Toothbrush Party

Emily had her first visit to the dentist last week. Nothing's wrong of course, but according to her red book, babies should have visited a dentist by the time they are one. We were already running a few months late. So I made an appointment with my dentist and off we went.

I was slightly nervous - Emily's not usually very cooperative when it comes to showing off her teeth. Personally, I've sworn off trying to feel for new teeth as my fingers keep getting violently bitten every time I try, it didn't take me long to have enough of the torture.

But once we were in, she was too busy taking in all the shiny and interesting-looking gadgets in the clinic to bother much. She cooperated perfectly and the dentist was happy to report her teeth are all fine and there are twelve of them. She got a sticker - which she tried to eat - and off we went.

Since then, Emily has been FAR more cooperative about brushing her teeth. I'd almost entirely given up brushing them for her as it only ended in a melt-down. She simply wouldn't let me do it, and the last thing I wanted to do was make her hate brushing her teeth. So we turned it into a game. I'd hand her her toothbrush to mostly chew on while I brushed my teeth too and sang and made funny faces as I did it, which she found hilarious, and soon brushing our teeth became fun. When David is around at weekends, he'll sometimes join in too. A tooth-brushing party, if you will.

But since going to the dentist, she'll let me brush her teeth! She still gets some chewing time, but I then take over and she opens her mouth wide and goes "aaah" and they get a good scrubbing. I'm slightly flabbergasted at the way it so suddenly changed, and I'm sure the novelty won't last too much longer, but while it does last I'm not complaining in the least!