brushing teeth

[whiffywarthog]

any tips for brushing the teeth of a 1 year old?

i started off pretty well by giving her the toothbrush to play with so her gnashers got inadvertantly brushed. but now it's passé and she purses her lips every time i come near.

help!

i told my dds that i had to catch all their 'gum bugs' with the tooth brush. i told them that gum bugs were all different colours and asked them to tell me which colour they wanted me to catch first. a bit silly but it worked.

thanks ghosty, but my dd doesn't speak english yet

sometimes if you brush your teeth they will attempt to copy you

I asked my dentist about this. He said he gets his kids in a headlock and forces the toothbrush into their mouth! Apparently it's the only way he can do it!

My DS will let me brush his teeth for a split second if he can shove a toothbrush into my mouth at the same time, but that's all. So I'm afraid I revert to the headlock option. It only takes a few seconds, and I give him a big hug afterwards. I'm hoping that as he gets older I'll be able to use more sophisticated techniques!

Give her a brush to chew on. Let her get used to the sensation of having a brsuh in her mouth.

"He said he gets his kids in a headlock and forces the toothbrush into their mouth! Apparently it's the only way he can do it!"

I wouldn't recommend this, you will find you have more problems taking this approach.

i got my dd one of those novelty battery operated toothbrushes - now she sneaks off several times a day to use it!!!

Colgate smiles toothpaste has little stars in it, my kids love it. Is it worth trying different flavoured toothpastes, my ss would only use the strawberry flavoured one when he was little.

we tries the colage smiles but ds1 kept gagging on the stars as they didnt seem to dissolve enough!!
he loves the tescos own make kids toothepaste, in the silver box. its took years to get him to do it himself. and even then i have to have a quick once round his teeth as he has a knack or forgetting his front teeth.

Waitrose (sorry I don't know if anyone else do them) do a toothbrush for young babies that clean their teeth while they chew it. DS (11m) loves his and he and I go into the bathroom and clean our teeth together (for a full 2 minutes). He also has a vibrating toothbrush which we bought him as he loves our electric one. He won't use this all the time but will occasionally.

What an excellent idea. I'm going to get one too. Ds will only let me brush for seconds but he loves chewing the brush

You might find it reassuring Whiffywartdog to know that in France the authorities say caries are very rare before the age of 2 and that tooth brushing is introduced earlier more to get children used to it than because it is absolutely necessary. Used to reassure me on the nights the little mouths clammed up.

thanks osotc, that is very reassuring!

ssm, just checked on ocado's website and couldn't find anything. is it a waitrose own brand?

I looked too and on Ocado but could only find one that was from age 3+
So good to know that scuffing it around his mouth is probably ok for now

It's called Baby's First Toothbrush and it seems to be made by Euromark plc.

You can send a product request if they don't have it and, as they've got it in my two local Waitrose's, I would assume they could get one for you.

Tescos do a rubbery, kiddy mirror to be used in the bath. That worked well with mine (perhaps they were a little older though). They like looking at their teeth whilst I brushed away.

I think my post made it sound more dramatic than it is! DS is happy to have his teeth cleaned once the brush is in his mouth, but he doesn't like opening his mouth in the first place. So all the yummy flavoured toothpastes don't help.

hello my DS clamps his mouth shut but then if I grab a favourite toy of his and pretend to clean their teeth for a while.. this really grabs my son's attention and he opens his mouth and lets me do it. Well it works for us to an extent!