Teeth cleaning nightmare!

[ExplodingCarrots]

23 month old DD detests having her teeth cleaned. I'm at my wits end now and panicking she'll end up with rotten teeth ?

We've tried everything from new brushes, flavoured toothpaste , singing and cheering and clapping but she just won't let us .i try not to shout but it's so frustrating. If we do manage to brush them we give loads of praise but the next day wer back to square one.

Bribing doesn't work as she don't understand yet. I'm lucky if she lets me rub toothpaste on her teeth. She used to happily chew the brush but now she won't even do that .

Anybody got any tips ?

I could ask the HV but we havnt heard from them for over a year and I don't take her to clinic because the wait is usually more than an hour and a half ????

Milk teeth is the only toothpaste ds will let us brush his teeth with. I think your just going to have to hold her and brush. It needs to be done.

I am finding that dd will take turns with me.
So..

Baby has a go
Mummy has a go
Baby has a go
Etc

I got her used to the idea of taking turns with toys, drinks etc first so it feels like a continuation of the same thing for her.
We are slowly getting the brushing for longer and longer. Good luck. It's a real worry

No advice, just sympathy!

Hopefully someone will come up with some amazing ideas because my DS1 is just the same (33 months old)

And my go is only about two seconds

She puts up a good fight. I feel cruel holding her because she's fighting . She won't open her mouth. I don't want her to hate it even more. It's so stressful because I know it's important

I've had to resort to force with my 18 month DS. I hold him like a baby, his right arm clamped between my left arm and body, holding his left arm with my left hand with toothbrush in my right. It's actually easier if he cries because then he can't keep his jaw clamped shut and I can shove the brush in. I did hear somewhere (probably on here) that if you can even just get a smear or fluoride toothpaste on their teeth it's better than nothing.

Yep the taking it in turns worked a treat for a couple of days but then she decided she hated it again. I make sure we brush our teeth at the same time so she can see me doing it.

Marking place because this is a nightmare in my house too!

Frances i had to resort to something similar the other day as she hadn't had them cleaned properly in days and she'd been to a party and had sweets. I've asked family members to try to see if she'd be better but nope she's still as stubborn

This is probably going to sound disgusting but dd2 who is now 2 and a half chews clean baby wipes. Her teeth are clean even by the dentists standards. She has older siblings but has always refused to try even after watching them. At her last check up I voiced concerns about the baby wipe issue as I was worried about her teeth rotting as she has always fought me over teeth brushing, the dentist said the baby wipe was doing a good job so far but suggested if there is a favourite toy having a toothbrush for toy and dc. We start with a dry toothbrush and she cleans her teddy's teeth and then we clean hers. We are now on wet toothbrushes n tasting toothpaste but it's still baby wipes that do most of the cleaning.

My DH is a dentist. Our 2 year old DS is quite happy to have his teeth cleaned....our one year old DD....not so much some times.

What I do is wrap her in a towel and put her on her changing table. I then stand behind her head and tip it gently back. That makes her automatically open her mouth. Then she realises I'm about to clean her teeth and starts roaring. That's actually good as it means that she opens her mouth widely to do so and I take full advantage whilst holding her chin to keep it open. You get good access cleaning from behind too.

If I do it that way, then it's all over and done in 90 seconds and she stops crying as soon as I finish so I think it's worth it for all concerned to get it done quickly. Tooth cleaning is totally non-negotiable So I would absolutely pin down if I needed to. DH's experience is that refusal rarely gets better so just got to get on with it. They do grow out if it eventually

It's a nightmare with my 12 month old dd too. I usually give her a spare toothbrush and she will then 'clean' my teeth with that as well as her own, and I get the proper one in at some point during that. But sometimes she just refuses, and like a pp said, it is easier when she cries as at least her mouth is then open!

I second having 2 brushes- 1 is theirs, 1 is yours to do their teeth with. DS was much happier holding his brush while I went first, then he gets to go afterwards. It does take a while for them to get ok with it though. A natural phase I think.

I always just held them down and did it anyway if necessary. It's not negotiable, you can't just not do it if they don't like it. I always found that once they realised it was going to get done anyway, they chose the easier way than the hard way. But if they didn't, hard way it was....

Mine also chews on a clean wet flannel which I think does help, but we also do a daily "pin down". Thankfully she is beginning to realise that it's better if she cooperates so I'm getting a semi-open mouth now which is amazing.

Agree that tough love is needed.

Thank you so much for the tips. Going to try them out later. I also now feel less guilty for holding her down.

Good point about the they'll always resist so might as well just get on with it .

We've had success with the wrapping in a blanket method! Thank you!!

Yep, I used to pin one of mine down too. It wasn't a negotiable thing. He doesn't seem at all traumaed by it and is very proud of his gorgeous teeth.

I never did anything else by force that I can remember; maybe the odd wedging into a car seat but no force feeding or hair washing or anything.

She was shouting at first but then started laughing so successful so far! She got a lovely set of nashers and don't want her to have horrible teeth.

Aquafresh brush time app.

Yay! Excellent. I'm not a totally mean mummy in that sometimes I'll tickle her too before I start and then she opens her mouth and starts laughing. She gets a final story before going in the cot so sometimes I think the crying is just frustration that she wants to get on with it!

I would say half the week DD is fine but she is definitely worse when she's teething - understandable but still need to do it. I give calpol in the bath if she's teething and that takes the edge off before I start.

I posted a similar thead about dd aged 17mo. I give dd two toothbrushes so I have one, and praise even if she lets me brush her lips! I do Growling with big open mouth, let her brush mine etc.

She's much better than she used to be, rarely tears now, and I usually get in and to top and bottom real quick, but sometimes like tonight, I can only get in and do a tiny bit.

There's an app from one of the toothpaste companies called a Nurdle that worked well for us. A bit of toothpaste dances for 2 minutes then child gets a reward on the app.

I will check out the apps As soon as we're done she cheers and claps so she's not traumatised. Just wish she would just cooperate in the first place. We've made progress anyway!