Toddler teeth brushing ideas?

CABunny · August 2009

C fights me on it - not sure how to make the teeth brushing experience more pleasant for everybody? J was/is so compliant.....

CABunny · August 2009

I should add that I got him an Elmo toothbrush and I let him "brush" first and then I follow up.

hamilton.ja · August 2009

I tried the Elmo toothbrush, too, since DS had a big Elmo thing for a while. But what worked the best was letting him use our toothbrush - which was fine since we have an electric one and can change the brush heads. I asked our dentist if this was ok and he said it was fine, in fact it was better really. He did agree that we use the sensitive setting but that was it. The electric toothbrush heads tend to be pretty small and fit in his mouth just fine. He LOVES it. We told him initially that it was tickling his teeth and he thought that was funny. Before this toothbrushing was a nightmare. Ten minutes of holding him down - pure torture. But he takes/took iron supplements that would stain his teeth black so we really had to brush them!

If you don't have an electric one could you try getting one just like yours? Kids always like being like mommy and daddy... Someone else once suggested to me that you pretend to count their teeth and brush each one as you go. Never worked for us but could be worth a shot. Good luck!

SapphyrEyes · August 2009

I brush my teeth first in front of DS so he sees exactly what I'm doing. I make funny faces and am sloppy with the toothpaste suds. Then I do a quick pass on him and he usually opens up and lets me brush without clamping down and eating the tooth brush or running away screaming.

dieselmonkey · August 2009

this is my DH's thing. ?he will make a whole process of brushing his teeth. ?he pulls out both toothbrushes. ?put paste on his (and a scant amt of kid-friendly paste on DS's). ?puts them under water and then DS brushes while daddy does. ?occasionally DS will stop to just suck on it and DH will make the exaggerated motions and say "brusha brusha brusha". ?it usually gets DS "brushing". (DH does a quick brush to make sure they all got brushed). ?after he is done they wash the brushes together and then put it back (we have this tiger holder that suctions to the mirror). he would scream when we put the brush away, but once we let him put the brush away he knew brushing was over. then they come see me and i get to see how clean his teeth are.?

CABunny · August 2009

Great ideas ladies. I knew I could count on you.

hav2run · August 2009

We have been giving DD a toothbrush since 9 months. We also have her nearby every morning while we brush our teeth in plain sight and make a big deal out of it. Recently, she has been mimicking us, and we have found that it is the perfect time to hand her the toothbrush and let her play with it. She tries to do what mom and dad do, and I really think it is helping her build the skill for later. Just keep making a big deal out of it with lots of praise, and your DC will "get it" in the near future.

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