brushing a toddlers teeth

[MoreSpamThanGlam]

I am having a nightmare with this. i only do it at night, whilst she is sitting in the bath. My dd is 19 months.

She howls and screams and clamps her mouth shut. After the ordeal I always let her "play" with the toothbrush and let her "brush" her own teeth, which she is very happy about.

Tell me what im doing wrong please!

I don't think you're doing anything wrong! My DS is 18months old. Sometimes he lets us brush his teeth quite happily, but most of the time it is a bit of a battle. We have found it's best to do it in the highchair, a little while after dinner, and after making him laugh so he's in a good mood!

It can be tricky. My ds is militantly independent and won't let us near him with the toothbrush, and it's just too dangerous to try to fight him with it. I just try to make a game of it, e.g. me and him and dh become the 3 Tombliboos cleaning our teeth, or I let him have his choice of toothbrush (he usually chooses an adult one), and then just lots of praise as he waggles it round his mouth.

WIth DS I just give him the brush in the bath and he tries to brush like an adult (but only on the bottom teeth unfortunatly!) THen I try and give it abit of a go, which doesn't really work... but his faffing around must do something I guess?

So - if they dont get done properly its not that bad?

I don't think it is the end of the world. My HV said a while ago that if some toothpaste touches a tooth then we are doing better than a lot of people!

Coming at a child from the front with a toothbrush can be horrible for them - it can seem aggressive and make them gag if they struggle and the brush goes too far back.

IMO the best way is to sit on the side of the bath with them on your lap facing away from you, put one arm across their chest and then lean forward over one of their shoulder's to brush with the other hand.

This means the brush is kept in the same position that we use to brush our own teeth and is less likely to be poked about into the back of their mouths.

Try letting someone brush your teeth from the front - it's horrid!

spam - i have just come up with new way of teeth tackling which has worked so far this week (it is a bit ridiculous!) my dd is 20 mo and loves Peppa Pig so i make up a song, to the tune of some sort of nursery rhyme, naming all the characters in peppa; i brush facing dd as she prefers it that way. i usually manage to get about a minute if i remember all the characters!

this morning she even brought me her toothbrush (she normally 'does her own' in the morning) and said' dedda,(peppa) mummy!'

I do "Brush brush brush your teeth" In a Row row row your boat stylee. She just puts it in and grins at me. I brush mine at the same time. Might try Peppa

brush youyr own teeth at the same time

use an egg timer

get an electric toothbrush

we brush teeth so they are shiny like sporticus's. sometimes... it works !

is it ok to use an electric toothbrush at this age? ( sorry, spam, don't mean to hijack!) my dd loves brushing mine for me as i have an electric, and i've seen some disney battery ones for kids that she'd probably like.

my dentist told me it was ok

We've had on and off battles about teeth since DS was old enough to object. The dentist said the most important thing was to get them used to the routine of teeth brushing rather than the brushing itself being vital - so as long as you try and do it every day, twice a day, then at least you're establishing that routine.

With DS, he has his own toothbrush and I have a separate one I use for him (cause he chews his so I have to keep buying new ones to do the actual brushing otherwise, iyswim). He brushes his teeth with his, and at the same time I do the other side of his mouth with mine. Gets a bit crowded in there, but he seems to prefer it!