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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

10 Month old refusing to have teeth brushed - any advice?

13 replies

RaspberryBlower · 18/03/2009 19:15

My 10 mo has 6 lovely teeth but over the last couple of weeks she has become increasingly averse to having them brushed .

I try 'look mummy is brushing her teeth and panda is brushing his teeth' and she opens her mouth but I only get one or two quick brushes in before she jams her lips together and won't let me do it anymore.

I think she could well be teething, so I'm worried that if I try to force the issue, I'll make things worse, but on the other hand I'm worried because I need to brush her teeth.

Has anyone any advice on how best to approach this?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

damnitdamnit · 18/03/2009 19:48

dd is 18mo and i have nevr brushed her teeth for her. i just hand her the toothbrush (from about 7mo) she chews, sucks and sometimes brushes. My theory is that i am getting her to do it routinely and when she is older i will tell her how to do it properly iyswim. she loves her toothbrush too, will often play/use it for about half an hour at a time.

nickytwotimes · 18/03/2009 19:51

Ds was like this and we just gently carried on with the routine. He likes it now he is 2.7 and I would say from about 2 years old was quite happy to have them brushed. Carry on as you are, but think about getting two toothbrushes - one for you and one for her - then you can at least get a few of them brushed!

notnowbernard · 18/03/2009 19:54

Ooh, I still have this at 2.7

Original poster

RaspberryBlower · 18/03/2009 19:56

So, I'll give her own tooth brush to suck and try to get a few swipes in where I can with another one.

Thanks for replies!

OP posts:

vole3 · 21/03/2009 06:24

I ended up changing to the 'halos & horns' strawberry flavour toothpaste that I found in Asda and now have very few occasions when DS doesn't want his teeth brushed. I'll go back to the mint when he's older and has got the habit.

nelix2000 · 21/03/2009 15:59

My DS is 2 and has his own toothbrush which is mostly chewed. I clean his teeth properly tho as I do not think there is any substitute. I sit him down and he cleans my teeth with his brush while I clean his at the same time. Its a compromise I don't mind but its a fact of life that they need done, its not his choice. The only time I will relent to leaving it for a day is when he is teething badly.
Watch out for flavoured toothpastes as they often have a sugar in them. DS loves mint and knows no different.

MrsMattie · 21/03/2009 16:02

I pinned him down and brushed anyway!

Dad111 · 21/03/2009 18:13

Wow! that's new to me! I am not a doctor or dentist, just father of 3 kids starting from 2.5 old 5 years and 14. I personally would NEVER clean teeth at that age!!!! and specially with a tooth paste. We as a human beings are on earth for thousands of years. What kind of tooth paste did our God suggested? Brush by itself it's OK, But do Not put any chemicals in her mouth. At this age baby should be natural. Humans did not have dentist for all those years and millions developed properly. What are we going to correct the natures. Did you consider braces for your baby, or are they nicely lined up?! just joking, but at the same time I am saying that some things we should let the nature to take care of!

MarlaSinger · 21/03/2009 18:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SomeMightSay · 21/03/2009 18:22

I first took ds to our dentist when he was 10months as that's when he got his first tooth, I was told that although it is ok to use a bit of toothpaste designed for babies, I should be very careful how much I used as too much toothpaste would cause discolouration.
I also gave ds the toothbrush and let him suck and bite on it, I only started to do it for him a few months ago, he is 19months now and only has another 2 for a full set

JimJammum · 21/03/2009 18:53

DS hated having his teeth brushed until v recently (he's now 2.3). He has his own brush and does them first, and he will now say aaaaahhhhh while I scrub after, and then inspects in the mirror to see if he can see any bits. We also recap all the things he's eaten thru' the day and say "shreddies out, toast out, dinner out" etc so he knows why we are brushing. Up til now it's been about him chewing and sucking the brush. I don't think it will hurt to leave it for a while or just scrub a little when you can at this young age if her diet is good.

SomeMightSay · 21/03/2009 22:02

JimJ That is such a good idea going over everything they've eaten that day to give understanding. I'm going to do that from now on.

rebee · 21/03/2009 22:43

Dad111 - you are very naughty!

What do you think your wisdom teeth are for and why are some people being born without them?

You must start brushing as soon as your children break their first tooth. Plaque occurs naturally on the teeth and feeds on sugar (natural sugar found in all food not just sweets etc. A by-product of the plaque is acid (thik of it as plaque poo) that rots the teeth.

To be honest I agree with you on some level in regards to the toothpaste as the most important thing is the brushing to remove the plaque so please do that even if you don't want to se toothpaste. But the benefits of a small amount of flouride on the teeth out ways the minicule risk. Depending on where you live there is flouride in the water anyhow.

To answer my first question, we have wisdom teeth from back in the days of yore when we didn't brush our teeth and would die at around 30-40yrs and have lost our teeth at an early age through poor oral hygiene. The wisdom teeth would come through to enable us to chew and live a little longer. As we have evolved wisdom teeth have become surplus to requirement an a growing number of people are being born without them.

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