Toddler and brushing teeth

[first1]

This is a royal nightmare tbh! Dd is 23 months and goes nuts when it's time to brush her teeth. She just won't. I've tried: milk teeth toothpaste, mr happy toothpaste, shiny toothbrushes, sparkly toothbrushes, copying me, letting her do it, doing it in the bath and all I get at max volume is "no mummy no". She literally goes days with no brushing (awful parent emoticon). She has a good diet and lots of calcium so I hope that'll help the teeth's strength but I'm at a loss for ideas now....ladies?!

In the same boat with no answers (sorry)

Watching with interest!

i suggest the same technique that I use for eye drops with my DS aged 25 months. Child on back on floor. Straddle child using knees to restrain tossing head and shins to restrain flailing arms and thrashing legs. Then scrub away. with eyes its quite easy to hold them open, mouths are harder, but a squeeze of the cheeks usually works. Then a reward. For the eye drops I always used to give chocolate buttons, with teeth I would suggest chocolate buttons and gold stars initially, weaning onto gold stars and a proper prize after a say a couple of days with no trouble. As a dentist I am super tough about brushing so DS gives me no gip at all, but it wasn't the case a year ago, and I did pin him down to do it. I know that as a dentist I am mad telling you to give chocolate buttons after brushing, but as she is not brushing anyway I cannot see that it makes too much difference for a next few days / weeks if needs must.

ps, DS now lies down on the floor and asks for "eyes mummy" in the hope of buttons!

I use the "making a cat take a pill" approach - straight out of the bath, wrap ds in a towel so his arms are pinned, and then lie him on my lap with his head tipped back. It's not pleasant but having fillings is more unpleasant!

Another pinning the toddler down here initially, now aged 2.3 he's fine with it. Being allowed to take a mouthful of water and spit it afterwards into the sink seems to act as a reward, not sure why...

Have you tried the chewable toothbrushes? Brush baby or similar, you can get them at Amazon or Waitrose. They don't look like conventional toothbrushes and DD can do it herself.

wow, bonzo, im impressed with that solution.....wish my mum had done that to us...mouth fulla fillings, classic scottish teeth over here.

my son runs around eating the toothpaste, loves having his brush in his mouth and it slowly realising there is a purpose to it. Sometimes he lets me scrub. to make up for the lack of progress, we get it out three times a day though. I try not to panic but ive been letting him see his toothrush as a toy first.

Actually, could someone help me with this? I have the same no mummy no scenario when it comes to cleaning his willy properly. Distraction doesnt work, but I am paranoid he´ll get infections etc.

What do you mean by cleaning his willy? You shouldn't be messing about with it - just a wipe over with a flannel. Whatever you do don't try to pull the foreskin back or anything like that.

Ds is 2.1. Occasionally he refuses. I sit on the loo (seat down) with him on my knee facing sideways to brush his teeth. If he refuses I just use the arm that's supporting his back to hold his hands out the way then go for it as quick as poss whilst he protests. It's screamy and unpleasant but only for 20 secs then it's done. Some days he's fine and we brush them no problem.

I don't generally agree with forcing anything but teeth are important. We used the same technique with ds1 when he used to refuse and he willingly brushes his teeth every day no problem now. It is a phase and will pass

I don't think you need to go too overboard on willy cleaning. I just stand DS up, give him a good all-over rub with baby wash and rinse him off! He's never had any infections.

I just use brute force...

Teeth cleaning is non negotiable - you make sure that it is done whatever until it becomes routine.

Could I perhaps suggest an electric toothbrush?
DD (2.9) was exactly the same until I bought her a spiderman one on offer in Morrisons! Now she ADORES it! Also, when she does fight me, it just means I have to get the brush in her mouth rather than having to try and brush as well.
She will also have a go herself and it actually does something rather than her just chewing the toothpaste off :o

I worry about this. DS 16 months and I am doing the 'toothbrush is a toy' type thing. I carry it about and get him to stick it in his mouth whenever possible but he's not vigourosly brushing with it.

I have never doone anything special to his willy though!

I had a friend whose son had to be circumcised...due to an infection....so im pretty paranoid about it. MIL (mother of three sons) told me to roll it back once a week and gently wash. I hate doing it. My husband does it mainly.

sorry first, didnt mean to butt in - back to the gnashers :)

i also pin down my 2 year old's arms when he is sat on my lap. or if he is willingly standing at the sink i will gently as possible pull back mouth bits to expose teeth and i'll hold his head still. he seems to like having his tongue brushed and i do this at the end. it stops the crying and it always ends well.

Is it just me giggling at the idea of willy cleaning with a spiderman electric toothbrush? ....

DS is 3.1 and we have fights pretty much every day. The only way we have managed to make it bearable was by trying out different times in the evening. What's worked best for us is doing it straight after tea time, and saying that he can have more playtime before bath if he does it quickly. It mostly works, although I quickly get very ranty frustrated.

We've been trying to focus on getting one good clean a day, and now gradually introducing a morning clean. For that I've been letting him have at it by himself (not very effective, I know), and this morning he even asked me to do it for him.

Baby steps!

He's going for his first dentist visit next week, so I'm hoping the dentist will have lots of good tips. I think he'd love an electric toothbrush, but probably only if we let him use it solo...

ps his older sister was often pinned down on the floor if she wanted to do teeth 'the hard way'. she's now very good when it comes to tooth brushing and is often eager to do it herself.

Alive you really mustn't try to roll his foreskin back - you can really hurt him and could damage it. Maybe speak to the doctor or HV about it?

Link here - www.netdoctor.co.uk/ate/childrenshealth/200107.html

"It is not a good idea to try and force the foreskin back to try and clean underneath it because this could be painful for the child and in some cases could result in splitting and scarring of the skin.

So for the first few years of a boy's life it is best to leave the foreskin alone. "

We do teeth in the bath. DS (2.8) doesn't like it and tries to refuse. All the exciting bath toys are not in the bath but are visible and out of reach.

Me: Do you want your nice red boat
Him: Yes
Me: You can have your nice red boat if I can clean your teeth a little bit
(some protracted whining which eventually leads to him opening his mouth just enough for me to force the toothbrush in and do a couple of quick brushes)
Me: Wow! Well done! Aren't you good at having your teeth cleaned! What a good boy! Yay! [give hims the red boat]
Me: Now, do you want your squeaky crocodile?
Him: Yes
etc etc repeat as many times as required to get an acceptable amount of brushing done.

Ds is 13 months and his first 3 teeth popped out in the past month. He chews the brush baby toothbrush but when i do it for him, he sticks his tongue out for brushing so I can't get to his bottom teeth. He likes using the brush. Any tips?

Eeek at foreskin pulling. Let it do it's job.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in brute force though at brushing time. I swaddle my 25mo in a towel and go for it. I've thought about electric ones but they seem expensive.