Toddler wont clean his teeth

[carlyb]

My stubborn 20 month old ds is now refusing to have his teeth cleaned - or clean them himself. He sucks off the toothpaste it I try and bites down on the toothbrush.

He is willful and if I try to clean his teeth he shuts his mouth and says "no,no,no"!
I am now cleaning his toy bertie bus's teeth (well face really!) in an attempt to make the whole thing fun.

Any tips? thanks

Try cleaning your teeth whilst cleaning your ds, and if he sees you doing it, he may want to copy you. Thats the only suggestion I can think of.

HTH

or try letting him clean your teeth first then say 'now its your turn' to see if he is more willing that way. or make it into a game and clean each others teeth at the same time - bit messy but can help

I talk about the food he's eaten that day and pretend I can see it as I brush it off. By the time we've gone from breakfast through to supper they've had a good brush. It works most of the time. Good luck!

I agree with Shrub. I let my 14 month old have a suck (not too much toothpaste on brush in the first place so he can't swallow too much) and then he seems more amenable to me having a go.

My ds was like that as well until his big brother gave him a go on his electric toothbrush. Now he can't wait to brush his teeth and giggles as the 'wobbly brush' tickles him. We bought him his own battery operated electric brush and he loves it.

Oh, carlyb, I just posted an almost identical post on the 'development / behaviour' board. My 18 month dd is the same as your ds. Will definitely try out some of these suggestions and maybe you should keep your eye out for my post to see if I get any further ones.