What's better? Pacifier or Toothbrush?

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My 18 month old is a total pacifier baby. But recently he’s become enamored with his toothbrush. While he used to put the toothbrush away after brushing, he now wants to hold on to it and walk around the house with it in his mouth. I understand that we’ll want to ween him off of both of those habits in the future. But if push comes to shove, would it be better on his teeth to hand him the toothbrush to chew on or the pacifier? I’m leaning towards toothbrush as I don’t think it affects tooth development as much as a pacifier. There’s the safety concern of walking around with what is basically a long plastic stick in your mouth though. Thoughts, especially from dentists?
 
PrayHarder said:
My 18 month old is a total pacifier baby. But recently he’s become enamored with his toothbrush. While he used to put the toothbrush away after brushing, he now wants to hold on to it and walk around the house with it in his mouth. I understand that we’ll want to ween him off of both of those habits in the future. But if push comes to shove, would it be better on his teeth to hand him the toothbrush to chew on or the pacifier? I’m leaning towards toothbrush as I don’t think it affects tooth development as much as a pacifier. There’s the safety concern of walking around with what is basically a long plastic stick in your mouth though. Thoughts, especially from dentists?
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There have been several instances I have read about children falling and pushing a toothbrush through the soft palate, sometimes requiring surgery.

My toddler son was playing with a clean/dry paintbrush one time, pretending to paint the walls, and he fell with it and somehow managed to damage his top gum and he hadn’t even had it in his mouth before he fell.

I’d work on weaning off the pacifier, but not allow the toothbrush.
 
Tough question.
Neither is the obvious response.

But I also have a two-year old who is completely addicted to her thumb…day and night…and the habit won’t be lifted anytime soon.

I’ll go with the pacifier as being the better option.

Mostly from a germ stand point. One item lives in the bathroom…the other doesn’t, and I assume, is cleaned more regularly?
Also an ergonomic standpoint too. More likely to choke and injure his soft palate if he trips and falls with the toothbrush in his mouth.

I would take the toothbrush away if he heads out of the bathroom with it. That is from a pure instinct response as a mother.
 
My step-grandson was rushed to the emergency room on New Year’s Day with a bleeding cut in the back of his throat because he fell while running with an object in his mouth. Keep the toothbrush in the bathroom, where it belongs.
 
I highly doubt there’s been extensive research done on the dental effects of babies sucking on objects as opposed to pacifiers, but common sense tells us what can happen when a clumsy toddler runs around with a stick in his mouth.
 
when I was weaning mine, i did it in stages. I explained that now that they were getting big, it was time to stop in this place or that. So in your sotuation, i would say the toothbrush is only for brushing teeth, and then work on the pacifier: Big boys of your age don’t use a pacifier in the store; wait til we get back in the car… and just whittle down the timeshe has access to it like that.
 
Look into the banana brush (there are 2 shapes) and see if you think that might be something that would work. It can provide relief for that need to gnaw, but be a safer alternative to walking with a toothbrush.
 
One idea I have heard that can work is to replace the old pacifier with one that is the wrong size and not having that convenient little bulb on the end. It makes it a pain to try to keep it in their mouths, and they just give it up. (If you want to be honest about where the old one is, I knew someone who just honestly said, “The trash man has it. It is buried in the ground by now.”)

We did something similar when our children decided they liked apple juice a bit too much. We gradually made it weaker and weaker until it was really vapid. They decided water was better. Now they’re teens and they still have a water bottle habit.
 
PrayHarder said:
My 18 month old is a total pacifier baby. But recently he’s become enamored with his toothbrush. While he used to put the toothbrush away after brushing, he now wants to hold on to it and walk around the house with it in his mouth. I understand that we’ll want to ween him off of both of those habits in the future. But if push comes to shove, would it be better on his teeth to hand him the toothbrush to chew on or the pacifier? I’m leaning towards toothbrush as I don’t think it affects tooth development as much as a pacifier. There’s the safety concern of walking around with what is basically a long plastic stick in your mouth though. Thoughts, especially from dentists?
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I am not a dentist, and not even a toy making elf who wants to be a dentist, but I’d guess a pacifier is less of a “threat”, if you want to call it that, simply for the reasons noted - falling would be less of an issue with a pacifier.

