Why Does My Child Grind Their Teeth at Night — and Should You Worry?

First, the reassuring part

It's a sound that stops parents in the hallway: a gritty, squeaky grinding coming from a sleeping child's room. If you've heard it, you're in very good company. Teeth grinding — dentists call it bruxism — is common in children, most kids do it without any lasting harm, and the majority simply outgrow it.

For most families, the job isn't to stop the grinding tonight; it's to know which signs mean a dentist should take a look. Grinding is common enough that it comes up constantly at pediatric checkups, and most of the time nobody would know if a parent or sibling hadn't heard it. Children usually aren't aware they're doing it, and it doesn't typically disturb their own sleep.

Why children grind their teeth

Honest answer: the cause often isn't obvious, and in many children there's no single cause to find. Factors that commonly play a role include:

• Teeth and bite in transition — as baby teeth erupt, loosen, and get replaced, the way the upper and lower teeth meet keeps changing, and grinding often rises and falls with those changes
• Normal sleep-stage transitions — grinding tends to happen as children shift between stages of sleep, which is why it comes in bursts rather than all night long
• Stress and big feelings — a new school year, a new sibling, a move; the same life changes that show up in behavior can show up in the jaw
• Breathing during sleep — grinding sometimes travels with snoring, mouth breathing, or restless sleep; if your child regularly snores loudly or seems to pause in their breathing, mention it to your pediatrician as well as your dentist

The good news: most kids outgrow it

Grinding is most common while baby teeth are in play and tends to fade as the permanent teeth come in and the bite settles — often by the pre-teen years. That's a big part of why pediatric dentists usually monitor rather than treat: baby teeth are temporary, and mild wear on them generally doesn't threaten the adult teeth waiting underneath.

Signs that deserve a dentist's look

• Teeth that look flattened, worn down, or chipped
• Complaints of jaw soreness, ear pain, or headaches — especially in the morning
• New sensitivity to hot or cold
• Grinding that's loud and frequent night after night, or continuing strongly after the permanent teeth are in
• Grinding during the daytime, which is worth discussing even without other signs

What a pediatric dentist can do

At routine checkups we look for the fingerprints of grinding — wear patterns, enamel chips, tenderness — and track them visit to visit, which is one more reason the every-six-months rhythm earns its keep. If grinding is wearing teeth or causing pain, options depend on your child's age and teeth: addressing anything in the bite that's contributing, coaching on wind-down routines, and in some older children with permanent teeth, a custom night guard.

Guards are a case-by-case call — they're rarely the answer for young children who are still losing baby teeth, which is why we don't reach for one by default.

What you can do at home

• Keep a calm, consistent bedtime routine — wind-down time, books over screens in the last stretch before bed
• Give worries somewhere to go: for kids old enough, a few minutes of “tell me about your day” can genuinely matter
• Don't wake your child to stop the grinding — it disrupts their sleep without fixing anything
• Mention the grinding at your child's next dental visit, even if it seems mild — it's useful to start tracking early

Quick answers for parents