2 year old refuses to brush teeth

[IslaBear]

Hi, I have only just joined mumsnet and it's probably because my daughter has just turned 2! and I am seeking advice for numerous things!

One major tantrum-inducing process is the brushing of teeth! She is flatly refusing either myself or her daddy anywhere near her with the toothbrush, and when encouraged to do it herself she just sucks the toothpaste off and I am sure this isn't really doing anything to clean them!

I have tried many things including brushing our teeth together, rewarding her but nothing seems to work. I don't want to go down the route of forcing her to have them brushed as I don't want her to associate it with being upset!

Any help or tips would be so welcome!

Hi, It's not easy. My daughter has just turned 2 also and is a real minx when it comes to teeth time. She will stand in the corner facing the wall or again, like yours, she will suck and chew the toothbrush. We've ended up, with some success, trying the following: Use 2 brushes, one for her and one for Mummy/Daddy and give her a cup of water to 'swish' her toothbrush in. She seems to accept that while she 'cleans' her teeth with her brush (and the teeth of her bear, doll etc) and plays with the water, we can then get in there a bit with the other toothbrush to have a go. She will try to grab our toothbrush but I say to her that she must let Mummy have a go and then she can play. I sing 'this is the way we brush our teeth' and try to laugh about it. I literally prise the brush out of her hands and say, 'just one more brush'. Lots of praise etc. If she hides against the wall I just sit there and wait! I've just re-read this and it sounds a bit much just to brush teeth but it seems to work for us (or is that just me? :))

Hi there

I don't think there is any magic solution as far as this is concerned. From what I can remember most of toothbrushing at this age consists of a combination of stealth and bribery, at least in our house. A favourite book etc and get in there in short bursts and then let them have a bash after when you're happy that you've got the worst of the jaffa cakes/haribo remnants out. We had a special 'spitty cup' that they would spit into if we were brushing away from the sink so that from early on they understood they had to spit the paste out.

Boo

ds hated having his teeth bushed but fortunately loves peppa pig- we got him a pp toothbrush set and make much of the episodes involving toothbrushing. problem now is that he wants to do it by himself!
generally speaking we bombard him with praise and distractions (including exactly the same song as bepi!) and only worry about a proper brushing every other time.

I'm a meanie and never gave mine the chance to mess around (which they always tried to do), they were just grasped very firmly and had their teeth brushed - I ignored the hollering. It's better now, DS is 4 and DD is 2.5.

I have zero patience with bedtime faffing about and am slightly obsessed with dental hygiene so the poor DC's never stood a chance .

Thanks for this, I guess it will just be one of those things until she decides she wants to participate!

I will definitely invest in a cup and try the two brushes thing. Might also take her to choose a special brush maybe.

Will keep trying : )

i took our 2 year old with me when i went for a check up at the dentist, i got the dentist to glance at his teeth and he told him he needed to let mummy and daddy brush them better. so now we say 'the dentist says...' which really helps. we also pretend the spinning desk chair is a dentist chair. have also heard that kids have no choice but to open their mouth if you lay them on the bed with their head hanging off the end... but we haven't had any luck with that method!

A Barbie electric toothbrush did the trick for me! I let her choose, she wanted a Barbie one and she is really good now.

Don't make a big deal about I say, I also go down the route of 'oooh if you cleaned your teeth it would really help mummy' .... blah blah blah!!