DD won't brush teeth!

[foxy123]

Help! the last few weeks my DD who is 21 months old, has been refusing to let me brush her teeth... I have tried getting her to copy me and trying to get her to do it herself but she just sucks all the paste off and refuses to move the brush... any ideas on how to get round this?

My DD is the same age and does this sometimes. Has she got any teeth coming? It might be a bit painful for her at the moment, if so then a little bonjela first might help.

My DD will usually let me do hers if I let her do mine and her teddy's first. You could try distracting her with a book or a song as well.

she has got teeth coming through actually! I will have to try your ideas I did have a look into getting an electric one for her as I have one but they're 3+

Headlock. It's the only way. Along with threats that they'll turn black and fall out if they don't get done. (To reduce trauma we only ever forced brushing on them once a day and just let them suck or chew the toothbrush in the morning.) Both grew out of the refusnik stage pretty quickly, with no apparent lasting psychological effects.

Relieved to see it's not just me that has this problem. DD chews the toothbrush & sucks the toothpaste off. I was wondering if it was because she was teething from 4 months but it took until over 12 months for any teeth to actually cut through. I think she associates DragonMami in the vicinity of her mouth with teething gel & pain.

Tried letting her brush my teeth & it worked! (Well kind of but something's better than nothing)

Give my DD the toothpaste (dangerous!) and my toothbrush. Never put clothes on before brushing (me). Let her ram the brush into my mouth/face/nose while I usually manage to make reasonable brush contact with her teeth. Failing that it's the headlock tactic here too. She has an old brush that she chews on while I'm brushing mine first and then usually relents to me doing hers. DD is now 20 months.

My DS seems to accept it if I let him 'brush' his own teeth (sucking and chewing) and then I dramatically assume the comedy role of Mummy Dentist for the 'inspection' where I put more toothpaste on the brush and actually brush them properly. This includes a funny, mock-schoolma'am 'dentist' voice. It's about the only routine that goes reasonably smoothly in our house at the moment though...

Hi bondgirl77!

Brilliant idea. My little girl hates it too and I think the dentist voice might actually work as she loves pretending and dressing up etc.

Cheers!