My 15 month old son is obssessed with holding toilet plungers. While I don’t really care, as

A) I am a dude

&

B) I can understand the fascination - it’s a plunger! I sometimes look wistfully and tools and implements myself, and want to encourage his masculinity as much as possible…

my wife finds it foul.

Which I also get, 'cause it’s a plunger.
FrenzyJen said:
Look into the banana brush (there are 2 shapes) and see if you think that might be something that would work. It can provide relief for that need to gnaw, but be a safer alternative to walking with a toothbrush.
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We have one, and it is great. My son sees his sister’s brushing their teeth and wants the toothbrush, but the soft banana brush makes him just as happy, if one is desired.
 
Another pacifier trick is to poke a hole in the end of it.

Takes away the suction ability.
 
PrayHarder said:
My 18 month old is a total pacifier baby. But recently he’s become enamored with his toothbrush. While he used to put the toothbrush away after brushing, he now wants to hold on to it and walk around the house with it in his mouth. I understand that we’ll want to ween him off of both of those habits in the future. But if push comes to shove, would it be better on his teeth to hand him the toothbrush to chew on or the pacifier? I’m leaning towards toothbrush as I don’t think it affects tooth development as much as a pacifier. **There’s the safety concern of walking around with what is basically a long plastic stick in your mouth though. ** Thoughts, especially from dentists?
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Walking around with a toothbrush is definitely a safety risk. At your child’s young age, a pacifier isn’t going to affect his teeth. You have at least a year or so before you have to worry about that.

From babycenter.com:

Will using a pacifier affect my child’s teeth?
While children with prolonged and constant sucking habits (whether on a finger or a pacifier) may have problems with their upper front teeth coming in properly, **pediatric dentists suggest that for most children pacifier use won’t cause any dental problems until the permanent teeth come in — usually around age 4 to **6. Still, it’s a good idea to tell your child’s dentist that your toddler uses a pacifier so that she can check his teeth and jaw to make certain that everything is fine.
 
EnglishTeacher said:
Walking around with a toothbrush is definitely a safety risk. At your child’s young age, a pacifier isn’t going to affect his teeth. You have at least a year or so before you have to worry about that.

From babycenter.com:

Will using a pacifier affect my child’s teeth?
While children with prolonged and constant sucking habits (whether on a finger or a pacifier) may have problems with their upper front teeth coming in properly, **pediatric dentists suggest that for most children pacifier use won’t cause any dental problems until the permanent teeth come in — usually around age 4 to **6. Still, it’s a good idea to tell your child’s dentist that your toddler uses a pacifier so that she can check his teeth and jaw to make certain that everything is fine.
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I agree.
 
EasterJoy said:
Which one is worse if he falls with it in his mouth?
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That was my very first instant thought also. In fact I had a cold shiver up my spine as I read the first post at the thought of such an accident.

It’s best to teach them that the toothbrush has a specific purpose and should be rinsed properly and stored in a hygienic way straight after cleaning the teeth.
 
One of my twins sucked his thumb until he was 3. He’s 14 now. His teeth are fine. Never needed braces. Another child took a pacifier until he was a little over 2 years old. He’s 11 and also his teeth are perfect. Only one of mine so far may need braces in a few years but the dentist says the teeth growing in will probably straighten out on their own. She’s 9. She never sucked her thumb or took a pacifier. She does suck in her lower lip as a nervous habit sometimes but that’s about it. I think the whole thing is sort of overblown and that genetics plays into whether kids are going to have the types of problems pacifiers or thumb sucking might cause. My youngest is getting close to three now and she loves her tooth brush as well. We let her chew on it if she’s sitting down and it gets taken away as soon as she gets up. She’s cutting molars and I’ve noticed that’s when she craves chewing on her tooth brush. Both her dr and the kids dentist have said it’s fine as long as she’s sitting down and not up walking around with it. She actually has a few brushes. We have one for actually brushing her teeth and a couple chewers that get washed often. Your baby might be cutting teeth and the brush feels good on his gums. As soon as my daughters molars break through she probably will give up chewing her brush again. It seems to come and go with teething for her.
 
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