11 month old and teeth cleaning, is it even possible?

[WestieMamma]

I'm having a mare of a time with this. DS is having none it. I don't want to create future issue around teeth brushing but I also don't want his teeth to fall out.

If I give him the tooth brush he'll suck off the tooth paste and then throw the brush.

Any tips?

I sing a song "this is the way we brush our teeth" to the tune of here we go round the mulberry bush. And let dd watch me brushing mine.

Tends to be a 10-20s brush at the moment and then I let her have a chew on the brush. I use the tiniest smear of toothpaste.

Teeth brushing is a non-negotiable thing here. You can get chewable toothbrushes which may help.

When DS was 2 we got an electric toothbrush which really helped.

I also find it really difficult but really don't want to go down the manhandling route. I let him hold/use one brush and then get some brushing in with another brush. I keep trying to make it a game, and hope eventually he'll become more compliant. I have read that in the very early years, it's not such a BIG deal to make them absolutely squeaky clean - more about creating the habit and routine of brushing twice daily.

The only way I can do it to my ds who is 15 months is wrapping him in a towel (like swaddled) lie him across my lap and just get it done quickly and efficiently as possible!

I then give him the brush after and let him do it for himself which he likes

I brush my teeth, then Teddy's teeth, THEN dd's teeth to the old macdonald song (with a brush brush here, a brush brush there etc). I kept it consistent and in the end was able to do it most nights with no fuss

I do it in the bath, quick 10-20 seconds on his bottom 2 teeth then give him the brush to chew, with lots of "good boy!! Type comments x

We have a brush baby for our 9mo. He loves it so much he gets really upset when we take it off him...

I was despairing with my 9mo as she just kept pushing the brush away from her mouth. I started doing it in the bath, letting her hold and examine the brush herself, brushing her ducks' teeth, pretending to brush mine etc. Kept it all very fun and calm. Eventually she got more interested in what was going on, and let me put the brush in her mouth. Once she'd got the hang of that, I started with a bit of toothpaste on it. She's now nearly 11mo but loves her tooth brushing sessions!

I think the most important thing was taking it really slowly, not turning into a battle and accepting that if she really didn't want the brush in her mouth she wasn't going to let me put it in there! I did worry about whether I was damaging her teeth by not cleaning them more, but on balance I think the fact that she now enjoys toothbrushing will stand us in much better stead in the longer term.

So my advice would be just to take it really slowly and try not to worry too much. They do get the hang of it eventually.

Letting them brush your teeth is another good ploy.

For some reason ds1 always howled unless I sang "this is the way we brush our teeth"...

I did sometimes pin them down as well though. no lasting damage done as far as I can tell

Im of the "Just hold em down and get it done" school. Its 10 seconds (at that age with only a few teeth) of hell for both of us but being told by a dentist that your baby has cavities must be much worse.