By what age do most kids stop believing in Santa and the tooth fairy
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
| Oooh, following. Most kids don’t start losing teeth until 5-6, so definitely after that. My 5.5 still believes strongly that Disney characters are real, let alone Santa and the tooth fairy. I’m going to guess 6-8, not accounting for older kids spilling the beans. |
Anonymous
| COVID helped with keeping the magic a little longer, but I think I will have to burst my rising 4th graders bubble before school in Aug. Wouldn’t want some mean little kid doing it. |
Anonymous
| None of my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews or my own children have ever believed in these things. What's so bad about "here's a nice present mom and dad got for you" |
Anonymous
This thread obviously wasn’t for you. |
Anonymous
| 10 yo son stopped believing in the tooth fairy in first grade, Santa Claus in third grade, though he does still play along with the latter. |
Anonymous
That "mean little kid" would be doing your kid a favor. |
Anonymous
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I think it just starts to occur to children in about 3rd or 4th grade.... hmmm.... perhaps this isn't true? perhaps there is another explanation? why are there so many Santas at the mall? Is there REALLY some little fairy who runs around putting $ in place of teeth?
and then they also are listening for you to slip up (as all parents do) and they put 2 and 2 together and.... I remember adamantly NOT wanting to disbelieve about Santa. I don't even remember learning about the tooth fairy, but I had to have, right? I also don't remember it being some horrible event, learning "that my parents lied" - it just.... became obvious to me as I listened to my parents' mistakes as they said "I found that bag on X catalog" when it was from Santa.... and listening to other kids.... and whatever.... |
Anonymous
| My son is 19 now, so he stopped believing in both of them a long time ago. However, he works in a daycare now and dresses as Santa Claus for the kids every year. |
Anonymous
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For many kids it is a dawning realization around 4th grade with decreasing degree of belief.
My brother definitely screamed and cried, accused our parents of lying to him, etc. Poor guy. Today he agrees Santa is fun and will do it with his own kids, so he can’t have been that traumatized. |
Anonymous
| My kid turned 9 yesterday and still believes in both. Going into 4th grade next year. It’s a Christian school though so I can see it going a bit longer than public. |
Anonymous
| I think it depends on how strongly your kids trust you and how curious they are in general. Most kids really trust their parents so if their parents are telling them those things are real, they will usually keep believing. I think many parents soften their language around age 6 and start asking questions. Around first grade is when the kids are sharing notes at school and most kids are clued in by 8 or 9. Past that age, I think parents have to intervene to prevent an uncomfortable moment and possible loss of trust. |
Anonymous
My almost-7 year old gets $1 per tooth (she's lost 6 so far), but her friends get all sorts of amounts, up to $20 per tooth (!) and even small presents. She's asked me why the tooth fairy gives different amounts to different kids, and I just shrugged and said all kids are different. She knows that monsters and unicorns and dragons aren't real, and I have a feeling that Santa and the Easter Bunny and tooth fairy aren't too far behind. |
Anonymous
| 7/2nd grade. |
Anonymous
My kids have always known Santa was a character, like Snoopy or Elmo. They believed in the Tooth Fairy when it was ... convenient for them. 
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