brushing teeth

mrspresley

just wanted to say thanks to those who offered up tips to me when I was having trouble introducing the toothbrush to Miss A.   I had made a point to brush my own teeth in front of her so she'd be ok with the idea, but every time I got her toothbrush near her, she'd freak out!

well,  after reading the tips on this board, it occurred to me that I had never used her toothbrush on myself.... so, after I tried to get her to brush her teeth and she emphatically said "no!" I took her toothbrush and pretended to brush my own teeth with her toothbrush (never actually had to even put it in my mouth, just in front of my teeth LOL), saying "look, mommy is brushing her teeth."  well - it worked! she instantly grabbed the toothbrush from me and stuck it in her mouth! ever since then, she has loved brushing her own teeth! (I still do a once over myself since she obviously isn't very good at it yet)

I also wanted to mention....  I know we all receive a lot of "crazy" unsolicited advice as parents but here is a scary piece of unsolicited advice....never let your child run around while holding a toothbrush.  I know that sounds ridiculous, right? But a 3 yr old child in our community was running around while he was brushing his teeth and fell..... the toothbrush went straight up through his mouth, into his skull and into his brain and he was instantly rendered brain dead   I know it sounds crazy and the odds of something like that happening are pretty slim, but when it happens to your child, it's obviously very devastating.  so even though it sounds ridiculous that a toothbrush could be harmful, please be careful.

MrsZiz

Glad to hear that Miss A is enjoying brushing her teeth. We still struggle off and on with it. I think she's just SO tired by the end of the day since it's summer and we're spending lots of time in the fresh air. Besides that we're back into a routine since I'm back at work so there's no sleeping in for her  

vanilla15

Oh my goodness.  I almost just choked reading that about the little boy.  That is truly unbelievable.   A complete, freak accident for sure, but still good to know.

 That is great about Miss A.  We haven't started brushing teeth yet, but we need to start.  My Miss A has 3 teeth with the 2nd top one making its way out now.

mrspresley

vanilla15:

Oh my goodness.  I almost just choked reading that about the little boy.  That is truly unbelievable.   A complete, freak accident for sure, but still good to know.

 That is great about Miss A.  We haven't started brushing teeth yet, but we need to start.  My Miss A has 3 teeth with the 2nd top one making its way out now.

we started with just a washcloth and she was fine with that...it was just the actual toothbrush that scared her at first!  if your LO has a few teeth now, i'd say start with the washcloth so she gets used to you putting something in her mouth regularly

SanHawaii08

omg, if i didn't know you and think you were a lovely, sane, smart friend, i would have thought you were totally crazy and spreading urban myths with that story!  that's horrible

yay for miss A brushing!  i guess i should start with a washcloth.  we have 2 teeth!  the prospect of needing to brush his teeth makes me feel like E is really growing up...  i remember thinking everyone else's 7, 8 month olds were so "old", and look where we are already! 

MrsNJSwimmer

wow, I never thought about it being that harmful, but I don't let him run around with it like I wouldn't let him run around with a lollipop (if he ever had one, lol)... just seems like a choking hazard and potention for all kinds of bad things.

That poor family!

vanilla15

mrspresley:

vanilla15:

Oh my goodness.  I almost just choked reading that about the little boy.  That is truly unbelievable.   A complete, freak accident for sure, but still good to know.

 That is great about Miss A.  We haven't started brushing teeth yet, but we need to start.  My Miss A has 3 teeth with the 2nd top one making its way out now.

we started with just a washcloth and she was fine with that...it was just the actual toothbrush that scared her at first!  if your LO has a few teeth now, i'd say start with the washcloth so she gets used to you putting something in her mouth regularly

I know you are right.  I need to do it b/c right now while she wants to put everything in her mouth, she wants nothing to do with me trying to get in there (like when she has a chunk of one of her books she has bitten off in there!).  I need to start prepping her for the toothbrush.

mrspresley

SanHawaii08:

omg, if i didn't know you and think you were a lovely, sane, smart friend, i would have thought you were totally crazy and spreading urban myths with that story!  that's horrible

I know, I never would have believed that unless I had heard about it firsthand! I just never would have believed something that seems so harmless could cause such a tragedy.