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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

teeth cleaning for toddlers

21 replies

riab · 04/01/2007 23:11

I'm sure this has been done to death but HOW do you get a toddler to clean their teeth?

DS can't talk at all yet and can't understand language either so reasoning isn't an option.

everything I read on 'baby tip' sites says 'stand firm and insist. How Do I do that when he just drops the toothbrush?

He will chew the brush a bit - often at the other end, he'll occasionally let me poke it in for 2 seconds or play at brushing if you do it too for another 2 seconds. But thats its. His breath stinks and i'm getting worried about his teeth.

If I try and persist he clamps his mouth shut and then screams if we keep going. We've been battling on this one for 6 months now. Started gently with just handing him a brush and us doing it too, tried showing him in the mirror too.
then 3 months ago when he got 10 teeth I decided we had to try ahrder, but that just resulted in tears.

OP posts:

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jeangenie · 04/01/2007 23:16

dh has worked out a technique with our DD, he does the brushing, but at the same time opens his mouth really loudly and says a really long AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. She invariably copies him and we get the brush in for long enough.

It is tough!

zephyrcat · 04/01/2007 23:19

I saw the dental lady today when I took dd and ds to see the HV and I asked her about the same problem with my ds. She told me that as long as he chews the toothbrush for a while the fluoride will get into his system and help the enamel on his teeth. Obviously to still keep trying to brush but chewing and playing is better than nothing

prettymum · 04/01/2007 23:20

dd is now 2.3 yrs. we used to sing with dd whilst brushing her teeth so she used to enjoy it. now she just copies me, when im brushing my teeth she'll demand her toothbrush and she copies my routine in the morning when washing my face.

in the evening ive got her used to brushing her teeth after her bath, so once ive lifted her up from her bath she looks for her toothbrush straightaway.

whilst i cream her body she'll brush her teeth. she lets me brush her teeth properly but i have to also pretend that im brushing my teeth with it aswell

essanel · 04/01/2007 23:38

I used to let my dd brush my teeth whilst i brushed hers! Also I let her choose the toothbrush at the shops

magicstaronthefarawaytree · 04/01/2007 23:51

a novelty electric tooth brush worked for me. took some time but much easier to position for quick shots at teeth.

ipodthereforipoor · 05/01/2007 00:09

headlock and wrap my legs around him I'm afraid!

oh and doing big AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH's, and saying I'm gonna paint this one brown, that one blue etc

also alot of just one more, one more, and agains!

mamama · 05/01/2007 00:24

We have 2 brushes - DS 'uses' one or tries to clean my teeth while I poke the other brush in his mouth & scrub at every available opportunity. Singing 'This is the way we brush our teeth etc...' to the tune of Here we go round the Mulberry Bush seems to help

If all else fails, it's the headlock, I'm afraid.

superloopy · 05/01/2007 00:48

I bought DD 2.6yrs a Braun electric toothbrush about a year ago and it seems to have done the trick. I reckon each time it touches her teeth it is cleaning something.

I tell her that I can see food stuck to her teeth that I need to get like what she has had for dinner etc which buys me time.

She likes counting too so I tell her I will brush her teeth up to ten then I drag out each number as long as possible.

Sometimes she copies me brushing my teeth which may also be helpful.

Good luck!!

superloopy · 05/01/2007 00:52

Forgot to add that I changed toothpaste too, began using macleans milk teeth toothpaste but after a short while she was refusing to brush. Changed to colegate smiles and she was happy to brush again (and still is most of the time)

HTH

riab · 05/01/2007 13:06

I'll try the aaaaaaaaaah and maybe a kids leccy toothbrush. He isn't into copying us that much but i'm crossing my fingers.
Good to know that even chewing the brush is some help

OP posts:

twickersmum · 05/01/2007 13:20

i did the headlock (2 of us, lots of screaming) for about a week - tons of praise when done as if she had been super co-operative, stickers etc... it didn't take long before she let us.
haven't tried an electric, but these toothbrushes were great this . Both of mine preferred this and i think it's easier to be gentler / less likely for them to feel hard plastic with it.

There other threads about this - i think someone came on and said the dentist said don't worry about it, teeth don't really decay at this age anyway. Just limit the sugary foods/drinks etc if they are not good at brushing teeth and cheese is good after meals.

mummyhill · 05/01/2007 13:38

DD (4) won't use mint toothpaste as it is too cold in her mouth so we use a fruit flavoured one and she tries to brush her teeth everytime we go in the bathroom. DS (15 months) is another matter I am opting for the headlock atm.

gracej · 05/01/2007 14:17

When we started having this problem, I did the headlock as well. I also bought him an electric toothbrush, and I made a game of it, tickling him or pretending that I was going to brush my teeth, or whatever.
He now LOVES it when I brush his teeth. It took a bit of time, but he really loves it now.

ipodthereforipoor · 05/01/2007 14:36

gla I'm not only one to do the headlock approach!

BettySpaghetti · 05/01/2007 14:49

DS (2.6) had a bath mirror for Christmas (Boots fish-shaped foam one) and we've found that if we give him the mirror in the bath and try and brush his teeth then, he happily opens his mouth and watches in the mirror (I'm not expecting it to be a longterm solution though!)

boo64 · 05/01/2007 21:33

ok here are our two strategies:

we tickle him and when he giggles we get brushing
dh (ok this is embarassing!) pretends to be a dog on all 4s and chases ds, tackles him (gently and holding him) to the ground and then gets brushing while ds giggles.

Strange but it works!!

UCM · 05/01/2007 21:36

headlock and pinch their nose to get mouth open. By this point, he is screaming so not much nose pinching needed.

Went through phases with this, he loved an electric toothbrush at first, then an adult one and now just hates it, but tough.

riab · 06/01/2007 18:57

glad to know headlock is a viable strategy! I think I'll stick with chewing except once his breath gets stinky. So once a week I'll do a headlock and full clean up.

OP posts:

treacletart · 06/01/2007 19:13

You could try a handpuppet - worked for us for a while - he may not like you doing it but might enjoy bunny/monkey or whoever doing it instead.

helenhismadwife · 06/01/2007 21:11

its so good to read that we are not the only ones to use the 'headlock' method

our dd (2.6) hates it and screams but her teeth look awful if we dont brush them regularly

brandy7 · 06/01/2007 21:20

stand behind ds aged 2.3 years,hold forehead, pull head back and scrub

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