Attachment Parenting
E_sharp
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Tooth-brushing resistance
E_sharp
member
Obligatory disclaimer: Haven't been here in about forever, and wasn't ever really a frequent poster.
Now that's out of the way...
My three-yr-old will often refuse to brush his teeth, and I can't bring myself to sit on his chest and force a toothbrush in his mouth, but I also can't stand the thought of his little teeth rotting away in his skull. I've tried making a game out of it ("show me your crocodile teeth"), I've tried reasoning with him ("don't want your teeth to get sick"), but some days, not a damn thing will work.
Any ideas? Am I just worrying too much?
TIA.
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Re: Tooth-brushing resistance
My kid isn't as old as yours, so I assume a three year old will fight much more than an 18 month old! However, the way we do it is I give him a toothbrush to "help" brush his teeth with and I have one to actually brush his teeth with. Then we floss if he's not fighting me too much that day. He gets the treat of carrying around the flosser when we are done for a good ten minutes, which he thinks is awesome! For an older kid, maybe a paper that he can put a sticker on if he does it without a fight? For a three year old, I wouldn't do a "sticker chart", but just a normal piece of paper. I would pick BIG stickers. When the paper is full, you could trade it out for a fun activity or ice cream, etc.
On the days he doesn't cooperate even with a reward, I would totally sit on him though. Teeth brushing is non-negotiable at our house.
The only thing that has affected my 2 year old and her letting me brush her teeth was showing her the elmo teeth brushing song on you tube.
I think seeing other kids brush their teeth - and elmo singing an annoying song - made her think it's ok to brush her teeth. She will do it on her own while I brush my teeth, and then let me do a quick once over. I'm working up to more time with me brushing her teeth - but it's been a drastic improvement from her screaming and rolling around on the floor while I tried.
There's a great Wonder Pets episode where a crocodile needs his teeth cleaned.
There's a great tag line in it- "Teeth that get dirty get really hurry". We use this every night when brushing...Oh, and our DD hates toothpaste. When I just use water on the toothbrush, it makes our lives so much better!
Keep fighting the fight. It's worth it!