How do you brush a 10 month olds teeth when he HATES it?

[ILikeYourSleeves]

DS has only had teeth for about 3ish weeks now and used to be OK with toothbrushing (probably the novelty) but now it's quite a battle. I have to hold him and clamp his arms while I try to get the brush in but he purses his lips and wails (which is when I quickly get the toothbrush in!). I try to sing songs about brushing teeth and I give him the brush to chew too but he doesn't always chew where his teeth are. I also let him see me brush my teeth and try to get him to 'brush' my teeth. He still seems to hate it though!

Any tips for a very squirmy baby?

[BettySwollux]

In the same boat, so will watch with interest for answers.
DS2 (1yo) has never liked his teeth cleaned, will let you do 2 seconds then wails and whips brush from my hand.
I let him chew on the brush, thinking that its probably better than nothing, but it doesnt seem adequate.

[dinkystinky]

Distraction worked with DS - singing songs while brushing, giving him a toy etc. Also, try doing it in th ebath in the evenings (too many other things to play with to be bothered by toothbrushing). When DS hit 1, I let him "brush" his teeth first and then I would finish him off (still do)

[DiscoDizzy]

I didn't.

I chilled and just gave them both a toothbrush to play with. Babies always put stuff in their mouths.

[notnowbernard]

I continue to use restraint on dd2 and she has just turned 2. On occasion the job demands me and dp

Luckily, she yells her head off which allows greater acces to back teeth

I let her do her own in the morning but in the evening I like to do it. Sometimes she'll let me but mostly she has a mammoth tantrum about it

[mamaolivia]

When my dd first started getting teeth, I used to let her just play with the brush. Came a point though where it was obvious the teeth needed a much better clean. Had a good few months of battle, which I hated to do, but visualising her with rotting teeth and me being to blame kept me at it. As her language has improved started trying all sorts of encouragement to get her to comply and she now lets me brush them with very little fuss; is currently her showing me her tiger teeth and me admiring her sharp bright teeth

[jollydo]

With my 13 month old I mostly let him chew on the brush, and I do a quick brush top and bottom (he only has front 8 teeth) if I can. At this age I don't want to set up a big issue over teeth cleaning. I think the singing songs, making it a game could be the best option.
For slightly older ones I got an idea from my sister and it has worked well with ds1 from about 2. I pretend to look in his mouth for bits of everything he has eaten that day. I tell him he has to open his mouth wide enough for me to see. You can keep thinking of food or drinks and take a bit of time to get a good clean. We finish with a 'cheese' to clean the front ones.