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Original poster

Brushing Teeth 2 yr old - your tips please

27 replies

BernieBear · 17/08/2006 09:14

My ds has now taken to fighting, clawing, hitting etc. when having teeth brushed. I have tried everything, from flashing, character, music playing toothbrushes. I give him a warning etc. even tell him that dragons love having their teeth cleaned (he is into dragons at the moment), him having a brush and me having a brush, brushing our teeth together, even down to the "tooth fairy" leaving a present (a car, small ball, cheap book) etc. if we successfully brush teeth. But he is just getting worse. It has got to the stage that if I am having to hold down his hands and forcably brush his teeth, which feels like child abuse to me; I am so scared that he will get holes etc. He generally eats healthly, but does drink very very diluted squash which I know can be bad for teeth. Please help as I am hating this. Also it is only me so no help on hand at brushing times. Your tips/bribes/advise/or just general understanding would be great.

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aideesmum · 17/08/2006 09:20

My ds (18 mo) was the same, now in the morning I let him brush his own teeth and before bed I brush his teeth properly. This seems to have stopped the tantrums completely. Don't know if this helps

TheLadyVanishes · 17/08/2006 09:26

my dd is refusing to have hers brushed (13.5mths) so we sing songs to her whilst doing it, there is a song on cbeebies which show all the different characters brushing their teeth and thats the one i'm trying at the moment, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't

chocybickie · 17/08/2006 09:27

let him watch you brush your teeth and say 'look how clean and shiny my teeth are, no nasty muck on there now'. or whatever crazy mummy talk you want. leave his brush on the side of the sink ready with paste and see if he picks it up himself. put up a mirror so he can see himself whilst hes brushing so its fun for him.
then if you think he might let you, ask to quickly go over his teeth to check all the nastiness has gone. then give lots of praise.

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Frizbe · 17/08/2006 10:39

We do the other way round to aidesmum I brush in the morning, dd1 does her's in the evening, when she's stroppy!

pablopatito · 17/08/2006 11:08

DS is 15 months and has always hated having his teeth cleaned. It got worse a few months ago and he would refuse to open his mouth. It got to the stage where I would hold him down and wait till he cried so much he couldn't close his mouth any more and would quickly clean his teeth once his mouth was open. I don't think this is child abuse at all - his teeth simply have to cleaned one way or the other and this was the only way that I could get to work. The good news is he seems to have accepted the inevitable recently and has stopped crying and just lets me clean his teeth quite happily. Don't know why he's changed his mind but I hope it lasts.

Original poster

BernieBear · 17/08/2006 11:37

Thank you everyone, I will definately try the mirror thing, will get him his own "special" mirror as he is a bit of a narcisist (sp?). At least I am not the only one holding him whilst I brush. Thing is he refuses to do it himself even, I brush mine and tell/ask/plead/bribe him to do his, but he just says "not me Mama, not me Mama". I will try the singing, but when I have sung to him before he has always said "no mama no" with a pained expression on his face Thanks again x

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buffythenappyslayer · 17/08/2006 11:41

my dd is 2 and she hated having her teeth brushed.she loves spiders so i tell her to look for the spiders on the ceiling and show them her sparkly teeth,she then lets me brush them

also she hated the normal milk teeth tooth paste but loves the gel one so maybe you could try switching toothpaste

CountTo10 · 17/08/2006 11:47

My lo is 23mths and we had the same issue. What happens now is he brings his special bear in with him and we clean bears teeth too. We also roar like a lion so mummy can clean top and bottom and then say cheese so we can clean the front. he then gets to clean his teeth for a bit too. He loves that bear is doing it too so perhaps that might be worth a try.

KathyMCMLXXII · 17/08/2006 11:48

Holding down their hands to forcibly brush their teeth is not child abuse. Trust me. It's just not.

MrsCapedCrusader · 17/08/2006 11:53

headlock works for us everytime

frogs · 17/08/2006 11:58

I have dd2 (2.5) who is a professional attention-seeker and wind-up merchant over things like this. From experience, I'd say it's worth considering the possibility that your ds has just got into the habit of behaving like this, or that he's doing it because he quite likes the elaborate reactions it causes -- the mixture of cajoling, encouraging, bribing and telling-off can be quite rewarding for some 2yo.

So here we now say: 'Who's going to brush your teeth today, Mummy or you?' Either is fine, since getting the toothpaste onto the teeth is more important than the fine details of brushing technique. If she won't play ball, we hold her down and do it by force. Don't apologise, don't discuss. It's got to be done, and that's it. It isn't child abuse, any more than forcing, say, a diabetic child to have their insulin injections, or forcibly administering antibiotic syrup for an ear infection is abuse.

