Does your LO hate having his/her teeth brushed?

OpheliaChem · April 2012

Mine does. The tooth decay post got me thinking about this. We started brushing her teeth at 7 months and she was fine with it then...she would open wide and let me brush her teeth and gums. But for the past month or so, she is give or take on having her teeth brushed. Most days I can make one swipe over her gums and she gets mad and wants to take the toothbrush away, just to play with it. But some days, like today, she won't even let me near her mouth. I'm sure this is normal, maybe she is teething or just isn't feeling like having her teeth brushed.

Does your LO go through phases like this? I would feel better about it if I knew I wasn't the only one who goes several days without being able to brush LO's teeth!

heie0008 · April 2012

That post got me thinking too. LO HATES to have her teeth brushed. She sees me coming with the brush and she starts crawling and squirming away from me. It's a lot harder now that she is so mobile (and strong! haha). So, we barely get one brushing in every couple days. But, since reading that post I am going to put my foot down. I know SHE doesn't like and I don't particularly love wrestling her to do it ...but we are going to get it done!

mrsmullins0500 · April 2012

I usually sing a silly song about brushing our teeth while I do it and it gets him distracted enough to let me get them brushed. He only has two, though, so it may be harder when he has more. I usually just do a quick brush over his gums too.

Jills83 · April 2012

My DS used to be fine when I'd brush his teeth. He would open wide and lay still. Now it is like trying to brush my dog's teeth (which is insanely difficult). He turns his head away and moves his tongue over top of his teeth so I can't get to them. I usually get about 1-2 swipes before I give up. Babies are so strong. LOL!

I know right now he has 2-3 new ones popping through, so he might be in a little pain. I keep trying every night and I make sure to give him some sips of water at night to at least "rinse" his teeth after dinner.

OpheliaChem · April 2012

Ok so I'm not alone! Phew! I want to wrestle her until she lets me brush her teeth but I just can't do it. I don't want to hurt her and she is too young to be bribed :-D I like the idea of rinsing with water. Maybe I will give her a sippy cup with water after her bedtime bottle.

cassoppea · April 2012

Mine hates it too and most of my patients' parents say that even their toddlers don't like it. So unfortunately for many kids, you just have to force it.

cassoppea · April 2012

OpheliaChem:
Ok so I'm not alone! Phew! I want to wrestle her until she lets me brush her teeth but I just can't do it. I don't want to hurt her and she is too young to be bribed :-D I like the idea of rinsing with water. Maybe I will give her a sippy cup with water after her bedtime bottle.

If you don't like wrestling her you may not end up brushing her teeth until she's like 4 or 5. Many kids don't like it. But starting early with brushing habits promotes good brushing habits later on. I know it's hard to force your child to do something but it doesn't hurt her and its inportant! And water doesn't do much - you need to actually manually remove plaque and debris from the teeth.

OpheliaChem · April 2012

cassoppea:
OpheliaChem:
Ok so I'm not alone! Phew! I want to wrestle her until she lets me brush her teeth but I just can't do it. I don't want to hurt her and she is too young to be bribed :-D I like the idea of rinsing with water. Maybe I will give her a sippy cup with water after her bedtime bottle.
If you don't like wrestling her you may not end up brushing her teeth until she's like 4 or 5. Many kids don't like it. But starting early with brushing habits promotes good brushing habits later on. I know it's hard to force your child to do something but it doesn't hurt her and its inportant! And water doesn't do much - you need to actually manually remove plaque and debris from the teeth.

Good point. If the dentist says I should force her to brush her teeth, I will do it :-) So I should just force the toothbrush in her mouth, no matter how much she screams?? I guess I will make DH help, since I don't want her to be mad at me and associate mommy with the evil toothbrush ;-)

MommaG123 · April 2012

C isn't a huge fan of it but she doesn't really scream. My main problem with her is she bites down on the brush and won't let go.

The best way I've found to do it is sit her on the bathroom counter facing the mirror. Then I stand right behind her and lean her head back. She's really good about her bottom ones, I put my finger on her chin and open her mouth and she lets me brush the lowers well... then when I try and get the top ones she bites down. I just keep on trying though.

Maybe try giving her something else to distract her with while you're brushing? So she won't grab for the tooth brush?

OpheliaChem · April 2012

MommaG123:
C isn't a huge fan of it but she doesn't really scream. My main problem with her is she bites down on the brush and won't let go.
The best way I've found to do it is sit her on the bathroom counter facing the mirror. Then I stand right behind her and lean her head back. She's really good about her bottom ones, I put my finger on her chin and open her mouth and she lets me brush the lowers well... then when I try and get the top ones she bites down. I just keep on trying though.
Maybe try giving her something else to distract her with while you're brushing? So she won't grab for the tooth brush?

My DD doesn't scream either unless I force the toothbrush in her mouth, which is of course why I don't like doing that :-) We brush in front of the mirror and I brush from behind while she looks at herself. I've tried giving her something to play with, I've tried singing, I've tried having DH distract her. Nothing works consistently. Its always hit-or-miss. I have the best luck when she is tired and just opens up!

cassoppea · April 2012

Does she like brushing herself? I give A the brush after we're done so she gets to do it too - that usually calms her down afterwards. What I do with A is I lay her down on the bed or on the floor and I sit behind her. I give her something to hold and play with while I brush and we usually sing. She usually just struggles, but occasionally will yell her disapproval. I guess I'm used to getting kids to open so I don't usually have a problem with that. You can gently put your finger towards her molar area so if she does try to close or chew the brush, that will stop her enough so you can still see her front teeth and get in there. A only has 4 teeth so the whole process is about 30 seconds.

