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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask you for tips re toddler tooth brushing

39 replies

MissyCooper · 23/12/2018 23:25

DD2 is 18 months. She only has six teeth so far (two at the bottom and four at the top).

We brush them twice a day. Or try to. She LOATHES having her teeth brushed and it gets to the point of holding her head still and pretty much forcing her to have them brushed. Which obviously she hates. And it’s a horrible cycle. She gets really distressed (dummy and cuddle calms her back down again).

I don’t know what to do. It is so so important. DD1 never had this issue she just got on with it and now at 4 she has lovely teeth and will brush her teeth twice a day (and once at nursery) without complaint.

I am worried DD2 ends up having to have her teeth taken out because they’ll go bad Sad or that this is becoming a huge issue. I suspect her mouth is probably sore from teething but she doesn’t cry like she’s in pain.

OP posts:
Whatjusthappenedthere · 23/12/2018 23:34

Hygienist here.
Diet is way more a factor in tooth decay than quality of the tooth brushing you are managing. If your child’s diet is as sugar free ( close to zero) as you can get it then try and relax a bit over the brushing - even getting a tiny bit of fluoride in via the toothpaste will be beneficial.
Don’t hold your child’s head, tiny smear of mild paste and even let them chew on the bristles if the want to. So long as the actual routine is being established ( twice a day) then try to keep it relaxed. It’s not until the chewing surfaces of the back teeth emerge that you need to be fastidious.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 23/12/2018 23:38

Can you get your DD to brush your teeth and then you do hers?
This only works if your toddler isn't the type to poke you in the throat with the brush.

Toothbrush with novelty cover or those animal toothbrushes ? Let her choose?

SPR1107 · 23/12/2018 23:38

If you're okay with phones being used, The Wiggles have a tooth brushing song on YouTube, that's what we always used.

I also played a game where DS would brush my teeth, then it would be Mummies turn to brush his, then he'd get a go, then me, then him...

Another thing we found useful is the toothbrushes with the animal head cases, he was so interested in playing with the case, that he just let me get on and brush

purplerainbows · 23/12/2018 23:41

Does she like Peppa pig? There is an episode on netflix where she goes to the dentist. When my daughter clamps her mouth shut I tell her to arrrrrrr like Peppa does at the dentist. Works well at the moment, previously she was refusing to let us brush them.

CatToddlerUprising · 23/12/2018 23:43

Elmo brush your teeth song. And we used to look for animals in DD’s mouth- e.g. where’s that lion? And roar whilst brushing one section of the teeth. Then repeat. We used about 6 different animals each time

Original poster
MissyCooper · 23/12/2018 23:45

Wow these are some great ideas. She LOVES peppa so that’s a great shout.

I tried getting her to brush mine before. We also tried getting her to brush DD1s. Didn’t work she just poked about a bit and lost interest and wouldn’t let us near her mouth.

Also...is it weird that she only has six teeth at 18 months?!

OP posts:
Original poster
MissyCooper · 23/12/2018 23:46

I will also look at her diet. She doesn’t get juice, only water and milk (she loves water unlike DD1) but she does eat quite a lot of fruit.

OP posts:
BlackeyedGruesome · 24/12/2018 00:38

vibrating tooth brush.

flavourless toothpaste.

doing it while she is asleep,

sen toothbrush that does both sides at once.

been there done that , amazingly I still have 8 fingers and two thumbs... despite being bitten, punched, headbutted, slapped all in an attemtp to avoid the toothbrush. (most of those were when he was asleep and going in for a second attempt, quite often you can get in and do them properly if he is inthe right sleep phase. )

42andcounting · 24/12/2018 05:43

DD loved the George and the Dinosaurs book where they go to the dentist, so we found reading that and trying to be a 'good brusher' really helped. Tied to the fact that if the dentist didn't say she was a good brusher' we wouldn't be able to have any sweets until the next visit when she didGrin

When she was really unwilling as a tiny tot we used to wrap her in a big bath towel before brushing as it just seemed to calm her down a bit. Or let her clean them in the bath and spit into the bath water just before getting out - she always thought that was hilarious Grin

Coldhandscoldheart · 24/12/2018 05:58

Mine is only just getting her third and fourth teeth at 17months, I think 6 teeth is fine! It’s supposed to be better for them to come in slowly as they’re then exposed to less sugar.

My dentist said not to make toothbrushing a big fight - it’s more important for them to get the hang of someone looking in their mouth not being a trauma.
Having said that, we battled thru & eventually child one just got the hang of it.

