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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

Toddler Toothbrushing, How to encourage...

13 replies

heliotrope · 09/04/2010 09:44

I have a 2yr8m boy who does not like to brush teeth. Have tried it all - special brushing songs, gold stars, brushing his teddy's teeth... pleading, leaving a few days.... but he just isn't into it. He can't make the link between the rewards or the 'if you don't brush you can't have ...' and just gets upset.
I know it is important both to learn routine and keep teeth clean. Have resorted to gently pinning down and brushing them for him, but this is obviously nasty for both of us and makes him fight and hit and cry and cry. It feels wrong to use force and is probably going to create a worse negative association.
Any tips - should I keep doing it for him or just keep wheedling.....
Thanks
x

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TOK · 09/04/2010 09:58

Have you tried letting him brush them himself, while you brush yours? I do this with ds then say Mummy will finish it off for you now and you can finish mine off. That way, I get to give them a quick scrub and he feels like he's done it himself. What about letting him pick out a "special" toothbrush to buy and special toothpaste?
Good luck!

GoldenSnitch · 09/04/2010 10:01

We get DS to roar like a lion and show us how big his mouth is?

Oh and at first we used two toothbrushes - one for him to chew and one for us to brush with.

Have you got a nice tasting childrens toothpaste? We use the Stages one which tastes like bubblegum but I think you can get strawberry or mint too.

Have you tried brushing your own teeth at the same time? Lead by example. If he sees you brushing your teeth, he might want to join in the fun?

Original poster

heliotrope · 09/04/2010 10:02

Thanks TOK, yes have tried new brush/paste (mint, strawberry) and also doing it together - he just will not even take the brush out of my hand!! Occasionally will do it if a relative comes and makes a special fuss, but can't get it to carry on.

OP posts:

PrivetDancer · 09/04/2010 10:06

I was having a search on archives on here for tips as we have issues with this too - found a recommendation for this toothbrush and since we bought one she has loved cleaning her teeth and goes to bed with it!

GoldenSnitch · 09/04/2010 10:07

DS had one of those as a baby! Got it from Waitrose. He loved it

Original poster

heliotrope · 09/04/2010 10:58

Thanks very much for tips - will look out for that brush and also try roaring like a lion!

OP posts:

tiggymum · 14/04/2010 21:49

www.icanforkids.com/icanbrushmyteeth.html this short dvd sorted this out for dd and ds. They love brushing their teeth now.

Jacksmybaby · 15/04/2010 17:31

DS (3.3) is very impressed by authority figures - doctors, policemen, dentists etc.

So the "what will the dentist say? Oh he'll be so pleased / say your teeth are so shiny / say you havn't cleaned your teeth properly" etc etc, approach works a treat for us.

(We use the same approach for lots of other things, e.g. the policeman will be very cross if you don't keep your sealtbelt done up / will be so pleased you crossed the road safely"... etc.)

zapostrophe · 15/04/2010 17:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ginhag · 15/04/2010 21:19

Ummm... We have some (incredibly stupid ) techniques that work well ...I alternate between them so they don't lose their power...

brush is a train going in a tunnel...has to choo choo all round track,corners etc. He likes to decide if train big or small,steam or diesel etc.
we took him through a carwash (he cuddled me on back seat.) then toothbrush / mum is carwash,we do all the description,he grins lots,I scrub away ('now the brush goes over the roof to the back window' etc)
I have discovered that 'green slime' is not something he wants on his teeth! So I do a chant 'let's make your teeth clean n shiny or else they'll be green n slimy!' or something like that. If he starts flagging before I've finished I just say 'ooo hang on I can see a bit of green slime just there!'
we also have 2 toothbrushes. I use one and he has his own 'special' one for his go.

I don't know if that helps or just makes me sound batshit mental

CuppaTeaJanice · 15/04/2010 21:25

We used to use the 'pinning down on the floor and screaming' method.

Then one day, I took him to Sainsbury's and let him choose his own toothbrush. We made a big thing of opening the packet together and now he quite enjoys cleaning his teeth.

Still won't let me help him, so I'm not sure they are perfectly clean every time....

GoldenSnitch · 16/04/2010 09:02

A bit clean is better than nothing Cuppa

singalongamumum · 16/04/2010 09:06

Weird things that have worked for us include letting him brush mine while I brush his, telling him he has some left over peas/ pasta/ ice cream on his teeth that I need to get off and most weirdly... shutting the bathroom door and pretending the 'man in the door' has locked us in. Talking to the man in the door who tells us that he won't open it until we are ready, and that means brushing our teeth! All done in a friendly, not scary, way obviously!

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