Teeth brushing - there has to be a better way!

[Littlef00t]

Dd is 14 mo and will merrily chew and suck on the toothbrush but the moment I try to get in and brush them she clamps her mouth shut and refuses to let me near them. If she does let me in I brush and praise.

I know it's important so I end up pinning her arms, she cries, I give them a quick brush and a big cuddle and praise, but it's horrendous and not something I want to continue.

Advice please, too young to reason with and I don't want her getting a complex!

They don't get a complex.. They give in and tolerate it.
It's too important and non negotiable.

Well unless you want to be that parent who's kid has to have teeth out because they can't bear to upset their offspring that is.

Righto. Was hoping there was a magic toothbrush or something...

There will be someone along who has a tried and tested gentler approach that might work don't worry. But pinning them down is always there if needed. It's one of those things that has to be done.

I'm one of the the louder they scream the wider the mouth group

At that age I found some success by doing it in front of a mirror.

Not 100% of the time mind...

My kids 7 and stil all PITA about brushing teeth

DS did the same. I did the pinning down thing and after a while he realised resisitance was futile and gave in! Now he takes it with reasonably good grace.

I would always explain that DD could sit up nicely and brush teeth while watching Octonauts or lie down screaming to do it. Either way they were getting brushed.

She's now two and most often chooses to sit up nicely and brush them (tho there is still the odd occasion where I'm wrestling her over it).

I guess I'm saying she isn't scarred by the pin em down and get em while they scream approach :-)

Glad it's not just me having toothbrush vs toddler issues. I brush mine at the same time with lots of "aaaaaaaa", "eeeeeeeeee" and she copies now, but she's 2! We had a rubber baby toothbrush chew thing initially which at least would get her teeth clean, got it from Amazon. We have a battle daily but it does get easier, we've tried pinning her down, buying Peppa pig toothbrush, electric toothbrush for toddlers, flashing toothbrush. You name it, we've tried it, but as other posters have said, just make sure it's non negotiable

We were using the pin down approach, and I found it so stressful (as did she, I'm sure). We then progressed to watching an episode of Peppa Pig on the phone, and she was good as gold for that, would open her mouth nicely and have them brushed no problems. But once she started saying "Peppa? Peppa?" whenever we mentioned tooth brushing, we felt like we ought to try and break that habit a bit! So just very recently we have started doing it so I brush hers while she bashes a toothbrush around my mouth brushes mine, and that is working quite well. We do allow the odd occasion of watching Peppa while we do them though. She is about 19 months by the way.

Are you me? DD is the same age as yours and it's hell. Twice a day. I dread it. Even if I pin her down, she's really good at forcing the brush out with her tongue. It's just awful - I'm stressed and she gets upset. Sorry, no advice whatsoever...like you I'm hoping someone will come along with a magic answer.

Auld gimmer here. Mine are 21/19/16 and we pinned em down and brushed at times. They all have good teeth and no issues around " trauma" related to this now ( it's just like pinning em down to change nappies - there is a point where it's got to be done , but they can't understand why basically.

Well apart from occaisionally kicking a teen out of bed at 11 pm if they've not bothered - but again do this a few nights at aged 13 or so and they realise it's easier to do them than have your mother wake you to make you do it!

Really struggling with this too...

Im really struggling with this too, but my DS is only 9 months. But he's only just started being awkward.
Mornings he won't open his mouth, it's so hard, I literally force him and he cries.
Evenings we do it whilst he's in the bath and he's a bit better then.
I wish his teeth didn't come so early.

Thanks everyone, definitely non negotioable. Hopefully she'll get the memo

these toothbrush cleaning videos helped us. They are packed full of fun ideas on how to make it playful for kids. Not sure if they are good for a 14 month old, but maybe you could try?

I used to brush mine at the same time and play the Aqua toothpaste vid on the iPad. Just sewing the seed. At 14 months a few swipes is ok twice aday. As they get older it'll get easier . Just carry on x

I downloaded a tooth brushing app to my phone. DS (21 months) loves it - he lies on the changing table holding my phone while the app is playing and allows us to clean his teeth without any moaning whatsoever.

