[dlhall]

I didn't think this day would come so soon. My dd who just turned 5 a month ago, lost her first tooth! When the tooth first became loose a few days ago, she was terrified--lots of tears and whinning, but now she is sooo excited!

Now DH and I are trying to figure out this whole tooth fairy thing. So what's the going rate? Any suggestions or ideas of how you handled this milestone would be appreciated.

Liz

[beckyww]

Julia, age 6, got a Hot Wheels motorcycle "machina." http://woodworthfamily.blogdrive.com...-2006_o-0.html

Usually we do small toys that cost maybe $3 - $6. Beanies are good. Lip gloss, journals, books - just something fun.

Becky
www.woodworthfamily.blogdrive.com

[Kasey]

Well, for our family (nephews) apparently the going rate now for the first tooth is $5 and other teeth $1.

Alot higher than the 25 cents I used to get!

[Abdulina]

Okay Liz, I might be able to help. First off, I have a drawer literally full of teeth. Trouble is, now I can't really identify who they came from --LOL. For our kids, it is the "mouse" that comes NOT the tooth fairy. This all started w/ Irina who told us the story of hte mouse that comes. --similiar to the tooth fairy. This was confirmed by Yana from Russia as well. NEVER had heard of it before. But, you have to leave a window open for the stupid mouse to come in. Quite a pain in winter. And the kids don't trust us to open it later either. Go upstairs in winter and it's freezing! Anyways, the mouse comes. BTW, if the mouse "forgets", it's b/c the window wasn't open or the dogs chased him away. I know, we're awful. Always remember the next day.

We take the tooth and the kids get 4 quarters as they think that is more than a dollar. We only give a dollar and not toys. Trust me, our kids have enough toys. (my parents just left this past weekend and now they have even more toys..urghh). They are thrilled and put it in their marble jars. It's our reward system jar. An allowance type system. They add the tooth fairy money to their other money and save up for things. So it works for us.

Bojan was mad the first time he lost his tooth. They were in the moonbounce and Alex kicked him stright in the face and out came the tooth. Didn't hurt b/c it was hanging their anyways. He was just mad b/c he thought the mouse wouldn't come w/out a tooth. So Irina wrote the mouse a note explaining what had happened. The one thing I don't yet understand about the whole "mouse" deal in Russia was that you are supposed to give them a new tooth to grow. All of them after the mouse came, were looking for the other tooth that was going to be a type fo replacement tooth. Anyone ever hear of this story? I'm curious. All our Russian kids ahve talked about the mouse and they are not even from the same regions. Just never heard any other parents mention it. Take pictures of your toothless wonder. It is really fun to look at the pictures. Alex lost his while the social worker was here a few months back.

Good luck w/ the tooth fairy. Remember, whatever you start as tradition, you have to keep up for years. Not ony w/ your daughter but w/ your son as well.
Best wishes,

[beckyww]

p.s. Put the tooth in an envelope or baggie before you put it under the pillow or wherever. Much, much easier for the tooth fairy to find. You can then label the envelope or baggie for quick reference later.

Becky
www.woodworthfamily.blogdrive.com

[thmc1215]

Great thread! Our family and friends usually give more money for the 1st tooth then a few dollars for the other teeth. My brother and I used to get silver dollars and half-dollars. I like the idea of giving coins vs paper money because it was different. We'll probably do the $5 for the first tooth and $1 for each tooth after that. I'm sure that if we gave $5 for each tooth, both DD & DS would be trying to pull all their teeth out to collect their money!!!

[jimpol]

You know we used to get half dollars and silver dollars too. Now you could use the Susan B. Anthony dollar coins. I always get them as change when I go to the post office. I never know what to do with them. I'll remember to save them for "tooth fairy" visits.

My 2 cents!
Polly

[angelkisses0102]

Oh Ari would be so jealous...I have no idea but knowing her daddy, I have a feeling the first one will may pay out fairly well. I love the idea of coins...

[waitinginnj]

There is another jealous one in NJ.

Although, I hope that her teeth stay in at least through one more Christmas picture.

[angelkisses0102]

Sorta OT but along this lost tooth line...is it true that the kiddos, like DD, that had their teeth come in late will lose their baby teeth later? I keep telling her it will probably be another year or so since she was toothless at a year old.

[mikeintexas]

Well, our kids get $5 a tooth plus a silver dollar. Della used to work at a bank and she would buy them as they came in... very cool in my opinion. The $5 is WAY too much, but unfortunately, we had a neighbor whose son lost his tooth before Taylor did and the neighbor's son got $5. However, the neighbor moved before the next tooth fell out, so Taylor was always under the assumption that he'd get $5. Mercy. We need the line item veto simply to handle the tooth fairy's outrageous budget in our household.

[SingleMama2B]

Hi Liz.....

When DD came home, she was already 8 years old, so I was still trying to figure out this too! She started loosing some of her baby teeth (already had some adult teeth).... So, for the smaller ones (not mollars, or front teeth) she gets $4.00 a tooth, and a detailed letter from the ToothFairy! Boy, this Toothfairy knows everything about DD's brushing, eating, and candy habits!! Almost scarey as DD says!

I agree with Becky.... Our Toothfairy likes the tooth to be in a small (snack size) zip lock baggie. That way, she is not making alot of noise, or hunting for it!!

DD loves for the Toothfairy to come. She said that in the "Russia house", they would get a Piece of Candy! O.k., That makes alot of sense DD Loves getting $$$ and putting it in her piggy bank I think that you just need to know what the PayScale will be over the next few years, since KIDS do NOT forget!!!

[momraine]

I was actually in Russia getting my daughter when my oldest son lost his first tooth. Well, it was too hard with the time difference for my mother in law to call me, and she said it was panic time, but my father in law decided to put a "golden dollar" under the pillow. That worked well and that's what we have done every since. (fil feels guilty enough he supplies me with them, plus the boys kept loosing them so I admit that they may have gotten the same one back a couple of times, because they would drop it on the floor and leave it) He gets them from the bank by a roll, so I have a supply for them. He was late getting teeth and late loosing them too. I felt like a terrible mother being in Russia when he lost his tooth and I also missed his 7th birthday on that trip. Little did I know that on that same day when I choose my daughter and my son was turning 7, that my youngest son was being born! Now I have to figure out how to do a shared birthday between a 7 year old and a 14 year old next year. I am thinking two parties, but one family dinner. Anyway, the golden dollars work around here, they are cool because they are different. Several of my friends have started using them too.

[DreamingAzure]

wow...My parents were bigger cheapskates then I thought!! LOL I got a quarter for my first front tooth, and a dime for every one after that...LOL I going to go with .50 for the first one and .25 after that...LOL just need to make sure ya'll don't live next door so my kids find out how cheap I am! LOL

[KimOH]

Originally Posted by DreamingAzure

wow...My parents were bigger cheapskates then I thought!! LOL I got a quarter for my first front tooth, and a dime for every one after that...LOL I going to go with .50 for the first one and .25 after that...LOL just need to make sure ya'll don't live next door so my kids find out how cheap I am! LOL

I got a quarter for my first one and a dime for each additional, too. I think "going rate" in our neighborhood is $5 for the first and $1 for each additional tooth.

We haven't lost any teeth at our house yet though. Karen -- I am not sure if there's a relationship between the age teeth come in and when they fall out. My DS had 6 teeth when we adopted him at 12.5 months old. He'll be 6 in September and he doesn't even have any loose teeth. His dental x-ray shows the grown-up teeth are developing down there, but no loose teeth yet. (I'm not complaining though. His baby teeth are beautiful, straight and perfect. I only hope we can be so lucky with the adult teeth.)