Baby won't let me clean his teeth please help...

[Bella8]

Hi, 8.5month old DS will not let me in his mouth to clean his teeth. I manage to get the tooth brush in maybe twice for 2 quick swipes through lots of crying. My little man has 6 teeth and I'm so worried they aren't getting cleaned enough. I've tried a baby tooth brush as well as the finger brush and he won't accept either and clamps his mouth shut. I've tried brushing my teeth at the same time and he sees me brush mine and again it doesn't make a single bit of difference. Does anybody have this problem or have you had this issue? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

Have you tried just letting him hold the toothbrush and having a chew on it for a bit and just not making it into a battle for a short time.

By backing off and letting him just get used to the feel of the bristles in his mouth and stuff for a few nights he might be more willing after a while to let you have a proper scrub.

I got an electric baby toothbrush (about a fiver and came with batteries) which has a light on it and vibrates. My baby loves it, whereas the finger brush he wouldn’t open his mouth for. Something to try perhaps.

If you figure something out, please let me know as my 2 y/o still hates getting her teeth brushed. I have to more or less pin her down to do it and she screams the house down. It's horrible!

Brush baby. We used them for about 3 years.

I used to do mine after their bath with babies lieing down on the bed and wrapped up firmly in a towel so no hands free to grab. It stops them flailing around so much and the toothbrush going where it shouldn't and making it worse and DC hating it even more. They get used to it and then I gradually moved them to sitting up on my knee but still in the towel so you can cuddle them and brush teeth at the same time.

I have to lie mine flat on the floor and tickle him/ do anything to make him laugh and open his mouth, sometimes his cuddly toys ‘help’ me brush too!

pastabest Yes I have done that and it doesn't work: he won't have bristle end in his mouth and just chews the handle!!

Ds got teeth at 10 weeks so tried a few things to get him to ‘open wide’. The following have worked well.
Chewable toothbrush from Amazon. It was in the shape of a banana and he could chew it which also meant the bristles got round his mouth and gums. It was about £2 ish.
Brushing your teeth at the same time, or brush yours first then do his.
Sitting/holding him in front of a mirror so he can watch. Ds loves this .
We tend to do nighttime brushing whilst he’s flapping in the bath. He thinks it’s a game.
If you have someone to help, one can tickle him so he laughs, the other nip in with a brush.
We have learnt ds only likes the Colgate baby toothpaste. We’ve ended up buying mint/strawberry ones before and he wasn’t a fan. Maybe try different types.
Also let him play with his brush as well. Seen lots of people say songs on YouTube about teeth brushing help. Not sure how well it works, but seen a fair few suggestions for it.

Thanks Snafflebrain my little man just clamps his mouth shut it's really difficult.

I gently pinned mine down and cleaned their teeth while they screamed.

It was less than fun but proper teeth brushing is non negotiable. We only had to do it for a little while until they understood that it was something that couldn’t be skipped.

They are 10 years old and have beautiful teeth.

Have you tried a nice tasting toothpaste? We use Colgate baby smiles.

Put some toothpaste on your finger and rub his teeth for the next few days (it's not ideal but it's better than nothing) and as PP said, let him play with /chew the brush. Be prepared to be bitten though!

Good luck OP

Thanks ImAMarshmellow some great suggestions there. We have Colgate mint and DS seems to like the taste; it's more the brushing or anything going in his mouth he hates. I'll try the chewable toothbrush and also brushing them in the bath and the mirror thing and hopefully fingers crossed we'll have succes with one.

We put an extra tooth brush in his treasure basket and let him play. He now sees it as a fun chew toy

RubaDubMum89 He won't let you put a finger in his mouth and clamps shit and also have let him play with the toothbrush many times and he won't put bristle part in his mouth and chews handle and then discards it!

shut*

We used the silicone baby toothbrush. Was much easier and DS would happily chew it for hours.

AlbusPercival Thank you I'll try that 👍🏼😃

Pennywhistle has it right. It’s not negotiable it’s for their dental health. Lay them down on the bed, secure baby’s arms with one hand. They usually open their mouth to erupt into a tantrum. You now have access to teeth, they may flop head from side-to-side which only aids you getting to those hard to reach places. They may sound like you are murdering them, but so long as you are gentle you are not hurting them they are just angry they not in control. Give them a cuddle when it’s over and don’t make it into a drama. In the end they just let you, they know mummy wins the teeth battle. The more you fanny about and dither the more they get into a flap over it.

You can try reward charts etc when they get to 2-3 years old. But I find once they old enough to understand if they don’t let me brush their teeth, I don’t let them eat sweets they usually comply.

captainproton It's difficult because even with that he clamps his mouth shut during the melt down. I manager like 2 swipes...will keep at it twice a day. It's so soul destroying...

I've been tricking him with his dummy then shoving brush in there which he hates and I can't get to brush much at all as he pushes his tongue in way and this is absolute nightmare. I wanted tooth cleaned to be fun and not like this but everything fun hasn't worked not even the mirror which I tried this morning

My tip - whatever you do, if they still don't like it, count slowly backwards from 10 when you're doing it. They'll soon get the hang of the fact that it's only for a short time and so it will become less of a battle!

gybegirl Thank you, I will try that and hope for the best

My 3yr old still hates it. But like others, to me, it’s non negotiable. And actually when he opens his mouth to shout, it’s easier to get the brush in and just get it done.

The only thing that makes him tolerate it a bit more is watching a brush your teeth song on YouTube but OP, your little one might be too little for that yet

Just a little update and the none negotiable method appears to be working the best. DS is getting used to it more and resisting less and just alittle upset tears in eyes but not crying as such and I distract him with a book right after so he forgets about it straight away.