Mum and Dad’s Guide to the Tooth Fairy

When your child loses their first tooth, it can be a pretty exciting event.

As traumatic as it sounds to us, children are actually quite happy to lose their baby teeth and get their big teeth in. However, with this, comes many many questions, some of which you may not be prepared for. So below is SAHM’s Mum and Dad’s Guide to the Tooth Fairy.

So you’ve lost a tooth?

Tradition states that when a child loses their tooth, they will need to place the tooth under their pillow at night. During the night, the Tooth Fairy will come and take away the tooth. In the morning, your little one will wake up with a present under their pillow in exchange for the tooth. Yep, sounds pretty creepy.

Where does the tooth go?

Well, that depends on your tooth fairy. Do you want to keep your child’s baby teeth in a keepsakes box or would you prefer to throw them out? When your children ask this question, it’s a good idea to have a story ready to go. My favourite is “the tooth fairy needs them for research” but you can go with anything really.

What will your child get?

Again, this depends on how rich and how generous your tooth fairy is. My tooth fairy growing up used to give us a dollar coin but the neighbour’s tooth fairy brought him a five dollar bill. I suppose his teeth were a lot bigger than mine. You can expect note comparison when it comes to school children and losing teeth. Again, it’s best to have a good excuse ready to go.

If you don’t like the idea of giving out money to a seven-year-old, you can try chocolate coins, a small present (like a match box car), a special bowl or spoon set, a small figurine to add to a growing collection or even a new toothbrush. Try to use some consistency and don’t go backwards in how much they receive. After all, even at a young age, kids know a thing or two about inflation. They will be pretty choked to receive only one dollar for a tooth after the last three teeth paid our two dollars each.

Is the tooth fairy actually real?

It is understandable that kids can be sceptical about the wheelings and dealings of the tooth fairy. So why not add a trail of glitter from the window sill to the bed to help trigger their imaginations?

Tooth Fairy Phobias

Some kids are pretty switched on and find that a glittery tooth-stealing fairy coming into their bedroom at night is terrifying. If your kids are afraid of the tooth fairy, then why not set up a special jar on the kitchen table for the tooth fairy? She can take the tooth in exchange for a treat without hovering over their beds or parading around the house leaving glitter?

How come the tooth fairy didn’t come?

Yes, we all make mistakes and sometimes exhaustion wins out over our tooth fairy duties. If the tooth fairy forgot to make an appearance and your child wakes up in the morning with tears in her eyes and a rotting tooth under her pillow, then here are some excuses:

• Blame the weather: ‘the tooth fairy cannot travel during rainy/windy/perfectly clear night.’
• Mistaken bed: quickly hide some money under your own pillow. ‘it looks like the tooth fairy got mixed up.’
• Mail Mix up: write a quick note from the tooth fairy addressing your child and offering an apology from not coming (caught up in a glitter storm) and pop it in the mail box. Have your children check the mail and receive the letter.

How do you tell your kids about tooth fairies?