Toddler and teeth brushing

[jollyhols]

Dd 18 months refuses to let me brush her teeth. Clamps her mouth shut and just won't have it at all. I've tried making a game out of it, demonstrating on myself, sneaking the brush in while she's laughing and much more, but it's hopeless.

The best we can manage is her doing it herself but there isn't a lot of brushing going on, she just sort of chews the end of the brush.

Im concerned as she has a mouthful of teeth now but is still too young to understand that she needs to look after them.

We tend to do teeth brushing in the bath to minimise mess so maybe I ought to change the routine a bit? She just gets so worked up.

Any tips? Is it really bad that she's not brushing properly at this age?

Teeth brushing is a non negotiable for us. Each of our three children hated it as toddlers but they soon got used to it.

To avoid the skirming and then trying to rip the toothbrush away, we sit on the toilet with a child on our lap facing sideways. I tuck their arm closest to me behind my back and use my left arm to hold their left arm back. Then I brush their teeth while pulling faces and chatting to them.

Yes it's restraint, but oral hygiene is very important and I know they'll thank me for their nice teeth later in life. I try to keep it happy and positive rather than "mean". It's tough but if you don't do it, they'll suffer in worse ways.

Light up toothbrush, brush teeth in the dark and in front of a mirror.

Lots of "say ahhhhh" "what do you say if you see a crocodile?" then scream ahhhh together, over and over and over.

You need to start being consistent with it now or it will just get harder. Even at 18 months they can generally understand many things, so if they don't brush their teeth properly they only get one book before bed not two.

There's lots of 2 minute long clips of Duggee on YouTube, so when the toothbrush song stopped working we switched to choosing one of those each time. If they (3 and nearly 5 year old)refuse to hold still for that then it's hold down and brush. Carrot and stick both.

Agree with other PP's about gentle force if necessary. DS used to hate brushing his teeth so I would gently do it for him, he's nearly 7 now and brags about how nice his teeth are from keeping them clean 😅

I know someone whose 3 year old has black front teeth because he refuses to brush and she wont make him. Its vile and I judge her harshly for it.

I cant think of the name but you can buy tablets that turn your teeth pink from all the nasty on them and mine absolutely love brushing away all the germs

I also used to let the kids come downstairs and watch TV whilst brushing their teeth, ended up taking a lot longer as theyd be distracted but it got the job done and they felt like they got a good deal because they got to stay up an extra 10 mins or so