When he was a bit younger, one of us would grab his hands and sing a nursery rhyme and the other one would brush... worth a try! This worked for a long time until recently, which his when we introduced the App.

Give them a toothbrush to hold. Ask your child to brush your teeth while you brush theirs.

Or, find their favourite characters in the back of their mouth. "Oh is Thomas the Tank Engine in your mouth?! Let's find him!!"

Mine are a bit older but I find that making a big deal out of the dental nurse works. "Oh the dental nurse will be SO PLEASED! Look how shiney your teeth are!! You'll probably get a stamp!!"

I don't have kids yet but I used to (gently) pin the dogs down for toothbrushing. Now we have it down to a fine art. When they see the toothbrush or I say "Brush teeth" they slink unhappily to their beds. I quickly brush their teeth to the accompaniment of mildly resentful headshaking and then they leap up and race to the cupboard for their Dentastick chew.
I imagine doing something similar with our soon-to-arrive baby (obviously more important!)
A friend who is very relaxed about parenting has a three year old daughter who is going to need a general anaesthetic and five fillings. Her health insurance won't cover it and it's going to cost approx €2000. That prospect would inspire me to try very hard!

I say 'right, time to brush your nappy and put your pyjamas on your teeth' which he finds hilarious and I find if he 'corrects' me, he thinks it is his idea and is much more likely to go along with it.

However, I have also made it a non-negotiable event - songs, games, searching for monsters, counting teeth, who can open their mouth the widest, 'you start and I'll just check them afterwards', talking about how impressed the dentist will be etc have all worked at various points, but I think the thing that has really made the difference has been ensuring that it happens one way or another no matter what. Not necessarily easy, but if you start now, then by the time your daughter is older she won't even consider it an option not to brush them.

Get them to sing a song but instead of words, sing "eee eee ee" and "aaah aaaah aaaah". The first few times, don't push the brush too much in, so it isn't scary, but don't leave it too long. But at this age, it's not as much of an issue, because they aren't eating loads of sugary stuff anyway. Bearing in mind that fruit, especially dried fruit like raisins, is sugary and needs brushing out. You can also let them have a turn. And there are baby toothbrushes you can buy which go on your finger which is less scary than a giant stick.

Later when they are a bit older, I had success with "looking for" the food, different colours, I'd say, ooh I can see a bit of orange, and DS would say "That's my carrot!" etc, I'd just make up random colours, until they were all clean and white. A friend did similar where she'd say "Let me clean the little pig hiding in your teeth" and make an oink sound. Then there would be a lion, who roared when he was cleaned, etc, with random animals. She said she wasn't quite sure how it evolved but it worked.

Villainous - good idea, but I can't imagine much in the way of a dentastick for babies. :) I was told that up to the age of about one, it's about setting the habit of the routine, more than actually getting the teeth super clean. That becomes more important later on.

My DD is happy to be brushed with an electric toothbrush. It's an interesting sensation I suppose, and maybe gentler?

The hiding characters in the mouth sounds like it shouldn't work but it does. It was on the eureka! moment thread and has helped several mumsnetters.
So getting peppa, george, mummy pig, daddy pig at the back does engage them. As does a beaker of water and all done at the end.
Mild mint or strawberry toothpaste work for mine and you can buy toothbrushes now that blink and ones that play music so you get the full two minutes.
Also the Jenkins youtube song Brush brush brush and the pocoyo brush your teeth vids helped us. As did showing them my awful fillings along with the catchphrase Only the blue gets rid of the black.

There are some great ideas here but just to say you won't traumatise them for life if you need to force the issue. It does feel awful to pin them down I got used to it for nappy changes though but they do accept in short order that it needs doing and that's that, and open up willingly.

Hating hair-washing, on the other hand, goes on for YEARS imo!