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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

Help with two year old refusing to brush teeth....

55 replies

cheeseandmushroomtoastie · 14/09/2012 09:10

Ds is 2.3 and used to happily let me brush his teeth after letting him have a go. The last couple of months however, he has decided thy sucking the toothpaste off the toothbrush is enough, and will not let me near his teeth. I am starting to worry as I can see they need a good brush, and yesterday his breath wasn't very pleasant.... Any tips, suggestions, recommendations very very welcome. I hve tried letting him choose his own toothbrush, toothpaste with characters on, have looked on YouTube for a 'brushing teeth' clip so he can watch a video on mobile whilst brushing but none of these have helped. I need to sort this before the dentist annihilates me..... And ds's teeth fall out.....

Thanks in advance

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

WhatYouLookingAt · 14/09/2012 09:11

I just hold them down and brush anyway. My 2 year old screams the place down, but its not something you can compromise on, or wait until they are ready, they need to be done.

N0tinmylife · 14/09/2012 09:13

I agree with WhatYouLookingAt, this is one of those things that you can't compromise on. I had to pin Ds down a couple of times when he was that age, but he soon learned to do it the easy way!

Original poster

cheeseandmushroomtoastie · 14/09/2012 09:49

Thanks for replies. I have been pinning him down, and he screams the place down whilst kicking me with his super strength but I thought there might've been an easier way. Will carry on then

OP posts:

lizardqueenie · 14/09/2012 23:11

If it helps a sticker chart for my dd (22 months) has worked wonders. I distract her with which sticker she is going to choose to put on her chart whilst I am brushing then we talk about her lovely shiny teeth, who she is going to show them to & how that are going to say wow x haven't you got lovely teeth, aren't you clever for brushing for teeth. Go ott & ham it up a bit. Then I stick on the sticker that she has picked when I have finished brushing & she gets a big cheer & clap. Has worked wonders & of tried books/ songs/ teddy teeth brushing. Hope it helps you

FeersumEndjinn · 14/09/2012 23:21

Bribery and threats - we do teeth cleaning in the bath - and if he is good and opens wide and lets me brush he gets extra bath toys (some of which are reserved for only people with clean teeth) and if he refuses then all the toys get taken away.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 14/09/2012 23:21

On the bright side when they are in their back screaming it is really easy to give teeth a proper clean and properly visually I suspect them too.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 14/09/2012 23:21

Inspect not I suspect.

Proud2bhismum · 14/09/2012 23:44

I had exactly the same problem until recently. Every day was a battle when it came to cleaning my DS's teeth. I happened to notice a "musical" toothbrush in toys r us last week, and thought it was worth a try. I told him that he needed to brush his teeth until the end of the song to keep it going or it would stop. The song actually plays for a minute. I now have the opposite problem, we listen to the song at least 4 times and I now have a struggle getting him to stop!! I'd definitely recommend giving it a try! Good luck!

janji · 14/09/2012 23:58

There's a cute app for the iPad / iPhone which gets the children to brush along with a dancing rabbit called Jackson. Was very sceptical but it really worked with my dd (if you as a parent can stand the cheesiness of it).

roopickles · 16/09/2012 17:16

I agree with the post above i was having the same prob but downloaded an app, its a ginger kitten which dances and plays music but also times for two mins this was a god send dd loves it, also you can interact with the kitten give it a shower etc and its free! Good luck

Littleraysofsunshine · 17/09/2012 07:23

My dd1 does this. Sucking the brush, pulling weird faces when I try to brush!

Littleraysofsunshine · 17/09/2012 07:24

Must add, she likes to "do teeth" but just doesn't brush as such.....

happydotcom · 18/09/2012 12:47

My ds is 15 mo and hates having his teeth cleaned. Screams and kicks but has to be done.
I'd rather pin him down while teeth cleaning than be pinning him down screaming while a dentist removes his rotten teeth :)

PurdyShaky · 18/09/2012 12:51

My ds hated having his teeth cleaned, it was a massive battle until I got him a children's electric toothbrush (£3 from B&M Bargains).

