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Original poster

Cleaning 1yo teeth.

95 replies

mrsleomcgary · 18/01/2015 12:59

DD got her first tooth pretty early (about 4 months) and since then we've been cleaning her teeth,at first with dental wipes them with a brush when she got a bit older.

Now at a year old she has 12 teeth and cleaning them is a nightmare! We do them morning and evening with a spot of paste on the brush. DH or I will TRY to actually make contact with her teeth before she grabs the brush and chews it or sucks off all the toothpaste.

I know she's only 1 and she hardly gets anything sugary,she was given some tiny chocolate Santa's at christmas she got 1 a day,and she gets the odd rich tea biscuit (usually by my nana!). Despite that i'm worried that we're storing up problems for later on,i would hate to be one of those parents that takes their kid to the dentist for the first time with a mouthful of cavities.

Any toothbrushing tips?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

MoreThanAWoman · 19/01/2015 22:02

hazeyjane I totally agree with you, that's what I meant sometimes there is no alternative and if there was you would choose it. You are not pinning them down in a horrible aggressive manner being cruel to them.

I can not imagine having to go through that bless their little socks and your big socks. There is a huge difference between what you are doing and child abuse. Or a parent forcing foul meds down their childs throat and holding their mouth shut or other awful things ive read when there was a better tasting medicine available.

You do what you need to do with your childs best interests at heart even if it breaks yours, its done through love, abuse is not. Your choice is do what you do or your children will get very sick huge difference. You and other parents who go through this deserve praise, understanding and maybe a bloody hug not judged or accused.

On a lighter note I have PMT and the amount of choc I am consuming again tonight would give my dentist a heart attack, past the tooth brush love but don't sit on me lol x

hazeyjane · 19/01/2015 22:11

I will happily take that wodge of cake, thankyou

Thankyou you two, I was feeling a bit 'banging head against a brick wall-y'!

findingherfeet · 19/01/2015 22:20

Wheres...I pinned my DD (arms) to brush her teeth, you left your baby to scream for hours....and you're calling me the abusive parent??

I relieved to see the majority of people here don't think my actions were violent.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

1 year olds Dental health General parenting

plentyofshoes · 20/01/2015 10:58

I got dd a baby electric toothbruth which she loves. It was from jojo maman bebe and not too expensive.

Teabiscuits · 20/01/2015 13:38

DS has started to get a bit difficult with teeth cleaning at 19 months. Best trick I have found for him is to have fun both shouting AAAAAAAHH! to get to the back ones and EEEEEEE! to brush the front. He is one of natures foghorns though and loves the sound of his own voice, not such a great thing in other situations!

BeCool · 20/01/2015 14:54

I think age 1 its OK to chew a toothbrush and encourage them to brush more - it's making cleaning the teeth a habit that matters most.

have you tried the Aquafresh Ap? My 2 yo loves it - it is designed to get children brushing for 2 minutes which might be too long for your child, but you could try it.

BeCool · 20/01/2015 14:57

I tried to restrain my 2yo and brush her teeth once after getting in a battle of wills over teeth brushing and I still shudder to remember it - horrible. Not for me.

Now if I get resistance (and I still do from time to time) I just sit down on the bathroom floor and wait her out. Nothing more will happen in her life until her teeth are brushed. She then gives in after a while and brushes her teeth.

Clearly this is more effective in the evenings than the mornings, but it is usually evenings I get resistance.

hazeyjane · 20/01/2015 16:28

Haha! We would never leave the bathroom!

Lifesalemon · 20/01/2015 18:20

We wouldn't either hazey. I thought I was stubborn but my daughter beats me hands down.

Cooki3Monst3r · 20/01/2015 20:06

My DD would be "WOOHOOO late night party in the bathroom tonight!!"

There's a LOT of fun to be had in the bathroom.

Having said that, despite physically abusing my children with pinning down and headlocks at 4 and 2 this is a long distant memory.

For us the problem was that stage between 1yr-2yr when they were no longer tiny but yet able to comprehend the idea of having a dentist take a drill to their teeth.

lomega · 20/01/2015 21:53

We have a little rubber finger-brush that we use for DS, means I can feel where his teeth are and scrub the right areas before he gets fed up and bites me really hard

It came in a baby 'manicure set' from TK Maxx and has been the best part of the kit so far. It's rubber like the bottle teats so it can be sterilised after use as well. I don't bother sterilising it now DS is over a year old but he got his first tooth at 3 months and it was imperative for me to sterilise it then.

He loves the taste of that Milk Teeth stuff and I've been told the fluoride is good for him. Bedtime brush is non-negotiable, even if he whinges I just tell him he doesn't want to end up with short brown curly teeth

BeCool · 20/01/2015 22:07

Sitting quietly and calmly works. They get bored, want a story, want anything to happen.

Same well known tactic for tantrums etc. Just calmly wait it out. You only have to do it a few times. They learn quickly.

notasausage · 20/01/2015 22:19

Try using a hand puppet or favourite soft toy to hold the brush! We have also resorted to holding both DD's down with no lasting effects!

thatsn0tmyname · 20/01/2015 22:29

My children and 3 and 1 and I find the 'clamping head between my thighs' methd to be very effective.

sleepywombat · 21/01/2015 05:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hazeyjane · 21/01/2015 11:59

Ds had to have 4 of his teeth removed at 3, by 2 they had already started crumbling.

BeCool - obviously all children are different

Sitting quietly and calmly works. They get bored, want a story, want anything to happen.

Same well known tactic for tantrums etc. Just calmly wait it out. You only have to do it a few times. They learn quickly.

This wouldn't work with ds, unfortunately, and even with my dds, there were times when life just takes over - sitting quietly in the bathroom with dd2, for example, wouldn't have worked because ds would have been screaming the place down, and dd1 would have been sobbing about why ds was screaming....then i would realise that we need to get to school!!

Redcagoule · 21/01/2015 12:28

Hazey, reading your posts has put teeth cleaning much higher up the agenda in my house and it's going to be done twice each day and 'properly' at least once. One go at brush sucking in the morning might be ok for now. But if I can't cagole DS into letting me do his teeth properly I'll be using some of the techniques to keep him still (wrapping in towel etc) until he gets used to it. At the moment he likes me using an adult electric brush enough to get in there.

And can a reiterate other posters comments, gently making your child comply with procedures that are vital to their health are a MILLION miles away from smacking a child. In so many ways, but especially, what is your child learning from the experience?

thatsn0tmyname · 21/01/2015 12:49

And then there was peace

Ineedacleaningfairy · 21/01/2015 12:54

I had a friend who's mum was very relaxed about teeth brushing, he was never forced or even encouraged to brush his teeth and he had perfect teeth.

My great aunt chain smoked her entire life but lived until she was 92, I'm still not going to take up smoking.

ashaaima · 22/01/2015 17:12

my daughter is 1 now and im still strugling with brushing .thats what she does with the toothbrush is chew it.so i miss doing it every day now.they will fall out and grow back so thats when we really have to make sure they are brushed twice.

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