To not know how to brush my toddler's teeth

[sunnyfields25]

Hi, I thought I might get a bit more traffic here than in parenting, and I'm desperate!

DS is 20 months old and had been generally fine with having his teeth brushed, other than a few rough spells, with the assistance of kids' videos on a phone to distract him.

But now he won't let us near his teeth. We're taking the softly, softly approach for fear of it turning into a battle of wills and making it more difficult in the long run. But I'm starting to think where do we draw the line... One day, two days, one week, one month... Surely we need a cut-off point where we have to pin him down because his teeth haven't had a proper brush in ages?!

Anyway, here are the things we've tried:

Songs and TV programmes on a phone as distraction
Hand puppet brushing teeth
Choosing own toothbrush and toothpaste
Electric toothbrush
Taking it in turns
Brushing our teeth
Brushing teeth in bath
Sitting in front of mirror
Being extra quick
Trying to do silly faces and noises

If anyone can think of a trick we haven't tried then please throw it at me - we've run out of ideas!

Thanks

Same problem here. Pinning down never worked, she could clamp her mouth tight shut and thrash her head, would have ended in her getting hurt.

We let her chew a chewy brush sometimes. Sometimes the ‘animal in your mouth’ works. Sometimes reading a book with teeth cleaning in it works. Sometimes letting her clean my teeth at the same time works. Sometimes nothing works and the brush barely goes in.

Our dentist says that it’s the routine - making time to brush teeth twice every day - that’s most important, not how effectively the teeth are brushed.

Just pin him down and do it.
Teeth brushing is non negotiable. I couldn’t even be arsed pussy footing around it. They brush they teeth and that’s the end of it.
I pinned mine down and they’d start screaming. It was easy then, brush straight in and they’d carry on screaming until I’d finished. Job done. Didn’t last long with DS
DD was a bit more clever and would clamp her mouth shut. I rammed the toothbrush in and made her cry and bam, teeth scrubbed nicely.

DD is now 3 and has the occasional refusal moment and I go back into pinning mode. Very rare these days to be fair. DS is good as gold these days and is now 5 😬

Over this stage now but I used to cuddle and hold whilst dh / sibling tickles, have also done the pinned down, if she is really unwell I just put a bit of paste on her finger and she does it - not ideal but fluoride getting in is important so my dentist said

I rammed the toothbrush in and made her cry and bam, teeth scrubbed nicely

Op they all go through little phases. Days and weeks are decades in terms of tastes changing, development, understanding.

Many people on here advise holding children down and forcing brushes into the their mouth.

Well I have had 2 children who both at some points refused the toothbrush.

Both children now over 6. Both have excellent teeth. I didn't hold either one down or force them.

One had small phase one had phases, for quite a few months.

I simply backed Straight off, never made a big deal about it, didn't even mention it... Then in totally round about way came back to it, eg just brushed my teeth and dh say... Good girl mummy... Or brushed dolly teeth again in front of child casually no mention to child...

Or give toothbrush in shower or bath.. But no big speeches or fuss.. All very causal and no forcing or holding down. It's not something I would have appreciated as a child and I wouldn't advocate it.

Oh goodness I have just glanced at other posts I had not read the thread.

In terms of stepping up as a parent I don't think that includes using brute force and ramming toothbrushes into your child's mouth and making them cry.

I would say using some brain cells, some outside of the box thinking and different strategies is stepping up as a kind considerate parent.

However... Yes I forgot in my initial post to say.. Backing off with the brush and perhaps not even in bathroom put little bit of it toothpaste on thier finger, maybe get them too and I discovered mine really hated mint for a while so try all the different flavours there are.

The point is, mine have fabulous teeth, they certainly went through periods of refusing... We found ways around it and not a finger was laid on them.

I eventually gave them those battery powered ones. It worked a treat. They are teens now and love electric toothbrushes. Until I worked it out it was a pin down

Thanks so much for the replies everyone, I've read them all a couple of times and jotted down the suggestions. Obviously the overwhelmingly popular one is to pin down, which I realise we may have to resort to at some point. But I want to make sure I've exhausted all other options first.

I think @CoastalLife nailed it on the head really - this could be a blip that lasts a few weeks if I approach it gently, but by pinning him down I'm worried I could turn it into an epic battle of wills that drags on for years. I wouldn't put it past DS as he's a stubborn little thing! Plus there's the risk of instilling a fear of the dentist in him.

Miraculously last night and this morning the brushing went really well, all thanks to a very annoying video by the Mother Goose Club. We'll see how long that lasts...