He loves it and now I can get his teeth clean

numbertaker · 18/09/2012 12:53

Arrrgh, this was so hard with DS2, earlier in his life it was just pin down, or wrapped in a towel, when he got older I showed him my amalgams and said look what happens when you don't brush your teeth, he reasoned it out in the end and he lets you do it now, still hates it though. We have not solved the hair cutting on yet.

Judez99 · 18/09/2012 16:51

Going through the same issue now - DS (just turned 2) thinks that sucking the toothpaste off the brush is enough. He screams and kicks so much I can't even get the toothbrush in his mouth and anyway he clamps it shut. I have tried "if you don't brush your teeth you won't have your milk" (as he brushes before milk at night) and up till yesterday that seemed to work, but as of last night he wasn't having that either. I bought him a Thomas stool so he could stand up at the sink and brush his teeth properly, that worked for a couple of weeks but novelty of that has worn off now. Tried brushing teddy's teeth etc but that also doesn't work any more.

What are the iPhone aps mentioned? I'm happy to have a go!

Or maybe I just need to use brute force?!

tigersmummy · 18/09/2012 17:38

My DS has gone through periods of not wanting to brush his teeth and just sucking on the toothbrush - recently he did it again (he's 4.5 yrs and just started school) and I started telling him he needed to brush his animals - so I'll say 'I can see a giraffe, can you brush his long legs?' - taken off straight away and he really enjoys it now, sometimes I still have to brush them but then he likes to take over. As long as they're brushed that's the main thing. No, its not a compromisable issue but I would never hold him down, that's just cruel and is just showing that as the adult you can exercise force over a child.

hoviscat · 18/09/2012 17:59

I also thought pinning down was a terrible thing to do but after holding out hope until DS was almost 22 months that he would start to co operate on tooth brushing if I kept it relaxed etc, I have now decided force is the only way to go.

IMO I would much rather upset him at home for a few minutes than he have rotten teeth....

chrisrobin · 18/09/2012 18:05

We used to have dinosaur and lion roaring competitions, when they roared I cleaned their teeth. I also let DS clean my teeth while I cleaned his when he was younger.

Shaky · 18/09/2012 22:45

I pinned my ds down once, he screamed so much he puked all over me. I felt awful.

Now I don't care how long it takes, his teeth get cleaned but always with his cooperation. He knows now that I will not back down and we do not go downstairs until he has cleaned his teeth. It really is a battle of wills, very,very difficult to keep calm and patient...

littlebluechair · 18/09/2012 22:50

Hi, at bedtime I just used to sit down against bathroom door and read a book. Eventually DS would give in as he got bored. I found when I took the fight away it wasn't any fun.

If it is morning, I say OK, but you can't have anything to eat til they've been cleaned (we do our morning clean after breakfast) - he has only done it twice and was not allowed a snack til they had been done. I took the tooth kit out with me and made him brush them at the toddler group before a snack.

If he is just moaning a bit I try the fun stuff, usually works.

LeBFG · 19/09/2012 07:17

I'm not in total agreement with some posters. We ARE adults and can force our kids to do things. I don't feel there is anything intrinsically wrong about this - we force out kids not to run out into the road, to give an extreme example. Obviously, I'm not saying force food down, but things like teeth is a battle worth fighting. My DS eats cake, lots of fruits, some juice - he needs his teeth cleaned twice a day - there can be no compromise unfortunately. He's been screaming and kicking recently, but after a few days of regular routine, regular words to lead in and his favorite book straight after, he's changed and lets me do it. I let him play with the brush after. Obviously, distract if you can, but otherwise, I would use force (kind force, goes without saying).

differentnameforthis · 19/09/2012 08:55

Holding me down to make me do something would make me scream too

Yes, there is an app on the iphone/ipad. No personal experience of it, but surely better to try than to pin him down.

I would suggest giving him a toothbrush to play with. He will put it in his mouth & it will do something to help.

differentnameforthis · 19/09/2012 08:57

Jackson

Nurdle, by Macleans

exoticfruits · 19/09/2012 09:02

It is non negotiable as far as I am concerned. You just get on and do it and then it becomes routine.
Fast forward to a few years down the line and poor teeth and I would think they would be highly annoyed and say 'but you were the adult-why were you so wet as to let me get away with it?!'

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