AbsolCatly · 24/12/2018 06:19

Have you got a mirror she can see? DD shows her reflection her teeth and how to brush them (she is 3 now but have been through the songs/the pirate arrrg/ the clamping of the head/the sticker chart) she did start getting better once she could show ' her name' in the mirror how to brush

Theducksarenotmyfriends · 24/12/2018 06:29

Looking for animals in her teeth worked wonders for dd! She went from hating having her teeth brushed (but was happy to chew on a brush herself) to loving it and requesting different animals! I just pretend there's tiny monkeys etc in there and I have to brush to get them out.

APositiveMind · 24/12/2018 06:43

My niece hated having her teeth brush, then my SIL bought her a baby's first electric toothbrush, she loves it, I think she puts the toothpaste on and gives it her to chew as she loves putting things in her mouth anyway.
Maybe if it's a developing fear, buy a new toothbrush and dohtvtske her into the bathroom to do it, let her chew it in the kitchen or bedroom so she doesn't link the two and realise what's happening.

Lollyice · 24/12/2018 06:49

A monster jumps into ds's mouth and we chase it around his teeth until he can spit it out. Sometimes it jumps back in though.... He loves it! Ds has been brushing his teeth at nursery since he turned 2.

TakeMe2Insanity · 24/12/2018 06:54

Look on yputube for a brush your teeth song for a character that she likes. DS love for Elmo was created just because he liked his brush your teeth song and he brushes his teeth.

divadee · 24/12/2018 06:57

An electric toothbrush (the current one is minions) revolutionised tooth brushing here. Every day it was a battle. Now she loves it and will happily open up for them to be brushed. We let her brush them first and then take over and do it properly.

fieldofwheat · 24/12/2018 06:59

Had exactly the same issue around this age with my son. Switched to an baby sonic electric toothbrush which lights up and this really seems to help. We also get him to lie on the floor to do it, and turn it into a game with a bit of tickling etc which gets him to open his mouth. Good luck!

https://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/brushbaby-babysonic-toothbrush-b1905.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIu9rDhPG33wIVL5PtCh3AgwGhEAkYAiABEgKifDD_BwE

SilverBirchTree · 24/12/2018 07:04

I don't know how effective it is, but I still sometimes give up and smear some toothpaste on a little rubber teething toy and let DS chew on that.

ImSpeakingFigurativelyOfCourse · 24/12/2018 07:05

A saw a tip on here a little while ago for this.
We pretended that there were animals in DDs mouth and we had to brush them out. She found it hilarious, and it worked for mealtimes too because we had to ‘feed’ the animals.
The only thing is that because she loved it so much, she’d come up to us going “ah, ah, ah” with her mouth wide open and we’d have to come up with hundreds of different animals!

Littlecaf · 24/12/2018 07:12

I think the establishing a routine is a good idea rather than a fasitious clean. DS aged 3 only really got the importance of it this year after trying everything and it always ending up in tears - so I showed him pictures of black teeth...... did the trick! I think I’ll be more relaxed with the younger one!

Onlyjoinedforthisthread · 24/12/2018 07:12

Tip dentist gave us was to start with mint toothpaste not any of the other flavours like orange because you'll find it even harder when they have to change to adult toothpaste and they aren't used to the flavour

BlueThesaurusRex · 24/12/2018 07:18

Same problem here! We found an electric toothbrush fixed it. At one point I did manage to sit DS upside down on my lap (head on my knees, legs up towards my head) ; he thought it was so funny and kept his mouth open to let me brush!

He doesn’t hate the toothbrush, his main problem was just sucking the toothpaste off the bristles Confused

Jackshouse · 24/12/2018 07:33

I think it is an enternal problem for parents. We do the animals in her mouth thing too but with cartoon characters. We have to press the ‘octoalert’ first before we free the octonoughts.

Tartsamazeballs · 24/12/2018 07:49

I always threatened to not let my little girl brush her teeth if she was naughty 🙈 shes 2 and still thinks it's a treat 😂

TheOnceAndFutureQueen · 24/12/2018 08:37

When DD went through a phase of hating teeth brushing at the same age, I made up a couple of teeth brushing songs that I'd sing while brushing. She also loved the idea of having animals in her mouth that we had to chase away with the tooth brush.

She's nearly 4 now and at least a couple of times a week requests a brushing song or tells me she has dinosaurs/lions/sharks etc in her teeth.

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