To stop brushing 18 month olds teeth

If you have to force them so be it. He'll be far more traumatized having his teeth pulled out as a toddler. I know someone who let thier child refuse. At 4 she had to be put under all teeth pulled. Teased like crazy once she went to school.

OP 18 months is peak teethbrushinh refusal time. Don't worry too much.

We went through it with both of ours.

Try finding a non mint toothpaste as mint is really a strong flavour and not nice forever many children. I don't understand why chuld toothpastes still have mint, it's vile.

We tried literally everything with the first snd in the end we had to ride it out. It didn't last too long ss a phase.

Unless the child also ste nothing but sweets and had a genetic disorder, this is not a true story.
Cavities maybe but not all teeth pulled by.4.

he may be extra sensory and doesn't like the taste?
could be worth letting him try different flavour let him do his teeth and you finish them off
good luck

Can you try doing it outside the bathroom, or in the bath not sure why it worked for one of mine but it did. Also try doing it at other times of the day, he moght tolerate better if he's not tired

My DD was the same at that age and tbh I would occasionally have to force her. The idea of her baby teeth developing cavities is horrifying and sometimes we have to make hard decisions now for an easier life later. As others have said, find a kids toothpaste that tastes sweet rather than minty because the mint of an adult toothpaste can be super overwhelming for a child.

I didn’t force her every night, many nights she did it willingly. Now she’s almost 3 and still sometimes refuses but I find it I wait a little while and let things settle then try again 5 minutes later, she’s totally fine. Sometimes you get so caught up in the struggle on both sides it’s not about the toothbrushing anymore!

Next time he refuses, take a break and a breath (if it’s bedtime 5 minutes won’t matter), do something else like a story or play. Then try again but try to make it playful and fun. If it’s still not then I would force the issue. I know that isn’t popular but I’d rather she squeal for a bit than have her baby teeth rot out of her head. Also it reinforces that tooth brushing isn’t optional and making a fuss and having a tantrum won’t change anything. Good luck!

Both of mine were like this. You just need to toughen up I’m afraid. Teeth are non negotiable twice a day and the best method is to lie him on the floor with his head between you legs and use your legs to pin his arms down. Embrace the screams for when they open their mouth and just get it done. I promise he won’t be traumatised. Mine are 5 and 3 now and willingly brush their teeth and it doesn’t seem to have had any impact on them whatsoever.

I had to pin down my autistic son to brush his teeth and he’s not traumatised.I felt like a really bad parent at the time.

As the others said the alternative is getting teeth pulled under GA. Adult teeth are above milk ones so can become infected before they show up.

Persevere,it won’t last forever. Eventually they will cooperate 🙂

This is exactly what we had to do for 2 years! I would straddle him on the floor and hold his arms down while DH brushed his teeth. Wasn’t traumatised at all and let me brush them normally as he got older. We all laugh about it now!

YouTube has great tooth brushing videos which helped distract mine - the Bingo one particularly. And watching a video on my phone in the bathroom is a big treat.

We also got an electric toothbrush around 2 years old which she likes. Just one of the non rechargeable ones from Tesco which has a normal toothbrush head rather than a spinning one.

Also to reassure you I wrestled my screaming kids to brush their teeth every night for at least a year and they're fine with teeth brushing now (5 and 3 years). I still occasionally have to threaten the younger one with "easy way or hard way".

My sister has had great difficulty getting my nephew to brush his teeth. She ended up creating an AI video of his favourite character (Peter Rabbit) brushing his teeth, worked a treat!

We did most of this.

Try a different tooth paste, do you have mint or fruit? My DC couldn't stand mint as the flavour was much to strong.

It the brush too big or harsh.

Start with only cleaning the front ones you can see until they relax a bit more.

Then get them doing the front.

Lots of praise, stickers, etc. It takes time. It's about good habits at the minute. Does he go the dentist yet? And with you when you go?

I knew somebody whose father enforced twice daily tooth brushing with toddlers held firm in place if they were not willing. They didn't seem to resent their father, or have a dental phobia and they all did have great teeth. Their dad was built like a Viking though (and he was part Scandinavian.)

One of my children couldn't stand the mint taste. We ended up getting something that was fruit flavoured with sparkles I think. They were a lot happier with that than a mint flavour. Have you tried a character toothbrush? And encouraging them to finish off the brushing themselves. Keep the toothpaste to a minimum as well as the foam may be part of the problem.

