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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Teeth brushing with a 2 year old

22 replies

lobsters · 20/03/2011 20:50

DD is just 2, she has always hated having her teeth brushed, but now it's turning into a full on fight. She is happy to "brush" her teeth herself but this involves sucking tooth paste off the brush and wafting it around in her mouth.

Is there anyone who can gives me any tips, I should have to pin her down on my knee or this evening, even on the floor just to try and brush her teeth.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

bloodymortgagecompanies · 20/03/2011 20:53

We pin our 18 mo DTs, if they don't cooperate.

Mostly they will open their mouth and sing aaaaaaaaahhhh along with us.

We also have a tooth-brushing song

Summerbird73 · 20/03/2011 20:59

DS is 21mo and we have the same, sometimes he is cooperative and will brush his own teeth or let us do it (if we mimic him first pretending to do it and going aaahhh).

However most of the time we have to resort to headlock and piercing screams!

Summerbird73 · 20/03/2011 21:00

oo bloodymortgage what is your song?

CornishKK · 20/03/2011 21:01

I'm having exactly the same issue with my 20 month old DS.

I read a thread yesterday about getting to the end of your tether with your children and someone posted that they pretend to be a CBeebies presenter. So this morning I changed our wash routine, teeth first, best Mr Tumble positive mental attitude, held PFB on my hip in front of the mirror and pulled faces whilst cleaning my own teeth, wide mouth and saying "ahh" for the back teeth, grinning and saying "ggrrrrrrr" for the front teeth. I have several toothbrushes for the boy due to previous strategies so I let him have a brush, got him to pull faces with me and sneaked in with another brush during the gurning. It went very well this morning but DH did this evening and there was a fairly severe meltdown, so we'll see tomorrow morning!

Failing that I'm contemplating buying one of those toothbrushes that are designed to be chewed. I read about them on Mumsnet (naturally) and I think you can buy them from Jojo Maman Bebe.

CornishKK · 20/03/2011 21:02

Oh god, only this morning I was saying I need a teeth cleaning song, please share!

Midge25 · 20/03/2011 21:04

For our dd, letting her 'brush' our teeth and take turns doing ours, then hers, seemed to work...she now does her own teeth, and lets us finish all her good work!

stottiecake · 20/03/2011 21:04

A consequence for not brushing worked for us. We used to brush ds' teeth before his bath. If he wouldn't let us help him we would say there wouldn't be time for his bath if he didn't hurry up. If he still wouldn't go for it we would unplug the bath which he hated (he LOVES his bathtime!!) and would let us do his teeth. Obviously we put the plug back in when this happened.

He's been fine since - we do it after his bath now as he has a mug of warm milk (well, Oatly!) We don't have to chase him around the house too much He is getting better at doing it himself too.

bloodymortgagecompanies · 20/03/2011 21:04

(To the tune of 'here we go round the mulberry bush)

This is the way we brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth,
Brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth
Until they're shiny and clean.

(we use this song a lot; this is the way we:
go up the stairs
put on our shoes
use our spoons
brush our hair

etc etc.

We need some more exciting songs!
Would love to hear some of yours

Bratfink · 20/03/2011 21:09

I pin and sing 'this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth, this is the way we brush our teeth, on flocld and frosty mooooooorning' twice

Anyone know when they start spitting out the toothpaste?

Bratfink · 20/03/2011 21:10

cold and frosty morning

bloodymortgagecompanies · 20/03/2011 21:10

Oooh brat, we have the same song

(though mine scans better in the summer months...)

greensnail · 20/03/2011 21:10

we sing

Brush those dirty teeth,
brush those dirty teeth,
rub a dub a dub dub
scrub a dub a dub dub
brush those dirty teeth

as well as the mulberry bush one.
Can't say it always works though.

Pretending she has chips stuck in her teeth that need to be brushed away works quite well (she's obsessed with chips although she doesn't like eating them much )

Summerbird73 · 20/03/2011 21:16

yay i love it!

Firawla · 20/03/2011 22:15

my 2 yr old is quite independent so what i do is let him have a go to do them first (he's actually not too bad) but then i "check" them aka redo it all again, i just tell him i'm checking whether he has done all his teeth properly or missed any out, then while i'm doing it i just tell him like oh yes these ones have been cleaned very nicely, that tooth seems to be very clean etc so he feels as though he has done it himself and been praised for it, which makes him fairly happy to cooperate.
if her issue is about independence then may be worth a try?

seoraemaeul · 21/03/2011 05:48

We don't sing but we do have a tooth monster that lives in our mouths and we go hunting for it. Much giggles and laughter as we have to check all the back bits etc!
Now for my 4 year old I just tell him the dentist will have to drill his teeth if he doesn't brush them properly and let me check! Not surprisingly he is very determined that his teeth will be spotless twice a day

notasausage · 21/03/2011 08:39

Came on here to post the exact same question after several days of hysterical screaming and having to pin my 2.4 DD down. Unfortunately this is becoming less successful as she gets bigger.

Letting her watch photos (of herself - naturally) on the computer and listen to her music worked for a little while. We had most success by letting her choose a teddy to brush her teeth - I hold teddy's hand in mine with the brush, she has to open wide while I talk in a funny voice about how teddy has to look in the back for bits of whatever we've had for dinner. That's not working so well now - novelty has worn off.

Brushing before Fireman Sam at bedtime also worked - hurry up or he'll be finished on the TV!

Turning off the taps on the bath worked for getting her to have a wee on the toilet before bath time.

monkoray · 21/03/2011 22:32

have you tried an electric toothbrush. I let my DS (17 months) "brush" his own teeth with his toothbrush first, then he puts the brush back in the pot and i quickly do a go over with my adult electric toothbrush before letting him have a play with it. Seems to work quite well - although i have no idea whether there are 'issues' with using an adult electric toothbrush in a toddlers mouth - i'm sure someone else will know.

Summerbird73 · 22/03/2011 09:59

monkoray i have wondered about using an electric toothbrush too, but like you i reckon there are ishoos with gums etc - a quick blast cant do any harm can it?

doireallywant3 · 22/03/2011 10:22

love the songs! my dd is 19 mo and i have to pin her down. she's fine with me doing her bottom teeth but hates the top teeth being done. must be in for another teething phase.
I'm wondering now what age do you start taking them to the dentist?

OhHelpOhNo · 22/03/2011 10:40

We sing the mulberry bush one too!

Another tip I heard recently was counting animals to 10...... 1 elephant, 2 elephant, etc. We have discussion beforehand.... we're going to have 3 lots of counting (top, bottom, front) which animals do you want to count?

My DD is a little older at just 3 but I think it helps to give them an "end" in sight......maybe, although we still have screaming/pinning to floor occasions, am so glad I'm not alone in this

pirateparty · 22/03/2011 10:45

Oh so good to see so many others in the same boat!

I'm thinking if a sticker chart for my 2.4 yr old. He loves stickers and haven't tried it with anything else yet so might give it a go. Treat can't be chocolate though I guess!

notasausage · 22/03/2011 12:59

Doireallywant3 - advice is to be taking them with you to the dentist so they get the idea and recommended from your first appointment after birth. My DD sits on my lap and as the chair goes back she ends up lying on my chest so she can see exactly what goes on - Dentist checked dolly's teeth last time!

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