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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

how do you get a toddler to brush their teeth/let you do it?

22 replies

kissmummy · 28/03/2009 16:26

my 19 month old DS has never liked brushing his teeth and won't let me do it either. he likes the idea and sometimes asks for his toothbrush to copy me when i'm doing mine but never does much more than sucks the toothpaste off. if i try and brush his teeth he shuts his mouth and/or starts wailing.
any tips? luckily he doesn't like sweet things but he does drink juice/Ribena and i have visions of him getting rotten teeth.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

JazzHands · 28/03/2009 16:31

Will be interested in the responses to this one.

Mine is just the same.

Original poster

kissmummy · 28/03/2009 16:51

i've always had the impression nobody else has a problem with this. bump!

OP posts:

pavlovthepregnantcat · 28/03/2009 16:56

My DD loves to brush her teeth, always has. However, she has never ever liked them being brushed for her.

When we first started it, we would give her the brush to bit on/chew in the bath, then would basically force her mouth open for a quick polish.

Now, at 2.8 we have learnt that bribing works. She loves to clean her teeth so much that we tell her that if she does not let mummy or daddy clean them first, she cannot finish it off after we have done it.

Up until now (even now often) it has just been a battle we have gone through, accepting that her front teeth are much much cleaner than the rest as she is good at those! We did find letting her pick her toothbrush helped a bit, but for DD it was not cleaning her teeth that was the problem, it was letting us have a go.

I found I had to be careful forcing her to let us do it as her back teeth came through, as being a bit rough caused her very tender gums to bleed.

Jojay · 28/03/2009 16:58

We sing songs, false opera style , ahh ahh ahhhhhh type thing.

Makes ds open his mouth while I brush and keeps it lighthearted.

sircoughalot · 28/03/2009 19:08

like jojay does, or tickle or bribe with toothpaste. ie let me clean your teeth first (no toothpaste) and then you can have toothpaste and do it yourself. If she won't let me do it one or two mornings/evenings I leave it, but any longer than that and I'm afraid to say I do it whilst she cries. It is one thing I think cannot really be left without being done, and is (IMO) worth the fight. I generally find that she is reluctantly compliant these days (she is 18months) its almost as if she's realised that she might as well get it done without the drama

feedthegoat · 28/03/2009 19:15

I have had terrible trouble with my ds when it comes to teeth cleaning and sometimes still do.

I let him choose a battery operated brush so at least what cleaning we do manage to do is perhaps better. Sometimes we hunt for teeth to clean relevant to his bedtime story (lets see if you have any gruffalo/tiger/crocodile teeth - that kind of thing sometimes appeals if he's in the mood).

But most effective for us has been to give him my brush and let him clean mine whilst I do his (it is abit eye watering at times but works! ).

PeppermintPatty · 28/03/2009 19:27

DD (21 months) will only let me clean her teeth if she can clean MY teeth at the same time. So I give her my toothbrush and she cleans my teeth while I do hers. Well I suppose it's only fair

And obviously I do my own teeth properly afterwards.

JazzHands · 28/03/2009 19:29

Maybe I'll see about getting her to choose a snazzy toothbrush.

I hate to say it but one of us has to restrain her while the other has a little brush

It's either that or they wouldn't get done and I so don't want all her teeth to rot out

popsycal · 28/03/2009 19:33

COme on Mr Window Cleaner. Let's get those windows sparkling!

Ok - the back windows first. Inside the back windows.......outside the back windows. Windows on the other side...inside the back windows out the back windows...

front windows......polish the insides...polish the outsides.....

you get the idea

popsycal · 28/03/2009 19:34

now wiith older two,, we sing twinkle twinkle twice (slowy) to brush for the right length of time

Meglet · 28/03/2009 19:36

I have to wrestle/pin down 2.5yr DS and do it while he screams like a banshee. After talking to my friends they nearly all have the same problem and end up holding down their dc's. Its not much fun but gets the job done. He did go to the dentists for the first time this month and he behaved like an angel for the dentist, so there's hope for us yet!

HumphreyCobbler · 28/03/2009 19:36

You just keep on trying until one day they let you.

It took months for us. I used to hold him down too, couldn't see any other way of doing it!

supergluebum · 28/03/2009 19:37

Electric toothbrush all the way. And when that novelty wears off, I will move onto those musical ones! But a timer with a loud buzzer works wonders too. Set it for a minute then race to brush every tooth before it sounds, I always make sure I lose. On the upside it means I brush my teeth 4 times a day!

LittleMissNorty · 28/03/2009 19:38

Mostly my 23 month old is very good, but if we have problems we sing the ITNG tombliboo teeth cleaning songs.

If she wails, I just hold her head still and do it - at least her mouth is wide open!

woodstock3 · 28/03/2009 19:53

for some reason ds is prepared to have his teeth brushed if he is standing looking in the mirror while i do it (with me behind/beside) but not otherwise.
can also be persuaded to "roar like a lion" in order to get to back teeth.
he still wriggles a bit and im never confident they get a v good brushing but its better than nothing...

ICANDOTHAT · 28/03/2009 20:20

Our dentist always told me to brush dc's teeth until they were old enough (6-7yo) to do it themselves. My oldest is 12 and I'm still tempted to hold him down and get in there

hefferlump · 28/03/2009 21:38

I'm really struggling with this too. DS normally just chews his brush with toothpaste and then it only really gets to the front teeth. When he's ill or teething then he wont even do that. I have recently started to try and 'force' it, but its sooo difficult when he's thrashing and crying that I just manage a brief swipe and thats it.

tryingtobemarypoppins · 28/03/2009 21:42

I had a thread like this a month ago. We tried the songs, games, flashing tooth brush etc. Nothing really worked he just sucked off tooth paste (16 months). So we now just pin his down and get it done asap! We also trim his nails at the same time! Its 5 mins of thrashing and cying but his teeth look good and no sharp nails - job done!

Meglet · 28/03/2009 22:05

I remember someone posting ages ago that they brush their DC's teeth to The Ting Tings Great DJ song, the one that goes (sort of) "all the drums ah ah ah ah ah, all the strings ee ee ee ee ee" etc. So the DC's open their mouths on all the "ah's" and "ee's". I've been trying to get DS into the ting tings so we can try it.

extremelychocolateymilkroll · 28/03/2009 22:46

We sing "Brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush them every day, top teeth, bottom teeth, don't forget your tongue" to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat.

katendmom · 29/03/2009 00:02

We are in the same boat with our 3 year old. He is not too happy about teeth brushing. So giving him a brush to brush my teeth while I do his works. But also if I blow bubble gum bubbles and let him pop it by poking them - he gets so entertained that he lets me brush and even laughs with his mouth wide open (hence, access to his back teeth

vesela · 30/03/2009 14:56

We bought two toothbrushes the same, one for her to clean her teeth with and one for me to then dive in with and do it properly.

It stopped her from trying to grab the one I was using, but after several months she's getting uncooperative again - I'll try moving on to the 'you brush my teeth and I'll brush yours' approach!

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