DramaMama06 · April 2012

J likes to do it hmself too.

vigurl · April 2012

Thanks for the tip everyone. I have to get better at making this part of the night time routine. I just hate it b/c LO hates it.

Sa2827 · April 2012

I started at 4months with a cloth going over her gums... and when she got teeth currently only two we started brushing i do this at tubby time and sing a silly song she would let me do it and then id give her the brush and she would get her gums and do the rest! i was lucky for a little while and then starting two nights ago she is pushing the brush away from her mouth with her tongue, but im forcing it while signing. She doesnt scream or anything but i cant imagine when she gets more teeth!

klv · April 2012

Hmmmmm. Hannah has no teeth yet so I haven't had the pleasure of doing this yet. She does think its funny when I rub something on her gums though. I should prob start brushing her gums though just to get into the habit.

Telly21182 · April 2012

Ty loves it. I start out by doing it for him while he's holding it, and then he "finishes" himself. He looks so proud too!

OpheliaChem · April 2012

cassoppea:
Does she like brushing herself? I give A the brush after we're done so she gets to do it too - that usually calms her down afterwards. What I do with A is I lay her down on the bed or on the floor and I sit behind her. I give her something to hold and play with while I brush and we usually sing. She usually just struggles, but occasionally will yell her disapproval. I guess I'm used to getting kids to open so I don't usually have a problem with that. You can gently put your finger towards her molar area so if she does try to close or chew the brush, that will stop her enough so you can still see her front teeth and get in there. A only has 4 teeth so the whole process is about 30 seconds.

And this is why I could never do your job! I'd probably sit there and cry with the kiddos. But I'm glad there are people like you :-)

I will try the molar trick. DD has 7 teeth (and one on the way) so I never feel l like I clean them well enough. Tonight I'm going to try sitting (or laying) her down in her room, instead of the bathroom. And I will use my finger to help hold her mouth open and brush those suckers the right way!

OpheliaChem · April 2012

DramaMama06:
J likes to do it hmself too.

When DD does get the toothbrush, she puts the wrong end in her mouth. Not very effective for brushing :-P

amypogg6 · April 2012

Em used to love it when she was 7 months old. But once she became about 9 months, she gets excited at first and lets me do the bottom, but when I start the top, she wants to suck the water off. If I say Ahhhh, she'll do it too and i'll get her top. I do that a few times and keep adding water to the toothbrush, so she can suck on it too. She's funny. Oh, and she also sits on the vanity with her feet in the sink and I stand behind her. I enjoy it for some reason.

OpheliaChem · April 2012

amypogg6:
Em used to love it when she was 7 months old. But once she became about 9 months, she gets excited at first and lets me do the bottom, but when I start the top, she wants to suck the water off. If I say Ahhhh, she'll do it too and i'll get her top. I do that a few times and keep adding water to the toothbrush, so she can suck on it too. She's funny. Oh, and she also sits on the vanity with her feet in the sink and I stand behind her. I enjoy it for some reason.

If DD would cooperate, I would enjoy it too :-P Seriously, though. I have no cavities. Not a single one. Which is why it drives me batty that I can't brush DD's teeth!

rainstar752 · April 2012

This is bad, but I haven't once brushed LO's gums. She doesn't have any teeth yet, and while I know you should start early anyway, it seems like a lot of work/torture to go through for no teeth.

JuneBugsMommy · April 2012

Unfortunately I can't relate, DS loves to have his teeth brushed and he likes to "brush" his own teeth, chew on the toothbrush.

DreamChaser246 · April 2012

LO used to love his gum massage (as I call it). I have switched back to using a wet washcloth. Though I have noticed when a tooth is close to coming in, and his mouth hurts, he doesn't want anything to do with brushing teeth. Otherwise he likes it. It may just be the tooth coming in.

sunset+skies · April 2012

I know this won't work once D has more than just front teeth, because it will be too big, but because I have to use a soft-bristle brush, I brush my teeth first, and the D is more than willing to open his mouth.... for my toothbrush. So, gross as some people may think it is, I rinse my own brush really well, then use it for his teeth. Once he's got more teeth, I'm going to try and find a baby toothbrush similar looking to mine and pull a switcheroo.

MrsI · April 2012

sunset+skies:
I know this won't work once D has more than just front teeth, because it will be too big, but because I have to use a soft-bristle brush, I brush my teeth first, and the D is more than willing to open his mouth.... for my toothbrush. So, gross as some people may think it is, I rinse my own brush really well, then use it for his teeth. Once he's got more teeth, I'm going to try and find a baby toothbrush similar looking to mine and pull a switcheroo.

In similar fashion I brush my teeth at the same time. I get my tooth brush ready and she gets all excited. I get hers ready and brush her teeth. After I do hers I brush my teeth while I let her brush hers. This has seemed to work the best. If I tried doing hers in her room with the diaper change she wanted no part of it but it seems like because I am doing it she WANTS to do it.

maddiemoon43 · April 2012

What are these "teeth" you speak of...?

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