It is not uncommon for children to grind their teeth in their sleep, and many times, parents think it is a bug in their child’s stomach. In fact, many reasons can cause children to gnash their teeth in their sleep.
Top 6 reasons why babies grind their teeth in their sleep
1, intestinal parasites
There are roundworms in the stomach. Roundworms are parasitic in the child’s small intestine, not only robbing nutrients, but also stimulating the intestinal wall, secreting toxins and causing indigestion. A child’s stomach often hurts vaguely, which can cause insomnia, irritability and grinding of teeth in bed.
In addition, pinworms can also cause teeth grinding. Pinworms are normally parasitic in the human colon, and after the child falls asleep, the pinworms will quietly crawl to the anal opening to lay eggs, causing anal itching, making the child sleep restlessly and grinding teeth.
Response strategy: Deworm your child. Develop good hygiene habits at regular times.
2.Eat too much for dinner
Over-eating dinner, or extra meals before bedtime, not only affects nutrient absorption and utilization, but also increases the burden on the gastrointestinal tract. Because when you go to sleep, the gastrointestinal tract is still accumulating a lot of undigested food, the entire digestive system will have to “overtime”, continuous work, even the chewing muscles are mobilized, involuntary contraction, causing teeth grinding.
Coping strategy: do not let the child eat too much before bedtime, after eating a little stay for a while and then let the child go to bed.
3, lack of vitamin
Children suffering from vitamin D deficiency rickets, due to the disorder of calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body, will cause bone decalcification, muscle pain and plant nerve disorders, often appear sweating, night terrors, restlessness and sleep grinding teeth.
Coping strategy: under the guidance of the doctor to the child to supplement vitamin D, calcium tablets, usually more sunshine, night grinding situation will gradually reduce.
4, poor sleep position
If the child sleeps with his head often to one side, it will cause the chewing muscles to be uncoordinated, so that the side of the chewing muscles under pressure will be abnormally contracted, thus appearing to grind teeth. Children sleep with their heads covered at night, due to the excessive accumulation of carbon dioxide and insufficient oxygen supply, will also cause teeth grinding.
Coping strategies: If you find your child sleeping in a bad position, help him to adjust it in time. Usually do not let your child develop the habit of sleeping with his head covered.
5, teeth misalignment
Chewing muscle force is too large or long-term chewing with one side of the teeth, as well as the teeth bite relationship is not good, the occurrence of temporomandibular joint dysfunction, will also cause night grinding. Moreover, children with unaligned teeth, the position of his chewing muscles is often abnormal, and the chewing muscles often contract unconsciously during sleep at night, causing nighttime teeth grinding.
Coping strategy: regularly take your child to the dentist, according to the doctor’s advice to do orthodontics and treatment.
6, mental factors
A few children usually do not grind their teeth at night, but if they listen to a heart-stopping story before going to bed, or just after watching scary or stressful TV or cartoons, they will also grind their teeth at night because their nervous system is too excited. Another reason is stress (usually manifested as nervousness or anger), such as not adapting to kindergarten life, fearing a certain child in the class, arguing with parents or family members, etc., can make the child’s mind tense and lead to grinding teeth at night. In addition, some overactive children can also happen to grind their teeth at night.
Coping strategies: Don’t let your child watch TV that is too stimulating before bedtime. Often communicate with teachers and children, if the child has a knot, help him solve it in time to relieve his psychological pressure.