Once he realises that it will happen come hell or high water and that he doesn't get attention for making a fuss, you may find he'll cave in. Dd2 is now usually fine about it, although occasionally if very tired and hysterical we still have to pin her down.

Enid · 17/08/2006 11:59

i wrapped mine in a towel, laid them on the floor, forced their mouth open and did it

mcnoodle · 17/08/2006 12:07

Can only add my sympathies. Am also holding ds down and having a go whilst he howls - can get great access to new molars when he's statospheric

It's horrible, but has to be done. I find gently squeezing his cheeks opens his mouth wider if he's in a slightly more amenable frame of mind. Will try some of the other tips here too - he might go for the teddy thing as he's obsessed at the moment.

wheelsonthebus · 17/08/2006 12:11

it's v.grim - forcible brushing - but better than hours of agony for darling offspring in dentist's chair IMO. wish my parents had done it. wd have saved me a lot of fillings.

lukenjoesmummy · 17/08/2006 12:16

I have the same problem but I've felt too bad to hold ds down and do it until I read this, but I definitely will tonight!

CountTo10 · 17/08/2006 12:27

wheelsonthebus is right - a bit of tough love in the short term is a lot better than hours of painful dental work!!! I'm told it doesn't last forever......here's hoping

scampadoodle · 17/08/2006 12:29

Completely agree Lukenjoesmummy. I have loads of fillings so am pathological about my 2 DSs cleaning their teeth, but DS2 (26m) is vv reluctant. Am going to forcibly do it from now on & NOT feel guilty - hurrah!

Original poster

BernieBear · 17/08/2006 12:39

Oh wonderful, I am not alone!!!!! Will also try the teddy thing, with mirror and........guilt free forced brushing - you girls are great. Thanks x

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PetitFilou1 · 17/08/2006 12:56

Let him choose his own toothbrush, let him try and brush before you do and then do it properly (and fast) while holding him in a 'gentle' headlock! Works for us. Ds knows it gets done whatever so generally gives in in the end.

jacsmum · 17/08/2006 13:18

I got an electric toothbrush with two diff heads for ds 1&2 (ds3 has no teeth yet ). Now they quite like brushing.

ginmummy · 17/08/2006 13:28

Agree with the 'headlock' method. His teeth have to be cleaned one way or another, and it will only take a few times of tears and tantrums for him to realise that it has to be done.

My ds had the habit of clamping his mouth shut then biting the toothbrush tight and I think I just perservered with tears and tantrums followed by lots of praise and 'what a big boy and aren't your teeth lovely and clean etc!'. He also chose his own toothbrush - to start with it was a brush in a baby pom holder, and he's kept the holder and uses it to hold his new toothbrushes, presently a Tesco flashing toothbrush that flashes for a minute.

wishfulthinking · 17/08/2006 15:23

This thread has cheered me right up! Only this morning as I cajoled dd (2.5) into brushing her teeth (in reality she just sucks off the Princess toothpaste), I was thinking about how I never managed to get them brushed properly my self and foresaw a future of frequent visits to a tut-tutting dentist at dd's poor dental hygiene!!! Headlock tonight me thinks .

Elibean · 17/08/2006 17:32

We've used a whole variety of games over the last year or two (dd 2.8). Best one at the moment is brushing a tooth for each one of a friend/tv character/song/cuddly toy etc and she joins in with coming up with more to brush.
Personally not wanted to, or had to, use headlock with dd, but never skipped a toothbrushing session and wont' leave bathroom come tears or tantrums until they've been done. Had maybe 4 nights/mornings of those so far ever - she knows we don't go till they're done.
That said, if she's totally overtired, I'll occasionally let it go at a cursory swipe over all surfaces...but not often, and never twice running!

Original poster

BernieBear · 17/08/2006 20:12

UPDATE: I owe a sane evening to you girls! Bought a small mirror on the way home, and then took him for a "special" shop where he chose 2 toothbrushes (with Tigger on) and some pink toothpaste (is that really toothpaste?????) which we have called "Dragon Gel", because it is actually covered in mermaids and he has to be a boy! He actually brushed twice!!!! and almost as near as damn it properly, watching himself in the mirror the whole time, I showed him how to see the top of his mouth etc. .....and he brushed bear's first. The combination of all your suggestions worked a trick. God, this place is great. I do appreciate that this will not be the end of it, but the break from "headlock hell" was a big relief......and I didn't have to sing, much to my neighbours relief
{goes off humming "why do birds suddenly appear......" tunelessly}

OP posts:

LordshipsDesign · 27/06/2012 17:35

I have the same problem with my 2 children but i heard through a friend that their is a toothbrush she got from Tesco's that flashes once the button is pressed and stops automatically after 60seconds - so the child keeps brushing whilst the toothbrush is flashing - I tried it and my kids love them! i really recommend that you give it a go

www.bbrite.net/

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