One of my children had to have teeth extracted for orthodontic work. He sat in the chair and a single tear rolled down his cheek. The dentist refused to carry on and I had to find another dentist. Anyway, talking to my son it turned out that it was the taste of the numbing gel and the feeling that he was choking that was the problem. I arranged with the other dentist to use another numbing gel and that if my son felt he was choking he was to put up his hand and the dentist would stop to enable him to catch his breath. He was also heavily bribed. He only stopped the dentist once and it all went very smoothly and he couldn't want to go home to get his hand on the promised video games. I don't know if some variation of this might work for toothbrushing.

You can also use tooth mousse on a 18 months old - the no fluoride version. It has to be the no fluoride version because a child under 6 can't be trusted to spit out rather than swallowing. It's not toothpaste but strengthens enamel and you just rub it round the teeth. My children used it and it did seem to work.

There was a really nice Disney (I think) tooth brushing App game thing that mine liked when they were little, that may work?

When they open their mouth to yell or cry you wedge something in their mouth to hold it open, like the end of an old toothbrush. It should give enough room to brush their teeth.

DH and I would have to team up to get DD brushed. One would hold her still and the other would do the brushing. It was better with an electric toothbrush because she liked the vibrations. Also an electric toothbrush will clean so much better than a manual toothbrush so brushing can be a shorter time.

Teeth brushing was absolutely non-negotiable for DH. He had terrible teeth as a child and received very little dental treatment. The dentists he had were rough and uncaring. He wanted different for DD. She’s a teenager now and has lovely healthy teeth. Only one filling and that was because of an autoimmune issue where her body was attacking and dissolving a tooth. It was weird. For that filling she had gas sedation and a lovely gentle dentist.

I put my finger in the corner of his jaw when he opened his mouth to protest, that was enough to keep his mouth open enough to get the toothbrush in but didn't hurt at all.

OP, my youngest refused at that age so I would sit on the floor with him lying down in front of me, head between my thighs so he couldn't move his head side to side, and my legs over his arms so he couldn't move them. Finger in the corner of his mouth to keep it open and then brushed. Eventually he allowed me to brush while I sang him a song I made up about brushing teeth (one verse went 'brush your teeth night and day, little little DS, so you don't get tooth decay, little little DS) which he loved and that became our routine for years - I still sometimes sing it to him while brushing his teeth now at 8!

He's not traumatised at all by the pinning down, and has zero issues with brushing teeth or having his teeth examined by dentists so the pinning down did no harm but possibly prevented plenty of harm from rotten teeth.

Because fruit ones are even more vile.
The only toothpaste my kid will tolerate is sensodyne kids, it has less of the foam stuff in it than others.

Its not always the flavour that puts kids off the sensation and the foam can be a massive issue too.

He may be too young but there are a couple of good free apps for teeth brushing

Magic timer - you choose a Disney character, whilst brushing it slowly reveals a picture behind some bubbles and then you get points and virtual stickers.

Pokemon smile - this one you do with the phone camera and it knows when your brushing and you have to brush away the germs that are on the screen - is also take 4 random photos while brushing and you choose one to decorate with the stickers you collect

Obviously these can be a massive faff, take more time and the novelty will wear off but I wanted to avoid the having to pin down etc !

Mine hated it too until we gave her the toothbrush to (basically) chew on while we all brushed our teeth. Very soon she was brushing a bit and letting me do a "final polish".
If he isn't eating sweets etc then a few days of inadequate brushing won't rot all his teeth.

Won't give any more tips as you've got loads but as a paeds anaesthetist, you need to do it, we do tons of dental clearances removing multiple teeth and ove been told they get a social services referral for possible neglect if not an underlying reason like enamel

Paeds anaesthetist I've done many a dental clearance (all removed) at age 5-6 so wouldn't say it isn't true

Mine are autistic with sensory difficulties. I’ve tried all the toothpastes, different brushes, bribes, distraction etc for years and years. It is non negotiable though and they know it. It’s difficult to do a very good clean every time but we haven’t needed any fillings yet.
What works changes over time so just keep trying things.
I know having dental treatment would be far more traumatic for them and cause more issues down the line.

Maybe also take him to the dentist make it a nice experience. Brushing your teeth and personal hygiene is non negotiable in my book.