To stop brushing 18 month olds teeth

I wrap my 16 month in a blanket with both arms down and pin her down and brush.

third child. I don’t feel precious about any more but I don’t remember my elder two being this bad. I wouldn’t absolutely not let teeth rot. The surgery to remove them is very painful

Pin him down he’ll be fine. We had to for my six year old when he was younger. He either doesn’t remember now or is so not traumatised that he doesn’t bother mentioning it. It was horrible at the time but now as horrible as it would have been to watch him have his teeth removed!!

See how traumatized he is after having teeth removed under anaesthetic

I used to lay my little ones across my lap with their head just off my leg, base of head supported by my leg. The gravity meant their mouths naturally opened and I would just settle for getting the brush and paste to touch all their teeth on tough days.

On my third baby boy now. No one is ever allowed to skip teeth brushing here. In recent years there has been a huge increase in numbers of children with rotten teeth that are painful and needing extractions. By brushing teeth you’re protecting him from this. Not brushing their teeth is neglect.
have you watched ceebeebees hey dugee tooth brushing song and episode ? The song is exactly 2 mins long to time a tooth brushing session.
i let mine pick their toothbrushes and paste in the shop.
let them do a bit themselves and then take over to ensure all teeth clean.
if totally refusing then wrap their body and arms in a big towel like a burrito or sandwich wrap, hold them in front of your chest, in front of the mirror and brush !
good luck.
if you’re in Scotland the nhs childsmile does the fluoride varnish from 2years old to help protect teeth also.

Lay him down on the bed with his head between your legs, pin his arms under your legs and so his legs can kick free. You have both hands free to hold his head still and brush his teeth. This has worked really well for me. I sing silly songs to him whilst I brush.

We have the same problem and have to tag team where one of us has him between our legs and brushes while the other entertains him and makes him laugh (raspberries on his belly, read a book in a really silly voice, pretend to gobble him up and absolutely anything else we can think of). It’s the only thing that’s really worked for now, and some days are better than others.

Have you tried a flavourless toothpaste, like Oranurse (search that word on Amazon and you’ll get to it)?

That made a huge difference to my DS.

Our dentist did say you have to just keep trying - if it ends up that you just get a bit of toothpaste in their mouth then at least you’ve done that. But I mean you have to try you best to do it properly, but don’t panic if on a particular night it doesn’t completely work - not to interpret it as “just put a bit of toothpaste in their mouth and have done”.

You can’t stop but you can take the pressure out. Try anything and everything for a few days.
Here we had/have a mix of:

• Taking turns to brush each others teeth while counting to 6
• A variety of brushes and he can pick who’s doing his teeth today (spiderman, paw patrol, Elsa etc)
• No teeth brushing = no park/tv/garden play etc
• Random tooth brush—along videos and songs
• Competitions - who can brush their teeth fastest? Who can make the most noise while you brush? Sing a song while you brush and the other needs to sing along.
• Totally random but my LO also likes to play dentist and vet. Dentist - lie on the sofa, I make a big fuss of asking him to say ah, open wide, shine a torch in there to have a look etc then talk about his teeth as I brush. Vet - very similar except LO pretends to be a dog, I pat his head and rub his belly while I brush.
• Brushing while in the bath/bed/sat downstairs.

It’s all silly nonsense and there will be days when none of this works but keep trying.

Oh also agree with a PP about getting a toy or teddy to 'hold' the brush! I also used to let her 'brush' mine whilst I brushed hers when she was about that age and I think that worked well

Can you not bribe him? Or distract him rather than force? Put something on on your phone or iPad that he loves to watch? I think there are loads of other options that do not involve force.

Yeah its horrible woman-handling them but necessary! My DD is 3, she has continously gone through phases of being a terror and letting me brush them no problem.

The vibe at the moment is running round the house and refusing to open her mouth so I do have to pin her. I also take her teddies away. And give her a sticker and lots of praise when she does a good job. She wants to do it all herself at this age but I still need to do a good job on them first before letting her have a go.

It's an absolute pain in the arse but teeth are non negotiable! The awful phases don't seem to last long in this house anyway so hopefully he'll be better for you soon 🤞

I think it’s really normal at this age. Hey duggee have a toothbrushing song I think - we used to play the video and song while brushing our shrieking squirming DD then gradually she got used to the process and calmed down. I think a regular song or video lets them know there’s an end point and makes it familiar.

Teeth cleaning is one of the few things I will die on a hill about. Its non negotiable. Either I do it or you do it but either way it gets done properly twice a day.

I used to wrap mine in a towel after their bath (hands & legs inside) & then do it for them if they wouldn't open their mouth nicely. They soon learnt that it was easier for then to open their mouth as I was doing it regardless.

Now, DC1&2 are adults with lovely teeth (not a filling between them) & DC3 (8) can still sometimes be a pain about it but knows Ill do it properly if they dont so does do it after a bit of a moan.

Start as you mean to go on - they won't remember all of this when theyre older anyway!

I lay my 20 month old down on the floor with my legs over his arms and his head between my legs. He hates it and screams and flails the entire time, but at least he has his mouth open!

DP and I also brush one other’s teeth in front of him and make it look really fun so hopefully he wants to join in

YABU, it’s literally your job to get this done. Woman up OP

That's a really nice expression. You aren't allowed to not look after your body and I am not allowed to not look after your body.

I'm going to nick that and use it :-)

I had to pin my daughter down at this age and persevere - her dad couldn’t bear it and would go out of earshot! She’s 44 now and never had a filling!

YABU, it’s a non negotiable and many parents have to pin toddlers/young kids down. Not brushing his teeth will result in tooth decay/pain/ potentially a general anaesthetic for removal and counts as dental neglect. It will get easier OP

You may well have tried this but DD likes to roar like a dinosaur (or like Raa Raa the Noisy Lion). And say "Duggeeee", "cheese" etc. At least it works on some days! Also, do they dislike the taste of the toothpaste? DD likes the brush baby apple one but wasn't keen on a minty one

Like someone else said it's a non negotiable. Rotting teeth are very painful and I'm sure if he hates the feeling of someone brushing he'll utterly hate someone prying his mouth open to do injections and drilling and wrench them out. Little kids also struggle with having the holes left behind when teeth are removed so get lots of infections, all this would be infinitely worse than doing the fight.

I used to lie mine down, head between my legs and arms pinned and I'd brush. Every time I'd give him the choice to do it himself and if he refused, it was lie down then I'll do it. If he ran I'd have to make him.

To be honest this went on until he was about 4 and he was cognitively able to understand his teeth would rot if he didn't do it. He's a super happy and lovely teenager with good teeth so I don't think he's been traumatized by it. If I asked him I imagine he'd say he's glad I made him as he's quite vain about his looks now and broken rotten tooth pegs would probably compromise that.