Help w/teeth brushing

kgecoy

Hi ladies,

 

My 15 month old fights with me to brush her teeth. She screams & kicks to the point of it taking both myself & dh to get them brushed as quickly as possible. Any ideas to help this go smoother? TIA!

blushingbride_08

My lo is the same. He kicks, screams and is uncontrollable without help. He is 16 months. I've pushed back ds bedtime just so I can wait until dh comes home from work to help with the teeth brushing. We use an electronic toothbrush with flavored training toothpaste. One holds ds and the other (usually me) does the brushing. During the day I let lo brush his own teeth which I know is not really cleaning but just so that he can practice himself. I would suggest to be extremely diligent with the brushing bc my lo had a cavity at 15 months old. Previously I was allowing him to brush his own teeth 2x per day without my help. GL!

ashleynaka

We are younger and my LO loves teeth brushing (at least for now), but might I recommend one of those new toothbrushes that either sings songs or vibrates.  This might be enough to spark some interest.

eyenigh

ashleynaka said:

We are younger and my LO loves teeth brushing (at least for now), but might I recommend one of those new toothbrushes that either sings songs or vibrates.  This might be enough to spark some interest.

This. We got him an electric toothbrush and the experience was like night and day.

Amanda2011

We started letting her watch stuff on our iPads. She went from screaming bloody murder to opening her mouth for me. I still softly hold her arms down and brush. It's worth a try. There is an Elmo brush your teeth music video. She really seems to enjoy it.

cookie21880

We are going thru the same right now too our LO is 13 months and have a hard enough time brushing at bedtime we need to work in the morning. Tried a little toothpaste and that helped some we will have to pick up one of those electronic toothbrushes you all suggested! I know we have to give tough lovin even if she hates it so she doesn't have to pay later. Have any of you been to the dentist yet. I totally forgot to ask about that at our one year.

allardr

I hand LO a toy for her hands to be busy and she happily opens up. 

As for dentist mentioned above, I asked doc at 1year and they said to call your dentist and ask when they prefer to see kids. My dentist said around 3 years old.

kdjudd

If I use a flavored (fluoride free) toothpaste my daughter is much more willing to open up and let me brush her teeth. Usually I try to get them good first and then I let her have the brush to practice doing it by herself. I feel pretty good about how clean they get. 

BiscuitEater21

LO used to hate having his teeth brushed too, but then I tried brushing them while he was in the bath, now he doesn't care. It makes him even happier when I let him brush them himself, and we even got him an electric toothbrush and toothpaste he likes, so now he loves brushing. Any time of the day, without a bath needed

cookie21880

I wanted to follow up we ended up picking up an electric toothbrush for just a few bucks and LO loved it! I think it tickled she was all smiles it was so nice not having her fight me hopefully it will last!

vamomtobe

LO used to clamp his mouth shut and twist all over the place to avoid the toothbrush.  The dentist recommended holding him in my lap with his head in the crook of my arm.  I really didn't think it would make a difference, but it totally worked.  He still fights it at first, but he'll let me get in there long enough to do some real brushing.  Then I let him brush his teeth, which is pretty much just him sucking on the toothbrush, and he smiles and is so proud of himself.  Cuteness.