Baby enjoys brushing teeth?

Amanda and I got worried a little bit ago that we weren't doing enough to protect Nathaniel's teeth -- especially now that he was eating a little more solid stuff ... and has teeth. Not to mention that most of this area doesn't have fluoride in the water -- what the deal with that? I'd love to see what the average dental bill is for this region compared to nearby areas with fluoride. We're all paying for this.

Anyway ... we bought a little infant toothbrush. It's a plastic thing that fits over a finger and has bristles on the fingertip. You then put on this mild tooth cleanser, stick your finger in his mouth and start brushing.

We'd been doing this at night, after his last bottle, at first. The problem was, he was in a period where he was falling asleep with the final bottle, so I'd have to invade his sleeping mouth and start brushing his teeth and gums.

Not suprisingly, he was not a big fan.

But he's changed his sleeping pattern a little, and this toothbrushing thing is a breeze. He finishes eating, we put a binky in ... then I get things together to brush.

As I approach with the plastic-covered finger, he spits out his binky and opens his mouth with a big smile. I brush away (he even lets me get to the gums all the way around - maybe I'll share the problems that caused in a future blog).

I feel a lot better about his teeth now that we're doing some protection for them. And the idea that he likes it makes me feel even better.