Or back, or sides, or whatever.
Where the heck are my baby's teeth?!
One of the first pieces of info I remember reading after Playette was born was that teeth in babies who are diagnosed with Ds are "delayed" amongst other things. It's true in a lot of cases, sure, but not all. Some babies get them well within the average time frames. Regardless, I remember bawling after reading that. My baby was gonna be toothless?! Of course she would be the exception, right?! It sounded so horrible at the time. Everything sounded bad to me back then.
Ok, fast forward about a year and a half later and my baby is still toothless. It's so not horrible. She looks cute all-gums. But. But. But. It would be nice to see something white poking through after over a year of teething.
Yes, seriously.
Over. A. Year.
I don't even want to know how much we've spent on bibs.
I know that people probably don't know this unless they're in a similar situation so I'll share: I recently read that babies usually get their first tooth between 3 and 18 months(!). So we still have time. As a matter of fact, Playette's PT swears she didn't get her own first tooth until 18 months. So it happens. It's not just my baby.
As a matter of fact, 18 months is nothing after you check this out: The teeth of a child with Down syndrome usually come in later than the teeth of most children. The first tooth usually appears between 12 and 48(!!!) months.
Excessive exclamation points added by me. Right before I fell out of my chair.
And here's some more info for the uninitiated: The eruption of both baby and permanent teeth is delayed in 75% of the cases [individuals diagnosed with Ds]. Children may be 4-5 years of age before baby teeth are fully erupted. The teeth may also come in an irregular sequence – baby molars may precede incisors.
I'm honestly starting to have a hard time imagining Playette with teeth at all. She eats fine. She smiles. She reminds me of my great-grandmother the way she gums her food. Sure, Mommy Emma had dentures, but she hardly ever wore them. We can always get Playette some flippers.
I'm so kidding.
I also read that a mother's dental hygiene while she was pregnant can have an effect on the baby's teeth once they're born. Good grief. So now this could be my fault?
I'm gonna have to let that thought go. Cause seriously? I've got enough guilt without adding the teeth thing in.
Plus, I just need to be grateful for goodness sake. She's healthy. And she eats whatever you put in front of her, minus a strange denial of
That right there almost bothers me more than the lack of teeth. How can my child not like SpaghettiOs? That's just un(Franco)American.
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7 comments:
Oh wow...I knew that kids with Ds often got teeth later, but I didn't know it was 75% of the time. Lily's almost 7 months old...guess I should quit sticking my finger in her mouth once a day! LOL
Cali's unAmerican with Malea... she hates Spaghetti O's too! Not for lack of trying on my part. Momma still keeps buying them & trying. It's ok though, Daddy gets fed the ones Cali denies ;)
I honestly didn't know that children with Ds got teeth so late either. I love the gummy smiles though, so enjoy while you can :)
48 months?! Huh. Wow.
I have one kid who could live on spaghettios and nothing else. My other kids? Not so much.
Wow, 48 months??? Vivian looks pretty cute too with her toothless grin, but hopefully there's a few before kindergarten!!
That is interesting info to me; I wonder what the cause behind delayed tooth development would be? I mean I understand everything gets associated with DS. However, in my human anatomy class the way tooth development was explained to us was that you had to exercise the gum region, stimulate the need for them so they would break free. That would lead my naive mind to think that it has nothing to do with chromosomes but weather or not you give Playatee a raw-hide to chew on, I mean gum! Hm... Hope that made you laugh just a little;)
PS: Malea must be my girl b/c I am not a fan of the Spaghetti O's either. It's a texture thing for me, too mushy.
shoot, 18-48 months? Gah! I hadn't heard that range yet. Goodness.
Well, at least it doesn't seem to bother her huh?!
oh- cameron despises spaghetti o's.
My kids won't eat Spaghettios either.
Evan got his first tooth at 14 months. Then one more, both of them on the bottom front. Then some molars. Then two on the top. Now some more molars and more up top. But the bottom? Still just two. And he's 2 1/2!
I'm sure this is more than you wanted to know about my child's dental history. But yeah, I'm with you. Where are those things?
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