Teeth brushing is such a battle!!

[Bangonthedoor]

Please is there anyone keen to share their toddler teeth brushing tips?! DD just won't let me near her teeth! She'll happily 'do' them herself and then I just try and go over them to make sure they are done but I just have no chance. I bought an electric toothbrush (which I took her to buy with me) as I thought at least the bristles move so gives her teeth a bit more of a chance...

I'm going to make an appointment for the dentist for us both soon as she had never been.

I've also told her that if we don't clean her teeth then they'll fall out - whether anyone agrees if this is right or not.

DD is 2.3 - thanks in advance!

A giant set of teeth with a giant toothbrush to 'practise' with?

Ah thanks stargirl I hadn't thought of that. I'll try and hunt some down

There are lots of things that might help....

Toothbrushing app
Playing games of hunting things in the mouth
Brushing teddies teeth or your teeth whilst you brush hers

Etc etc

But when it comes down to it, it has to be done, so if none of these things work, wrap in a big soft towel, and get brushing.

This may seem extreme but worked for us. Show him/her some photos of rotten teeth. Now he never argues!

Playing games worked for us - lot's of "OH! What's that? There are monkeys in your mouth! I'll chase them."

We make lots of silly noises. I let DS watch me brush my teeth, making the same silly noises and also let him brush my teeth.

I'm brutal. I lay my son down on his back, clamp his head between my thighs, his two hands in one of mine and the brush in my other hand. It works!

Snap ! You are not alone ! Any advice would be great!

Thanks everyone! All great ideas! I think DD might respond to the chasing monkey thing quite well. Just fed up of bed time ending up in tears every single night

We use the Aquafresh app. I give all her teeth a quick going over and do the back ones thoroughly, then she brushes along with the song for two minutes (she's not too bad at brushing, but only gets the front ones), 'winning' herself stars that she can use to buy outfits for the little character. She loves it and tolerates me doing the initial brush because she knows the fun part's coming.

mummybare that's a great idea giving her the fun bit after. I'll definitely give that a try!

Yes, we tried letting her do it then finishing them off but it tended to end in tears - this way works much better!

Found some

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B004ITOQY0?pc_redir=1407388876&robot_redir=1

Ah thanks stargirl!

We're just getting back to normal after a few horrible weeks, I think DS was getting some molars in but I'm so paranoid about this

Anyway two things have helped, one - I ignore him and pretend to put toothbrush in my mouth, he'll them grab it andput it in his mouth. Two - I read a tip somewhere about 'tickling teeth' and laugh historically while I do it to me first then him - fingers crossed it keeps working!

mummybare the app is working so far! Thanks again for the tip....although I now have that song stuck in my head

Haha, yes sorry - it should come with some sort of warning! It's very catchy. Glad it's helping though :)

We have battles most days

What helps:

• Books or TV programmes where the character brushes their teeth (I can then say "we need to brush your teeth like Maisie" and she is more cooperative)

• Me making silly noises or pretending to laugh/cry/rap (!) and she laughs so I can get in there.

• I sit on her. (Seriously. I don't put my weight on her but I sit over her and clamp her between my thighs).

Will try that app though! But dd is a bit young (21 months) not sure she will get it really.

I'm with you thatsn0tmyname I cradle my ds with one of his arms behind my back the other in one of my hands and brush with the other. Teeth brushing is something I don't compromise on. Sometimes he is good other times he protests...they still get brushed either way.

So the app has worn off already - great

What did work this evening was to get her Oleg toy to brush her teeth instead of mummy. So Oleg held the brush and managed to give them a good going over (with mummy as puppet master )

Dd has a choice of toothpastes - "Pirate Fruits" (Lidl Dentalux brand - flavour is called "Pirate Fruits") or "Minty Cat" ( Morrisons "Mild and Minty" brand - it has a cat on the tube). We let her pick which one she wants prior to any tooth brushing - sometimes she has a bit of both! She also has a pink Hello Kitty brush (I get them from Poundland) which has a popper on the base, and a lid with a moving image on it.
All in all she loves tooth-brushing time, as we have basically branded it! Still, when I (her mum) do "toothy times", she demands that I brush my own at the same time as well. Her daddy (who does it usually) is treated to no such structure!

We did have this problem, 2 toothbrushes & let him choose his own toothpaste in the supermarket, he's got lightning McQueen atm!