Childhood is full of milestones. Some elicit pure excitement, while others may come with some apprehension. Still others may have your child feeling a little of both. Losing a baby tooth can be one such milestone. If your child is feeling some anxiety over it, you may be wondering what you can do to help them.
Help Them Understand What’s Happening
Part of the source of your child’s anxiety may be that losing a tooth is a new experience, especially if this one is their first. It can be confusing to discover that one of your teeth is suddenly all sorts of wiggly when it wasn’t before. Teach your child that they have a second set of teeth that are working on growing in, and the ones they have now need to fall out first. You might even call them adult teeth to help younger children feel all grown up about it.
Use the Tooth Fairy to Make It Fun
Remember how excited you were as a kid about the tooth fairy coming to visit? Now you can pass on that excitement to your little one. It’s a little harder to be scared if you’re having fun, which can really help this work to your advantage. See if you can find a story about the tooth fairy to help introduce it to your child at the beginning. Just make sure that the tooth fairy doesn’t forget to visit once you’ve played it up.
Stay Calm
Children tend to be a lot more perceptive than adults often give them credit for. They can, and will pick up on your emotions and reflect them. Remember, you’re their anchor. By staying calm and relaxed when they are anxious, you’ll help them find their way back to feeling calm and relaxed themselves. This goes doubly for if the tooth happens to be loose due to an accident or injury.
As a parent, you want little more than for your child to be happy and healthy. Losing baby teeth is a natural, normal part of growing up, but that doesn’t mean that every child is comfortable with the idea of it right from the start. As you help them work through their anxiety, you should find that it lessens. Who knows? You may even grow closer together because of the experience.
Filling out forms is a normal, yet tedious part of all sorts of medical appointments. Circumvent them at the dentist office by downloading and filling out your patient forms before you even arrive.