A fight when brushing teeth. Every. Single. Time.

Mrs.Greg · November 2012

My Fiona has gotten used to getting her teeth brushed and doesn't fight any more. In fact, she is so good and opens her mouth, I've started brushing her teeth in the morning as well as at night. Anna on the other hand, screams and squirms around like crazy!! DH has to hold her while I brush her teeth. But she's moving around so much, I worry about if I'm brushing them good enough. Also, it's impossible for me to brush her teeth alone so she still only gets them brushed at night when DH and do it together. We've tried giving her her sister's toothbrush to hold, that actually worked for several nights but not anymore. DH and I have both tried just brushing her teeth without holding her down, like to see if she'll just be willing. Nope. We brush her sister's teeth in front of her to show her how easy it is, doesn't matter. She's a very stubborn girl so this doesn't surprise me but it's gotta stop. Any advice?

Ms5586 · November 2012

Interesting! I've heard of parents letting the child brush their teeth while they brush the childs to keep their interest.

My son is the polar opposite, he throws a crazy tantrum when we stop brushing his teeth lol.

loganlac · November 2012

Maybe let her take the lead for a few nights or maybe sing some fun songs. I don't have much advice other than that - DD loves to brush her teeth or have them brushed but I sing and make funny noises too.

blueandgray · November 2012

Usually DD wants to do it herself (which means she mostly just chews on the brush), so its not efficient at all. I can sometimes get her to hand it to me so I can brush a couple times before she wants to do it herself again. I've tried brushing my teeth with her, and letting her brush mine while I do hers (sometimes works). Some days she'll let me do it for her if she has something else interesting in her hands (maybe a mascara tube, or my watch). We use a tiny dab of flavored baby toothpaste (Orajel) - maybe that will help you? I'm about to buy a 2nd baby toothbrush so she can still hold hers & brush, and I might be able to sneak in a few real brushes at the same time.

Right now, we are only brushing in the mornings - I'm hoping it gets easier!! But I think tooth brushing is one of the non-negotiables in toddler-hood. I'll let her make her own choices, and limit my use of No on other items. But this one is a must-do. Its just still a battle.

sharinfaith · November 2012

loganlac:
Maybe let her take the lead for a few nights or maybe sing some fun songs. I don't have much advice other than that - DD loves to brush her teeth or have them brushed but I sing and make funny noises too.

yep, this. dd and i "take turns". i sing the ABCs to her while i brush her teeth, then when i'm done with the song, it's her turn to brush while i sing. i sit her in front of the mirror so she can see herself, and she loves it!

also, if you're holding her down to brush her teeth, maybe she is getting a tooth in. it was a struggle when dd's first molar was pushing through a few weeks ago. i couldn't really make it through a whole song without a meltdown, so i just let her brush on her own.

i say, pick your battles. if she has a bad connotation to brushing now, then as she gets older and it "counts", she may have a long term aversion to it.

janinekrause · November 2012

I really wouldn't worry personally or force it. My 4 year old loves brushing her teeth but we really didn't start regularly till she could do it herself at 2 1/2. I talked to pedi and wasn't concerned.

kmb6881 · November 2012

DS just started being okay with me brushing his teeth last month. I also switched from the regular toddler toothbrush to the finger brush and he likes that so much better! Eventually we'll go back to a regular brush, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

sarahjulypsu · November 2012

We have had lots of battles with brushing teeth. We finally got two tooth brushes one for her to "brush" with and one for mommy. I let her pick one out at the store. She picked an Elmo and Abby one, that honeslty helped the most, she asks to brush her teeth now. She still gets mad when it's my turn.

If she is really fighting it sometimes she "brushes" my teeth. Also I find it helps if I let her "brush" her baby doll or her stuffed elmo's teeth. Good Luck. I know it's tough when they decided they don't want something.

TiffanyBerry · November 2012

My daughter is older, but she gets to watch Dora on my phone while I brush her teeth. Before that, it was synchronized diving on the iPad. She's totally cooperative if entertained.

dglvrk2 · November 2012

I agree that you should not force brushing.

My dad is a dentist. (He's also grandfather of five and father of two. Wink He recommends attempting to brush at least twice a day, but stopping at the first sign of a fight at this age. Eventually they grow out of it. Singing and/or letting them brush some are helpful. We let DD look at herself in the mirror and brush our teeth as well. Just try to get a final brushing in after the last food and drink of the day.

DD really doesn't like getting her teeth brushed either. Hang in there!

ElatedMom2B · November 2012

I am in the camp of not making it a battle. It is painful and can totally relate. All those that say signing with her, letting her have her own brush, brushing my own teeth, using training toothpaste, even using her sister's toothpasted, having her see her big sister brush her own teeth, using a mirror (which worked for a little while, she was interested to watch herself in the mirror), all to have to resort to holding her down at which point I gave up and realized that I am going to just cause a problem down the road. I give her a tooth brush and let her chew on it as much as she wants. I then try to get in there a little bit when she's all done, but she usually clamps right down, turns her head and won't let me near her. I thought at one point it was teething, but its been like this ever since she got her first teeth. I was also totally thrown because DD#1 was always a champ at brushing her teeth and never gave me a problem. I just keep trying and hope that some day, she'll just get it. She too is very stubborn and likes to do everything herself, so I just like to think that she'll get it one day and I'll never have to look back.

mrsseguin · November 2012

I started brushing LO's teeth while they were having a bath. They were too distracted with playing, they didn't care much.

Mrs.EMS · November 2012

SAme Strugglers here....We keep the toothbrush above the diaper table so that when we change her she wants to brush. (sometimes) We got her an electirc toothbrush that she loves. We single the brush your teeth song... Bottom line as long I get her to do it well once or twice a day I'm good with that. 1 battle at a time....

KariChadDora · November 2012

Teeth-brushing was a huge battle every.single.time with my older son till he was about 2.5 years old regardless of what we tried and we tried it all. He wanted to hold the toothbrush and do it himself and that was the only way we were going to get it in his mouth. Of course he mostly just chewed on the toothbrush or held it in one spot. We got him a cheap electric toothbrush and I feel like this helped save us in the tooth-brushing department. He would hold the brush in his mouth for several minutes, occasionally moving it around and with it being electric whatever area he was holding it on at least got brushed. We continued to try every day and eventually over time we were able to increase the amount of time he would tolerate letting us brush from 1-2 seconds to about 30 seconds now. We took him to his first dentist appt about 6 months ago, which was also a huge fight, and amazingly the dentist said his teeth looked great. Thank goodness!

diana.filipi · November 2012

We always held DD down and did it anyway. Good luck. It sounds like you already know that it will eventually get better. DD is nearly 3 and now she does the morning and we do the evening brushing.

SarahTx5701 · November 2012

I took my son to the dentist because he fights us every time and to my horror his teeth along him gum line is brown!! I was sure he teeth were rotted and it was all my fault. nope. Its from the crazy amounts of medicine he was on for reflux. I was practically crying at the dentist and telling him I didn't know what to do and he told me to not stress!! hand him the toothbrush every day and let him chew and "brush". Maybe try to wipe them with a washcloth if he will let me but not stress. You don't want to ruin it for them in the future they will only keep fighting.

Just my advice!!

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