PLEASE tell me that brushing my sons teeth will get easier!!!!! He is 2 and a half and it is a nightmare, we've tried it all!!
We literally have to hold him down and restrain him to get to his teeth. He then bites down so we can't move the toothbrush, so it even takes longer and makes him cry more.
Last night I put him in a time out afterwards and explained that it is bad to act that way when we brush his teeth. He said sorry mommy and then did it again this morning. He is not teething either...he has been doing this since day 1. Don't know what else to do, but DH and I hate those 2x of the day.
Help?!
PPD/PPA Mom...it has been super hard, but I'm making it! Slow steps...
Mom to Carter (6), and Calianne (1).
Proud VBAC, natural birth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering momma!
Re: Help me brush DS teeth!!!!!!!
DD1 Feb 2010
DD2 Sept 2011
My new "mom" blog: http://realityofamommy.blogspot.com
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Notes:
Agree with PP's. I let DD have the brush first, because otherwise after .2 seconds all I hear is Tessa's turn. I was having some struggles so we started playing a game of fuzzy yellow teeth (in mean teeth voice) and magic toothbrush that wants to make them sparkle.
Or, I just let DH do it, she justs opens up for him...grrr.
I tell my kids that they have Food Monsters in their teeth and we need to brush them away to keep their teeth healthy. Sometimes I pretend that I see one as I move around their mouths, then play it up: "Omygosh, there's a food monster! We better get him! Whew, he's gone, your teeth are safe."
That works really well for us. Another tactic is singing a song (like the ABCs, or a made-up toothbrushing song) -- it seems to help them be less impatient because they know when it's done, the brushing is done.
They also get first turn at brushing and then I get to double-check.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
We let my son brush first for 10 minutes or so while we read stories, it mainly consists of him chewing on the toothbrush, but he's getting better about brushing a little.
Then we say it's our turn and we either need to look for fire trucks or school buses in his mouth or lately if I choose items from dinner saying I see some corn on the back of your tooth, or let me get that chicken he'll cooperate. He only cooperates 50% of the time, the other 50% we have to hold him down and brush while he screams and clamps down on his teeth.
There was a mom on the Parenting board for a while that was a pediatric dentist. We tried the process she mentioned and it's much more effective, I think. My DS also bites the toothbrush so hard it's almost impossible to brush anything more than just the front.
She called it the knee-lap technique and ideally you can have two adults involved. So, my DH places C on his lap, facing him likes he's giving him a hug. Then we lean C back so his hand is in my lap and I do the brushing. For some reason, C thinks this is super-fun but in the rare case he clamps down, you can gently and carefully put your finger back on their gums, behind the molars to get them to open. We've even successfully flossed in this position, seriously, a miracle!
Most of the time my husband needs to hold him down while I brush. I hope he becomes more cooperative with age because I hate holding him down but I don't know of any other option to prevent cavities.
Guess my last option is the spin brush?! Ty ladies :
Mom to Carter (6), and Calianne (1).
Proud VBAC, natural birth, breastfeeding, cloth diapering momma!
Same way - absolutely a nightmare - lots of yelling and crying every...single...time we brushed teeth! Until this happened (just this week)...we were at the grocery store and she saw a "cool" toothbrush with Ariel on it (it is one of those $6.00 spin brush kinds that I've never wanted to splurge for because I figured if she was going to fight to brush teeth I didn't want to spend the extra money on toothbrushes!). We brought it home and turned it on and she put it in her mouth. Ever since then she has been brushing twice a day with her "special" toothbrush and we haven't had a single argument!
The other thing that worked (the last night that we had just a regular toothbrush) was this...she was having a tantrum and not wanting to brush her teeth. Dad was skyping with a friend and she came into the room and sat on Dad's lap (instead of brushing her teeth...uugh!). I followed right behind her and handed her the toothbrush. She immediately started brushing and brushed for a really long time once she noticed that she could watch herself brush on the video screen. I don't know what the difference is between watching herself brush in the mirror and watching herself brush on the tv on the computer screen, but it truly made a difference.
Good luck!
we have a toothbrush he likes
tell him open wide to show us his dinosaur teeth and we "roar" with him.
or we do "ahhhs": in different pitches that he tries to match.
he gets a turn after i (or DH) do it if he asks for it.
we also floss his teeth and i'd say most days he's pretty good..
good luck tho!