To stop brushing 18 month olds teeth

We gave DD (3) an electric toothbrush for Christmas and this has helped though yes, do still have to pin her down sometimes :/
The kids electric toothbrushes are supposed to be for 3+ I think, but a friend of mine gave hers one at 18m and said it stopped the fights.

Oranurse flavorless toothpaste and a vibrating toothbrush was a game changer for mine .

I used to hold my child up to the mirror in the bathroom cabinet in order to persuade her to let me clean her teeth. Everything's a phase! You need to brush your child's teeth though.

Google toothbrush mouth guard and thank me later

Yeah I used to hold him tight and brush his teeth. I'd sit him in front of me facing the same way, put my legs over him, hold him tight with one arm and brush his teeth with the other. Hes 5 and brushes himself most of the time. Sometimes I do a top up if he does a crap job or hold him still and brush them if he won't.

You can't just not brush them. His teeth will rot, and that will affect his adult teeth too. DS has one tooth starting a cavity already in one of his back teeth that I'm worried about. But my ex wouldn't ever brush his teeth and gives him fizzy pop in the night if he's thirsty so I'm fighting a losing battle as it is.

My eldest has been a big self-care refuser. But my stance is, you have to brush your teeth, hair, wash your body, face, hair. These aren't optional. You either do it yourself or I will but you don't get to choose not to look after your body and I'm not allowed, as your mother, to not look after your body.

This but also let him brush yours, and buy books about brushing teeth.

Don't worry too much about the full two minutes just now, the aim is to try to get him happier to brush.

Does he hate mint toothpaste? Get him to taste the strawberry paste. Also get him to 'brush' with his finger. Tell him to be in charge and tell you which ones to brush.

Set aside twenty minutes for it, do it much earlier so he's not overtired, try to make it fun. The whole family can do it together.

I was in this position and spent a few months using a different teddy every night as a puppet ie the teddy ‘held’ the toothbrush. I gave them each a different voice saying silly things and singing songs while I did it. Took effort but took the stress out of it for both of us and we’re now a decade down the line and haven’t looked back. Good luck.

I used similar to this (great for teething too!)…let DS do it himself then I ‘checked’ with brush to see what a great job he’d done!

https://amzn.eu/d/0aY7WQtz

Will he not do them while he's in the bath?

Have you tried his favourite character toothbrush etc? Show about an electric one?

Old fashioned reward chart and stickers with picture of a much coveted (small) new toy as the end goal?

Literally every toddler does this

he will not be traumatised from basic hygiene

you’re not pinning him down to give him a needle or something

do not neglect his teeth

we have similar struggles but tv does work for us - we obvs limit screen time but have to use it for her teeth as she had all of them by 18 months. We use the hey duggee, mr tumble, wiggles and other teeth brushing videos and we can get at least a minute done at a struggle!

Just persevere op. He wont be like this forever. Teeth brushing is non negotiable.

Can you let him have his own tooth brush to "do them himself" and even just chew on then you "finish it"? It's quite possibly a teething issue and finding a path through is the aim. But no you can't stop trying

Have you tried lying him on his back on the floor with his head between your legs? It's sounds cruel but it's not.

He has to brush his teeth. Wrap him up in the towel like a burrito and gently straddle him if you can't hold him with one hand. Tell him it is time to do teeth. He can open his mouth and we will do it quickly, or if not there will be less time for playing/stories/TV/park. He understands more than you think. Also worth explaining he needs to do them so they don't go black and get sore. He'll be much more upset if he has tooth decay and needs teeth out.

Letting his teeth rot would be neglect.
lay him down on the floor put your legs over his arms and go for it. It’s your responsibility as a parent, the tears of him needing teeth extracted will be far worse than this small battle

can you let him do it himself?