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Brushing Toddler Teeth
HELP!! I need help with this routine. When DH was home I would have Clark sit in his lap while I brushed his teeth but now that DH will be getting home after DS is already in bed I need help on how to do this on my own. I tried it all tonight: sitting on the toliet, sitting on the ground, sitting in my lap, and laying him down. Basically none of these worked and I really hope Clark's teeth dont rot - lol!
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Re: Brushing Toddler Teeth
This has been an issue for us b/c Andrew's teeth are in bad shape. As in the dentist thinks he needs to be seen 3x/year to have his teeth scraped to keep from getting cavities from all the meds/reflux.
For a while we had to restrain him on the ground, which is terrible.
So this is one of our therapy goals for him - - we made a lot of progress recently with the following tips:
1) Have him sit on a counter in a bathroom. Have him face a mirror, his back to you. Letting him watch in the mirror helps.
2) I use my right hand to hold the tooth brush and secure his forehead against my stomach with my left hand. That motion naturally lends itself to opening his mouth - - that's what the OT showed us.
3) We give Andrew an electric toothbrush (distraction) while using another toothbrush (either style, electric does a better job if he can tolerate it) on his teeth. We let him do it himself, then do it for him, then let him finish himself.
4) Also let him observe you brushing your own teeth. Andrew brushes them on his own but more like bites the toothbrush and doesn't really brush so well, hence the plaque build-up.
5) See a dentist if you're getting visible plaque build-up. Ours was happy we went in when we did (1 yr) and said often parents wait too long.
We put stella on the edge of the sink so she can watch herself do it or attempt to do it! She likes to see herself in the mirror.
I have a follow up question...how old were your kinds when you first took them to the dentist? When I took Stella last week for a temp, the dr said we didn't need to worry about that until she's 2-2.5. Our friends have a little boy and he's 2 months older than Stella and he's already been twice.
Like Kathy, we sit Ella on the bathroom counter facing the mirror. She (a) loves to see herself in the mirror, and (b) does much better when she can imitate me and see herself while doing it.
I have to constantly say, "Say Ahhhhhh!" to get her to open wide enough, but I do it as quickly as I can and then let her play with the toothbrush on her own.
I'll admit that it took us until just this last month to be serious about it. She used to hate it, and I wouldn't even try. Now I'm making a point to do it every night, whether she likes it or not.
Amanda, I just got a letter from my dentist suggesting no later than age 3. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't earlier than that! I'm sure they'd love to take our money sooner than that, but I'll probably wait until closer to 3.