My 16-month-old little man has started grinding his teeth when we are in the car and of course, thinks it is funny. The sound gives me chills!!!! Is this hurting his teeth? And how do I get him to stop??
Simple. Distract him and don't acknowledge that he is grinding his teeth.
Put in a crazy, kids music cd, ask him if he sees that shiny car, sing the alphabet song... etc.
It works wonders for all types of behavorial issues; and as he gets older, just intrigue him more!
I agree with the previous posters' suggestions. Distract him without calling too much attention to the grinding, or he may do it more for the fun of it.
However, as someone who comes from a family who tends to clench and grind our teeth in our sleep, I can say with certainty that there can -- and will -- be damage if it continues. Especially if, as is the case in our family, the grinding and clenching is unconscious -- we do it in our sleep.
Most of my molars have had to be crowned, as I've clenched so hard I've cracked them. My jaw bone has built up bony growths all around it, as a protective measure against the pressure of the clenching -- now I have bony lumps under my gums.
My son started grinding in his sleep as a toddler. I couldn't sit next to him all night long, waking him and reminding him not to grind. Now his dentist and orthodontist have said that he's wearing his teeth down, and -- like me -- will need to wear a protective mouthpiece to sleep.
Your son may be doing this grinding in exploration, but you don't want him to make a habit of it!
My son did this for a few weeks. The noise is just awful! It was a phase, luckily. Once the novelty wore off, he forgot all about it. I tried not to point it out.. as that usually makes him do whatever the annoyance is.. more!
I know the EXACT sound that you mean! He's exploring the new bumps in his mouth, and probably teething. I would try to keep a teether toy or some hard cookies in reach.
M.
Yuck, my son did the same thing! Everything I read- and even his doctor said that it doesn't hurt them any. They still have their baby teeth so if they do damage, it won't be permanent.
Mostly at this stage they do it like you said, for entertainment. If you can someone just ignore it, the teeth grinding will stop much sooner. :)
It took all I had to ignore it from my son. Thank goodness he finally stopped! :)
Good luck, and buy some earplugs! :)
My son used to grind his teeth while he was sleeping--freaky! But he outgrew it. The ped and his dentist said no need for concern. As the pp said, I'd just ignore the stage. Hopefully soon he'll move onto fish-faces, burping, snorting or snapping! LOL
