Cleaning teeth is stressful - help please

[supergreenuk]

Hi guys. My DD is 10 months and has 4 teeth. I guess you can say I am keen on ensuring her teeth are clean but I am not so bad that I don't skip it now and then. She likes to hold the brush and will chew on it happily. She likes the taste so we are okay with that. If I try to do it for her to ensure the brushing is done at this point she will open her mouth and let me start but it then gets worse and she gets upset and refuses. It then becomes a bit stressful for us both. Having done research we now have an extra soft brush on an electric brush which means we can be in and done quickly but things are not much better. Has anyone had this issue and what did you do?

I had/have this problem with both my Dc's. Ds is now 12 so I don't have much to do with it, but I tried everything to clean his teeth; wrapping him up in a towel, playing games, even sitting on him...nothing really worked.

Dd is 3.9 and exactly the same. We are better since starting nursery a few weeks ago, but it's still a battle most days. It makes it worse that she doesn't like minty toothpaste. I have to buy Punch and Judy strawberry flavour and that is only 500ppm, instead of the recommended 1000. I tend to try to think that 50 is better than nil.

Just keep trying. Eventually it gets a little easier. :)

difficult one. I try and make up games - "let's see how many teeth you've got...one..two...oh there's one hiding" etc, while brushing. Or pretend Iggle Piggle or Upsy Daisy lives at the back of dc's mouth and oh look they're doing a funny dance...basically distract them by being animated and pulling lots of stupid faces

God what a sap I sound

Cut out all sugar from their diets, and use a face cloth to rub the teeth.

They don't really need them brushed tbh - probably your DD is doing a fine job herself.

Is there fluoride enough in the water where you live to keep caries at bay?

If your children don't get any juices or sugar at all, they wont get decay.

Hold off the stressing about teeth until they are about three and they get treats.

If you keep them sugar and juice free till then, you don't need to do anything more than rub their teeth with a face cloth, and let them chew on the brush themselves.

I brush my teeth with my 6yo DD, She does as I do, and then I finish her teeth off with her electric toothbrush. My DD never has juice or sweets until she was three and went to nursery. She doesn't have a sweet tooth, and she has no cavities.

Thanks guys

zazen - how do you manage to keep them sugar free until 3? no fruit? no milk? My DDs eat healthily, no juice, no sweets (and hopefully, teeth ok so far) but I couldnt and wouldnt deny them milk and fruit which contain sugars, until they were three!

Some babies get tooth decay from the sugars in milk - including breast milk so it is important to clean teeth even if your child has no fruit or juice or sugar.

Just keep battling and trying every gimmick (musical brushes,finger brushes,timers, whatever works) and do it twice a day. They will stop protesting, my DD now trots off herself after lunch and reminds her father who is not good at remembering to brush

If anyone knows of a high fluoride toothpaste that isn't mint I'd be interested, I am still stuck on the P&J 500ppm (used to be 1000) and DD won't do mint. She has fluoride treatments because of aan enamel problem and we brush a lot so it's not a huge issue but I would like a higher one to rub on last thing at night.

OP, forgot to say, both my DDs were like yours; DD1 is now 4 and for the past year and a half she has been fine with us brushing for her. I remember fondly the days that we used to have make up brushing songs involving all the characters from peppa pig though, and it looks like we'll have to do the same with DD2 who is nonc-compliant! we just wrestle her down at the moment!
Tippy - i rememebr seeing a princess toothpaste somehwere that was not mint ( so we didnt get it!)i think it was more than 500ppm. might have been boots?

I let DD brush mine and make funny brush noises which make her laugh, but if DD cries I just keep going and clean them quick. Carry on regardless is my motto- I think stopping gives a message that crying can 'stop' anything & some things 'have' to happen

I agree pixie - keep on brushing, using what ever comes to hand, and give them a little brush also.

We never gave our DD any sugar or juices - that's how we kept her sugar free. It's not rocket science!

I pretty much cook from scratch, with no sugar added, and DD ate what we ate. There were no snacks or sweets bought, ergo none to eat.

DD ate fruit and only drank water, after she self weaned off the breast.

I would always give her water to drink after any food. She's only started to drink cows' milk now that she's 6, and then only occasionally.

She's never had a filling, and we use a natural flouride free tooth paste from Weleda.
There's fluoride put into in the water here, so no need for any extra - in fact high fluoride can cause discolouration of the adult teeth and also cause thyroid problems. Best to use a very low fluoride toothpaste and just drink tap water to get the rest in..

Yes, also sing and make up songs about their teeth as you brush!

Thanks again. All good advise and I do keep going through it all just to get it done. Tears or no tears she won't thank me if I don't look after them. It has been a bit better since I got more animated. I also find laying her on my lap with her head at my knees and her feet at my tummy to be a really good way of doing it.

With all the best will in the world (rocket science or not) you can't avoid sugar if you are feeding a balanced diet. Bread & fruit both contain sugars~ and are part of a healthy diet. So teeth cleaning it is.

I have to say I do my best with this too, but try not to take it too seriously or make an issue of it. If they get upset (sometimes they are too tired to have their mouth poked around), then I'm happy to just let them chew and leave it at that. When DD got really difficult for a bit, I reminded her of the dentist scene in Nemo and why we had to brush her teeth.

Mine do it twice a day with me, first we let them chew the brush, then slowly worked up by brushing one tooth, next night two and just got them used to it slowly. Doesn't always work, but now at 3 DD has a chew, then lets me polish all the 'balconies' and enjoys spitting it all out in the sink! It's not an issue, just another thing we do. DS (21mo) copies her.