to start 'cracking down' on toothbrushing at the age of 2?

[Bellyrub1980]

For my daughter's 2nd birthday I'm going to try and make brushing her teeth more of a routine morning/evening thing, rather than waving a toothbrush in her face when she's in the bath.

Obviously she's really young so I've bought her a second hand Barbie vanity mirror and will create a toothbrushing station with lots of different brushes and an egg timer and maybe a reward chart. Maybe even find a you tube video of peppa pig brushing her teeth or something.

Anyhoo, my head this seems like a really good idea. The kind of 'enthusiastic mum' stuff you see on Pinterest. But after yet ANOTHER failed attempt at brushing her teeth tonight I'm wondering, is she too young to start cracking down on this? We've let her chew and suck on a toothbrush ever since her first tooth, but she won't let me brush them for her (unless I sedate her/restrain her!!) and whilst she will make a cursory attempt to brush them herself, she is far more interested in doing the exact opposite of what I ask her to do.

So.... when did you start really working on a morn/eve toothbrushing rountine? And do reward charts work for just turned 2 year olds??

My DS has only just got the hang of it, he's 3.4.

We've had nearly a year of doing it for him, which was usually a fight.

Dentist said very clearly, don't make it a fight. He suggested we tried a YouTube song video instead.

This is the way we brush our teeth - little baby bum, helped, but not until he was 3.

Ours is another non negotiable toothbrushing house. My youngest (3) always hated toothbrushing and there were many times where we had to hold him down to do it, but it is now so much a part of his routine that he doesn't think anything of it. We started from the moment they had their first tooth for both.

My DS loves bedtime stories. When he was about 2.5 I told him if he does good toothbrushing then he can have 3 stories, but if it is not good toothbrushing then we only have time for 1 story. This changed everything overnight! I've only to enforce it twice in a year and now he's so good. Morning's are harder but I don't care as he's getting a good clean at night. 2 is the perfect age to begin putting your foot down, if you don't they just get worse.

Of course teeth should be brushed at 2!

Doesn't need to be any fuss or drama or stickers or vanity dressers.

Teeth get brushed before bed as soon as the first tooth appears (6 months old). Non negotiable. The easy way or the hard way.

Dh is a dentist and believe me, the amount of crying going on to get her teeth brushed daily, will be absolutely nothing compared to the crying when her teeth have to be removed by sedation at 4.

Dental extraction is the leading cause of hospital admissions for children. Having teeth out is horrible, painful, disfiguring - and in almost all cases, completely avoidable.

You only need the tiniest bit of toothpaste for a 2-year-old but it is absolutely vital that teeth are brushed properly. Making it fun is nice but it's not essential - the important part is getting the teeth brushed!

Why are you pandering to her, of course tooth brushing is essential ............ can't believe anyone wouldn't agree with this.

There are lots of things children and adults don't particularly like doing, tough - that's life.

See arethere's comments.

We used to pin down and clean teeth if DC were non-compliant. They soon learned it was easier just to open up and let us do it. At 7 DS1 will still let us clean his teeth again after he has done it.

I floss and brush them myself religiously each evening (4yro). I have now introduced morning brush by themselves. No chance I leave their toothbrushing to chance. Do you know what dentists do with kids' decayed teeth in this country? Take them out. Sometimes 10 at a time (this happened to my friend's kid). Sorry. I am desperately trying to avoid this. And extra work in the evenings is my answer to the question. Don't leave it to chance (them).

Totally non-negotiable...

If you struggle, try the baby electric toothbrush (it flashes and makes a sound). I also found belting out a weird made up song helped distract my son. Most useful during the tooth brushing refusal stage was doing after I had wrapped him in a towel and using the towel as a sort of restraint. And I have him lying down as a pp mentioned. He is now really into brushing his teeth and we have to hide the toothpaste. My methods are extreme but effective!

(I had terrible teeth as a child and have spent a lot of time and money putting it right as an adult).

2 seems really late to be getting unto a proper brushing routine IMO. I'd do it from tonight

YouTube is my secret weapon on this. She gets to choose a song on a nursery rhyme channel and she holds the brush for the first song. Then she chooses a second song and I take over brushing. It distracts her enough to get a proper clean done, and acts as a timer too.

The DC get pinned down if necessary and get their teeth brushed. The dentist said they need someone to brush their teeth for them until they're 7.

Totally non-negotiable here too. It's not like they have the information to make an informed decision at 2, is it? At his worst, ds2 was wrapped in a bath towel and brushed whilst he screamed. It was a phase, it passed, he's now 8 with lovely teeth.

One thing that helped was letting him brush my teeth whilst I brushed his. He didn't want to brush his own any more than he wanted to let me do it .

Tooth brushing is essential. IMO I'm doing DS no favours letting him not brush his teeth. There is always stuff stuck in his bottom ones. I pin him down gently, sometimes he smiles and opens his mouth and sometimes he thrashes and cries but the result is the same!

