ideal fix" but it is a temporary fix until she gets more teeth.

***Another thing I do when they sleep, because I can hear it across the hall because she does it so loud, i whisper in her ear...Zan, stop that, honey. And I rub her jaw. She wakes up enough to quit and then goes right back to sleep.***

But no worries! She did this as much as your daughter and she still has all her teeth!!! She just now at the age of six lost her first one! But this can't all be fixed.

Take care and let me know how it goes! ____@____.com
Lee

I would recommend you to keep an eye on this to make sure that your child is not grinding at night. I have been grinding my teeth now at night since I was 10 and have to wear a mouthpiece to keep from destroying my teeth. My is so severe that I have cracked 3 teeth and all of my bottom teeth are flat across the top. If your child begins this grinding at night, I would take them immediately to see the dentist to be fitted for some type of mouthpiece, they can even make the smallest one!

My daughter has started to do this too. (She is almost 1) It can get very annoying but our ped says that as long as she does nnt do it excessively it is probably harmless. She does not do it all the time but every once in awhile I will catch her doing it. I usually give her something to gnaw on to stop it. ( teething cookies, teething rings etc) I think she gets it from her daddy. My husband still grinds his sometimes in his sleep and it is twice as loud and twice as annoying. My sons both went through a stage where they did this too and their teeth are fine, :)

i was also concerned about this. However with everything I read about it I found it was very common and not to worry about. Although it may be very annoying, it is not very damaging. You dont need to worry about teeth grinding until they start getting thier adult teeth in. Also they normally grow out of this fairly quickly. My daughter Stoped within a month of starting. I also read that making a deal of it when they do it will only encourage them to do it again.

No Worries! According to my dentist...they are just baby teeth and grinding of the teeth won't do damage. It's the permanent teeth that you would have to worry about, but my dentist said that most kids outgrow the grinding.

K.,
I am a childcare provider for children who are the same age as your little girl, and this is what we have done to help discourage the teeth grinding.
We will give them a teething ring from the freezer, or give them a pacifier as this starts.
I don't know if this will help you, and I hope it does. Good luck
S. C

Hi there. My 13 month old daughter did the same thing when she had only four teeth...it drove me crazy. Luckily, she stopped when she got more teeth. She now has like 12 teeth and hasn't been grinding for a while. I think it is because the teeth are new and feel different to them. They get used to it and stop. Hope this kinda helps. Just get through this for a while and it will stop.
good luck
A.

My son did the same thing when he had his four little teeth. I tried exactly what you did, ignoring it and saying no. Sometimes when he did it I would grab hold of his cheeks (very gently, like I was puckering his lips together). That helped some. Eventually ignoring it worked best and he did stop.

Good luck!

I don't know of anything except having your dentist fit you (her) something to wear at night. I am well into my 30's and still grind my teeth.

get her to a pediatric dentist, normally they wouldn't have to go this early, but there may be something he/she can do to help, they are baby teeth so it is not permanently hurting anything, however, she could have a problem with her bite, or jaw that would need to be addressed. i know as an adult I grind my teeth even today and I have to wear a bite guard so that I don't wear down my back molars, and I have TMJ. My current dentist said that this can in some cases be addressed when the child is much younger and corrected or minimalized so there is not as much of a problem when they get a little older.