Still can't brush DS's teeth - help!

traveltheworld

We've been trying to help DS brush his teeth for months, and he hates it.  So for about 6 months now (he is 21 months), we've been letting him brush his teeth himself by using one of those soft toothbrushes where you can just suck on it and move it around a bit.  But as he is getting older and getting more teeth, we really want to brush his teeth for him to make sure it's being done properly.  Oh and I also noticed that his two front teeth seem to have a bit of yellow coloration, so now I'm super concerned.  Well, it's been 3 days of trying to get him to brush his teeth, all to no avail.  Things we've tried so far: got him a "big boy" toothbrush, made a big deal of it, let him brush our teeth, stood in front of the mirror to try and brush together, sang songs, tried to make it fun, offered stickers, read books about brushing teeth - all to no avail.  Finally tonight I gave up and told DH to just told him down - that didn't work either, since DS is amazingly strong and he just twisted and turned and I couldn't get in there with the toothbrush.  I'm at a loss.  Help?

sunshinedaisies

What we do when he isn't wanting to cooperate is one of us holds him with the toothbrush while the other makes him laugh. While he's laughing we brush his teeth! He gets what we're doing but doesn't mind because he is distracted by the parent's silliness. Then we give him the brush and let him do it himself. Whatever it takes! Lol

minervacullen

I made up a brushing teeth song. After I do it she does it.

twinkletoes3126

At night we brush his teeth while he is in the bath tub and he doesn't mind at all. However, the morning is sometimes a battle. One thing that helps is that I have 2 toothbrushes for him, and I let him hold one while I brush with the other.

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traveltheworld

We are not adverse to holding him down, but when I tried that again this morning, he just bit on the toothbrush so that I couldn't move it around.

=Lee=B

Are you using toothpaste?  My 13month old loves the taste of the infant toothpaste...so much so that she loves to have her teeth brushed so she can taste it.  I know they don't need toothpaste at this stage...but I figure it's safe to swallow and if it allows us to get in the habit of brushing then it's all good. 

Nformed

Take your

MomIn2013

pavlovcat said:

I use Jack n Jill natural baby toothpaste, which is freaking delicious.  I put a tiny dot on her toothbrush when she's done with dinner and then back across the room.  I then approach her at a gallop like a horse which makes her laugh and open her mouth.  I get as much brushing done as I can (usually about 3 seconds) before she clamps down on the toothbrush like a pit bull, I then dance in a circle and wave my arms around saying, "yayayayayayayay!"  This makes her laugh some more and I'm able to remove the brush from her mouth and start the whole process over again.  We do that about 5 times and then she sits there and chews on the brush for a while.

And then I let her out of the high chair and feel like a horrible mom because that only happens once a day and I'm convinced all her teeth will rot out of her head by the time she's in preschool.

O.k., I'm sorry, but that visual is just freaking hilarious! Might need to try some variation of that with my DS...
)

babygirlva2013

DD started out screaming and hated getting her teeth brushed, but it's gotten so much better. I sit down and hold her while my hubby brushes her teeth. He found an Elmo video on YouTube that is a song about teeth brushing, and DD loves it! After my hubby brushes her teeth she gets to do it herself...sometimes we give her a peice of dental floss too to play with. She likes the taste. Good luck!!