My parents never taught us to floss our teeth, and I really wished they had. I feel I would have not gotten cavities or had trouble with a bleeding gum line while pregnant, if I had flossed more when younger.

Like you, I have a young child. So your question interest me. I floss my son's teeth for him still. He is six years old. He isn't big enough to do this himself. I looked this up, for both our sakes, and the sites say that children are not able to floss their own teeth until the age of 8 or 9. Up until then, you should floss your child's teeth. According to Colgate, you should start flossing their teeth once two start touching each other.

I would floss her teeth, and tell her the steps as you do them. Then when she gets big enough to do this herself, she will already know how.

The site in the source gives step by step details on how to floss your child's teeth the proper way.

This is a very good question, because plaque build up starts right away and the sooner a child learns how to floss their teeth, the better. I know there are different kinds of floss out there. I would suggest getting the waxed, flavored floss (mint is probably the most refreshing) when starting your child with floss. For one, the smoothness the wax provides will make it easier to get between the teeth without worry that your child might cut the gums if doing it incorrectly. The mint flavor will make your child want to floss since it will taste good.

When starting out, first show them how you are doing in on yourself, guide them with the floss and do it for them at first so they can see how it's done correctly. Then monitor them and watch to make sure they are doing it correctly. I don't know an exact age, just whenever your child is up for it, each child matures at a different rate. I'm thinking along the lines of 4 or 5 years old probably though.

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