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

[cheeseandmushroomtoastie]

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

I have some rather major phobias/control issues which seem to stem from being restrained as a child.

I am not against restraining children, but it needs to be done sensitively, sparingly and as a last resort. I think you have to consider the cost/benefits of each situation. I tend to agree with the dental nurse who posted earlier and said that it could cause dental phobias, which will surely be more detrimental to the child's long term dental health than a few weeks of poor brushing whilst a non-physical approach is tried. Of course if the non-physical approach fails then I'd consider restraint, but never as a first choice.

When my 16 yr old had braces to straighten his teeth the orthodontist was very definite. He said 'if you don't brush them properly your mother will have to do it for you'! He was serious. It is much too important to let them go unbrushed because they don't like t.

The examples you are using are missing the point totally. But that doesn't surprise me.

Having just had a dentist berate me for not brushing my 6 year old daughters teeth for her, I will carry on with my technique of wrapping 2yr old ds in a towel, and lying him on the bed while I brush. No amount of 'playful' techniques work with him, unfortunately.

I always brushed the girls teeth, and they were really good, it is in the last year with dd1 that I have become slack, thinking she is doing a better job than she is, and now she has 2 cavities.

The dentist was extremely clear that I should have been more forceful with her brushing, especially as it has come to light in the last few weeks that she has been suffering from reflux.

Hopefully you can get the job done without pinning down- you need to develop a 'no nonsense' stare early on. Teeth do however have to be brushed. It is the same with medicine- very few children want to take it but that doesn't mean that you don't give it to them. My 2 year old didn't want eye drops (who would?) and I can't think of any that are going to stand there quietly while you do it. The fact remains they have to go in. (I tried cream instead and that was even more difficult).