Yep tooth brushing is non negotiable for us, too.

OP you need to try to make her understand that brushing your teeth is part of everyday life. It has to happen several times a day, full stop. What works for us is:

Brushing with them
Yes to the exaggerated facial expressions and AAAH EEEH sounds
Being positive: I tell them I LOVE brushing my teeth, thank you for letting me brush yours, I had been looking forward to this, that was fun, I loved that, ooh my mouth feels great, the dentist will be sooooo pleased with you etc.
No teeth brushing = no sweets, cake etc. I threat to tell nursery / school staff to withhold desert and fruit if they don't brush (I would).

Good luck. Introducing brushing was a struggle with DC1, who had to be pinned down etc. Luckily DC2 is quite enthusiastic about it so it's not a given that all children hate brushing no matter what you do.

Hygienist here and tooth brushing is Non negotiable in this house too
We had a brushing song and a brush for dc to chew on and one for me to 'finish off'
There's been only a handful of times we gave had a battle
However at 2 it's establishing the routine that's important - we do this twice daily regardless of ( almost) anything else going on

I agree with it being a compulsory thing and needs to be part of routine.

DS hated it for ages and we'd pin him down and it was horrible. It was at about age 2 after a visit to the dentist (everything fine but he was very stern about making sure we brushed his teeth ourselves properly) that decided to make a change

So we got two toothbrushes - one for him one for us. And an egg timer. He has a go himself with his brush while in the bath. Then straight after bath I lie him back in a cuddle and do them for him, I set the timer so he can see and make lots of silly EEEE, AAAH, HEEEE noises and 'show me you big dinosaur teeth' type things. He's almost 3 now and fine about it.

Mornings dint tend to get such a good brush as try to get him to stand still while I do it after breakfast and he wiggles about for most of it!

I'm a bit shocked people let their 2 year olds brush their own teeth at all. They just chew. I brush DD'S for her.

She has a grey line on one thanks to damage from a fall when teething (it's harmless) and I'm darned if I'm letting any others get grim!

Having said that big old bulls hit klaxon for flossing a toddler: that can damage their gums.

You aren't supposed to use electric toothbrushes under 3 as far as I know. Tbh I tried and mine flat refused.
I was advised to wrap a flannel or muslin round my finger and rub the gum line gently if brushing wasn't getting the plaque up (some kids are more prone to tartar and plaque - just a fact of life. It doesn't always end in fillings either and they will fill rather than immediately pull in kids, thanks again mn but you just never know if yours is a just unsightly or actually harmfil). Mine likes the gum rub.

And of course too much paste can also itself stain and leave a residue - just a scrap doe it.

Another vote for a silly song. We do "(name of food) in your teeth, (name of food) in your teeth, Mummy brush them, Mummy brush them,(name of food) in your teeth." to the tune of Jelly on the Plate. And we go through every thing she has eaten that day. She can't help joining in naming food she ate even though she hates the brushing. The electric toothbrush from Jojo Maman Bebe also helped a treat.

That's not early, the sooner you gets her into the habit the less hassle you'll have later on. Brushed my kids teeth as soon as they started growing, I never have a problem with them not wanting to do it. One is 8, the other 5. They are the dentists dream patients!

Get these, they sell them in the dentist or boots/super drug ect. They colour the plaque blue so she'll can see how dirty her teeth really are and then can brush it away.

www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk/endekay-ceplac-dental-disclosing-tablets-6mg-12-tablets-endo4820.html?gclid=Cj0KEQjw1K2_BRC0s6jtgJzB-aMBEiQA-WzDMSkm0lRMUxWJgA08OQeRywxRXMcrycTHPRcraQB5t94aAqO88P8HAQ

Non negotiable here too. My child now knows. If they are playing up "you've got until I count to 5 to let me brush your teeth otherwise I'm going to pin you down and do it. One!" "Whimper". Opens mouth!

Bloody hell! What a song and dance - and tooth brushing "station" with lots of brushes. Dear god.

It's a health issue. Non negotiable.

If you have to pander to her this much at 2, you'll be paying her a tenner a week to brush them aged 10!

Reward charts are fine for something hard to learn that needs special effort.

But my view is you don't give kids treats and bribes for every little thing.

I'm a big believer is talking, so I wouldn't just pin her down and do it. I would say "remember how we talked about the dirt on your teeth and how it will make them go bad and hurt if they're not clean? That's why we're brushing them". Then: restrain and do it, if that's what it takes.

The most I'd do is take her to the shop to choose a new fancy toothbrush.

We do no stories without teeth brushing at night
What animals are hiding in your mouth
And occasionally short videos work a treat, stopping the vid if she fusses.

In the morning DD can't go downstairs til she's dressed, this includes teeth. Less successful but still routine.