AIBU to ask if you're desperate enough for this?

[Spongeymum]

I’m posting here because, let’s face it, Mumsnet is home to the most wonderfully blunt, honest people, and that’s exactly what I'm after here.

Toothbrushing with my toddler in our house has become a full-on, tear-filled (from me and my toddler) twice-a-day battle. I feel like I've tried every trick on every forum - brushing our teeth with him, singing toothbrushing songs, even (shamefully) the old "pin him down" tactic which just felt awful. Nothing has worked it makes bedtimes a disaster and mornings just as bad. Despite my parents saying "Oh don't worry, we never brushed your teeth because you had a second set coming" we know how important it is to get this nailed.

My husband (who's a web developer) built a simple timer game on his phone. It counts down and gives a sad face if my toddler brushes his teeth for less than a minute, a “nearly there” face after 1:30 and a big happy face after 2 minutes. For the first time ever, it's actually working! He’s brushing for the full two minutes no meltdowns, it was such a eureka moment.

Having done some research, it's fairly simple to put a simple water safe screen into a toothbrush (my electric toothbrush has one).

So my question is, with this limited information, if your toddler (or older) had a fun character style toothbrush with this built in to gamify the whole toothbrushing activity, do you think it'd improve their toothbrushing experience and would you buy it?

Literally feeding this to the sharks before I pitch it to the dragons. 😅

Straight away yes, both my now 4 year old and 5 year old were a nightmare with toothbrushing, so a thumbs up from me!

Yes yes and yes. 2 year old thinks 10 seconds is enough.

Yes, that’s a goer.

I'm almost certain that there's something similar already available.

This is a regular conversation at our nursery, yes, yes and yes! Your onto something.

They already sell something like it. My granddaughter has a toothbrush with a timed twinkly light and she brushes until the light goes out. It's really helped.

not really because I have done similar without the need for a character- they just love the idea of competing. When v little I could just say if you do this I’ll give you 10 points - points for what, who knows’

Isn't there a toothbrush that already plays a tune?

How long are you meant to clean children's teeth for? Is two minutes the ideal? (I know you could change this.)

Given the other stuff people buy for their kids, I think it could work, but I used to brush my kids' teeth while I was reading them a story and they were fine with that. Could you have a little story as an option? It means they have to be quiet to listen to it!

https://www.accesshealthdental.com/blog/8-smartphone-apps-that-make-brushing-teeth-fun-for-kids/

When mine were little we could buy a flashing light toothbrush which stopped flashing when the 2 minutes was up.

Personally I'd do everything in my power to keep phones and apps out of my DC lives for as long as possible.

Sonicare kids' toothbrush plays a tune when the time is up.

Where would the screen be? Because if it's on the toothbrush, they won't be ablel to see it as they're brushing.

Also, you're suggesting installing a screen into hardware. This is not cheap.

Not sure about anything in the toothbrush but this looks fun 😁

https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Toothbrush-Timer-Turtle-Flippers/dp/B08CHM24H1/ref=sr_1_56?crid=1WYXX185F63RL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.gUisOsf53-Uhj_oHfF7k2ehvuSNAR8c0VOt5HXobON9mQRk3XrmnUYmh8h30Dd9n98fkwmXZbi7_u5mpMvUWtzm9JSfu6l8nX3Ws9itlpXw.MYcPg1zDikAFw45TXdycR0w6In3kurt7eXg5UgABzvw&dib_tag=se&keywords=timer+toothbrush+for+kids&qid=1751308349&sprefix=%2Caps%2C114&sr=8-56&xpid=zCI9cUt1vanqz

But back to your question I can’t imagine how practical a screen in the toothbrush would be. I would imagine more time with the toothbrush outside of the mouth looking at the screen than actual brushing.

Just get him to build an app. Much cheaper and easier to roll out.

Totally unnecessary - just more expense for parents and more screen time for many kids who have far too much in their lives already

sometimes you just have to be the parent and say this has to be done.

i sang songs and brushed away. the minute the first tooth emerged it was done and the routine became established and part of our lives.

All of my kids are complex and all have multiple disabilities - if mine can learn the routine I’m sure others can too. It was done with consistency, gentleness and routine - absolutely no need for any kind of gadgetry .

we took a this is what we do twice a day approach and accepted no nonsense about it.

Appreciate all of your comments! It's good to know what already exists and what doesn't so thank you! @MounjaroMounjaro they say.2 minutes, which absolutely feels like a lifetime.

How would they see the screen though?

No I would think it was a gimmick that was a waste of money as you should still be doing the brushing at that age so he could just as easily watch an app somewhere else that shows him how long is left whilst you brush - why does it need to be part of the brush?

I just used to pin mine down - non negotiable I'm afraid to have your teeth done!