Most babies and toddlers who grind their teeth will stop on their own without any treatment. Teeth grinding (bruxism) affects roughly one in four young children, and in the majority of cases it’s a normal phase tied to teething, new tooth alignment, or simple sensory exploration. That said, there are practical steps you can take to reduce grinding and signs worth watching for in case something deeper is going on.
Why Babies Grind Their Teeth
The most common trigger is teething. As new teeth push through the gums, babies feel pressure and discomfort, and grinding gives them a way to respond to that unfamiliar sensation. Once the teeth settle into place, the grinding often stops. Misalignment between upper and lower teeth can also cause it: when a baby’s bite doesn’t fit together smoothly, they may instinctively move their jaw back and forth trying to find a comfortable resting position.
Babies also grind simply because they can. Discovering that two hard surfaces in your mouth make an interesting sound and feeling is genuinely novel for a six- or eight-month-old. This exploratory grinding tends to come and go and rarely lasts long.
Breathing Problems and Nighttime Grinding
If your baby or toddler grinds mostly during sleep, it’s worth paying attention to how they breathe at night. Research consistently links sleep grinding in children to snoring and narrowed airways. Children with enlarged tonsils, restricted tongue mobility, or chronic nasal congestion have dramatically higher rates of sleep grinding. One study found bruxism in over 90% of children with those airway-related conditions.
The connection works like this: when a child’s airway narrows during sleep, the body briefly rouses itself to restore normal breathing. That arousal triggers jaw muscle activity, which produces grinding. So the grinding you hear may actually be a side effect of your child struggling to breathe comfortably. If your baby snores regularly, breathes through their mouth, gasps during sleep, or sleeps with their neck extended, the grinding could be tied to an airway issue rather than teething.
Practical Ways to Reduce Grinding
There’s no medication recommended for infant or childhood bruxism. International pediatric dental guidelines explicitly state there isn’t enough evidence to support drug-based treatment for sleep grinding in children. Instead, focus on these approaches:
- Address teething discomfort directly. A cold washcloth, chilled teething ring, or gentle gum massage gives your baby a healthier outlet for that pressure sensation and can reduce the urge to grind.
- Build a calming bedtime routine. A predictable wind-down period with dim lighting, quiet sounds, and minimal stimulation lowers overall tension, which can reduce nighttime grinding.
- Check for nasal congestion. A stuffy nose forces mouth breathing and narrows the airway. Using saline drops, a cool-mist humidifier, or keeping the sleeping environment free of allergens can help your baby breathe more easily and grind less.
- Watch for stress or anxiety in older toddlers. Children under five rarely grind because of psychological stress, but toddlers going through big transitions (new sibling, new daycare, schedule changes) sometimes do. Addressing the source of worry directly tends to help more than trying to stop the grinding itself.
For daytime grinding, distraction is your simplest tool. If you notice your baby clenching or grinding while awake, redirect their attention with a toy, song, or activity. Most babies lose interest in the behavior once the novelty wears off.
Will Grinding Damage Their Teeth?
Baby teeth are softer and less mineralized than adult teeth, which means they do wear down more easily from grinding. Some of that wear is actually considered normal. Between ages three and five, mild wearing of the chewing surfaces helps the jaws grow and develop properly.
Problems arise when the grinding is intense, frequent, and prolonged. In those cases it can cause visible flattening or chipping of teeth, jaw pain, headaches, and soreness in the muscles around the face. But here’s the reassuring part: grinding rates drop significantly around age nine or ten, and most children who grind as babies or toddlers do not carry the habit into adolescence or adulthood.
Signs That Need a Closer Look
Most grinding doesn’t need professional intervention, but certain patterns deserve attention. Bring it up with your child’s dentist or pediatrician if you notice any of the following: teeth that look noticeably flat, chipped, or worn down; your child complaining of jaw pain or headaches (in older toddlers who can communicate this); difficulty opening the mouth wide; regular loud grinding during sleep combined with snoring or gasping; or grinding that persists well beyond the teething phase without any sign of easing up.
Pediatric dental guidelines recommend a case-by-case approach. For some children, no active treatment is needed beyond monitoring. For others, especially those with airway issues, the dentist may suggest evaluation by an ear, nose, and throat specialist. In children with a narrow palate contributing to breathing difficulties, a palatal expander can improve airflow and has been shown to reduce grinding as a result. Clinicians should also ask about acid reflux (GERD), since stomach acid reaching the mouth can cause tooth wear that mimics or worsens grinding damage.
A pediatric dentist can distinguish between normal developmental wear and the kind that signals a problem. If your family dentist isn’t sure what they’re seeing, a referral to a pediatric specialist is the standard next step.