Learning to Spit After Brushing

I had already come to terms with the fact that Kasen would probably not rinse and spit post teethbrushing for a very long time - this was one of the questions I had asked our pediatric dentist, Dr. Barton over at the Center for Pediatric Dental Care and Orthodontics in Brookline (awesome dentist office by the way, but more on that later) during our second visit. He said most kids don't actually spit and rinse until they're about 5 years old.

Yesterday however Kasen proved me wrong. Since November 2014 we had begun to introduce a small dab (a size of a grain of rice really) of kid's fluoride toothpaste with the Weleda natural toothpaste when brushing with the Sonicare electric toothbrush, in the morning and at night. The introduction was a recent recommendation that pediatricians and pediatric dentists are now telling parents because the positives of adding a bit of fluoride and swallowing it out weigh the negatives (i.e. fluorosis). He doesn't fight me like he used to and will always open his mouth when I tell him we're about to brush.

In the last week, he's expressed interest in brushing his OWN teeth. He wanted to do it himself. When were at the dentist office they let him pick out his own toothbrush - they gave him a choice of a red one or a blue one, and he chose red. Now, when I tell him it's time to go to sleep and brush his teeth, he'll say,"Mommy, where's my toothbrush? And toothpaste?"

Of course I will still brush his teeth, but I let him brush on his own and I put a small dab of the Weleda toothpaste for him. I tell him not to forget to brush the top teeth and he will turn the brush over and attempt to brush it. While it's more like sucking on the brush, I know I shouldn't complain about the fact that he generated interest all on his own.

I tell him that it's dangerous to brush your teeth while you're walking, so if you're walking take your toothbrush out. Last night he was taking a while to "brush his teeth" so I had said to him" Kasen, are you done yet? It's time to go to sleep!" Kasen looks at me and says," I'm not done yet Mommy, I'm almost done!"

So I wait.

Then come this evening Kasen is asking me to "brush his own teeth" again and I decided to also brush mine. He climbs onto his stool to be level with the sink, and as he is brushing he watches me spit (after brushing) with fascination. So I asked him," Kasen, would you like to try spitting?" And he shows me. Over and over again! I got very excited. I said to him, "Kasen, would you like to show me how you spit with water?"

So he and I run to the kitchen to get a cup. Then we run back to the bathroom, and he climbs onto the stepping stool again. I fill the cup a third of the way with water. And I said,"Kasen, can you show me how you spit? Don't drink the water!"

He spits. And he spits. Over and over again. And does so happily.

Wow!

After he was done I told him how proud I was that he learned how to spit. I said, go tell Daddy how awesome you are at spitting after you brush your teeth!

I love that he was beaming with pride. It was a good night in the Zhao household tonight. Booyah! And he's only 2.5.