Name: Barbara

Sydney, NSW, Australia

Number of kids: 2

Ages of kids: 6 and 2

Problem: My 2 year old is a reasonably good sleeper. Occasionally she has a restless night and comes into our bed 2 or 3 times a night. We put her back into her own bed so as not to start any bad habits (like we did with the first one). We have noticed however, that she grinds her teeth constantly during the night while asleep. I worry about what this is doing to her teeth and also what is causing her to do it. I have heard of adults doing this when under stress. She is a cheeky easy going 2 year old so I can't imagine she is under any stress. Has anyone experienced this in one so young?

Solution submitted by Jan from Springfield, Missouri: It sounds like your little girl is having an earache. Putting pressure by biting or grinding the teeth in the back of the mouth will numb the pain; try it sometime when you get a pain in your ear. Sounds like the doctor needs to check her ears for an infection.

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