Teeth brushing

Tsgirl62307

This used to be such an easy task.  Now DS likes to suck the toothpaste and bite on the toothbrush that I can't brush his teeth.  Any advice as to how to get him to open and keep his mouth opened so I can brush his teeth.  I'm worried I'm not doing a well enough of a job because I can't move the toothbrush at all

Melanie.Brown

My DD has always been like that, all she wants is to suck the toothpaste off.  I started singing songs about brushing your teeth.  There's one by raffi that DD likes, you can find it on youtube, and if I can get her giggling I can get her back teeth really good.  And if she's not cooperating I just sit on the floor with her in my lap and hold her head still and do it while she's crying.  I'd rather have her cry for 30 seconds than for her to need dental work by age 3!

SportyChic24

DD sometimes does this so DH and I get out our toothbrushes and brush with her (so she can copy what we are doing - she loves to copy us) She has a toothbrush that when you push a button it sings a song (got it at Walmart) If I really feel that I need to brush her teeth and she won't let me I get out the finger brush. Yes the finger brush and I at least get a quick brush in before she tries to bite me!

desmerelda317

I allow DS to brush his own teeth 2 other times during the day (after breakfast and after lunch).  At bedtime, the routine is Mama brushes his teeth first and then he can brush them (which translates to chewing, sucking on the toothpaste, etc).  Sometimes he tries to fight me with the bedtime one and I don't get as thorough of a job done as I'd like, but for the most part he accepts the routine because he knows he'll get to do the brushing in a couple seconds.

Kristinmo

DS gets to brush his own teeth in the morning.  I do them at night and then he gets to.

We have an electric toothbrush with Thomas on it.  It made all the difference.  He now loves it.

DEBBIE33CASEY

Kristinmo:

DS gets to brush his own teeth in the morning.  I do them at night and then he gets to.

This is similar to what we do.  We sing, I let DD brush my teeth while I brush hers (she loves this for a little while). But I try to relax about it, too.  DD is not eating anything that's really sticky or chewy that will stick to her teeth necessitating a serious brushing.  She has things like grapes, rice, eggs, etc and they aren't sticking to her teeth like a gummy snack would (hence one of the bigger reasons we don't allow those).

More than brushing I worry about the milk she drinks before bed and make sure she gets some water in her mouth to wash down the milk.  I feel like at her age that will make more cavities than food possibly sticking to her teeth.  Or am I missing the point? Lol

kimberlyk921

Owen is really good about mimicking funny noises, so I will say "eeeee" and he naturally does a cheesey grin when he says it...then I do "ahhhhhh" so then he opens his mouth. I just do that over and over until I feel like they are clean enough.