18 month old won't let me brush his teeth

[MumtoAlf]

My 18 month outright refuses to let me brush his teeth. He will take the brush himself but doesn't actually do anything. His breath is starting to smell. Does anyone have any tips to help me get him to let me brush them?
Thank you.

2 toothbrushes, one for him to hold and one for you to brush. Be prepared for a quick swap when he decides yours is better.

Two toothbrushes as suggested by chilled. Have you tried being silly too? I used to make funny noises, like a cow or sheep and pretend that one of their teeth made the noise when it was brushed.

I know it's a bit daft but it worked for us

Dentist told me once just get some toothpaste on a clean finger and run it round their mouth then any chewing with the brush should at least spread the toothpaste around.

Floride toothpaste on brush, then I sit ds on my lap, him facing right. His left arm clamped under mine, his right wrist held in my left hand. Lean him back with his head in the crook of my left arm. He opens his mouth to protest and I brush his teeth. It's non negotiable, I had terrible teeth as a child because my teeth were rarely brushed, and floride paste was never used.

Pin em down. Basic hygiene is non negotiable. “Easy way or the hard way” ... it’ll pass, it’s just a phase.

my daughter i just played a stupid game i booped her nose with the toothbrush and made a stupid noise.I kept trying to tickle her face with it eventually tickle her teeth just made a game of it

I've been through several phases with my now 3 year old. At various times these things have worked for a bit, then stopped working and we find something else!
Her holding a phone and watching a video on YouTube (initially the babybum song about teeth brushing)
Wrapped tightly in her towel after a bath, almost swaddled
Spotting bits of food she has eaten through the day then brushing it off
Wierdly, at the moment she let's you do a really thorough brush if you film her she's such a poser!
Ultimately though, it's always one thing that I have always insisted on, even if it feels cruel to be pinning her down (only for a few seconds on those days!) This is a battle I have chosen to win every night, with very very few exceptions

Same. I have to sit 18 month old ds on my lap, put his right arm undermined and tilt him back. I sing a made up song about brushing teeth while he cries like I'm torturing him. I ignore it and keep brushing. He started to get tooth decay so I have to brush them no matter how he feels. For the sake of him not getting cavities.

Wrapped in a towel and count to ten out loud.
She's getting bigger now so sometimes has to be done on the floor.
But no way is she going to end up with teeth like mine.

Little baby bum teeth song on YouTube whilst I do it has helped/ failing that found it easier to brush them during bath time or I pin my lo gently on her changing mat and do it, as another poster said it’s non negotiable

I just pinned them down and did it, ignoring their protests. It was absolutely not up for negotiation.

I imagine Pinning them down to have significant dental work done possibly under GA makes you feel worse.

Teeth cleaning is non-negotiable round here.

DOI: anaesthetist who had paediatric dental sessions.

I found the baby/toddler electric toothbrushes you can get from Amazon very effective when ds was about that age and a range of different toothbrushes so they can choose which one they want to use.

This one

YY to electric toothbrush. It seemed to send DD2 into a sort of trance! Very successful.

I let mine brush MY teeth and let them see I thought it was fun and then thanked them for helping me. After a few messy toothpasty sessions they let me help them get theirs brushed too. Often we would brush each others at the same time. Toothpaste everywhere but in the end it worked. Both kids have good teeth. Don't worry. You'll get there. The most ineffective way was pinning them down. It made them wild and upset and me annoyed and upset and their teeth were still mucky.

There's a couple of toothbrush timer apps that worked with mine at this age - the aqua fresh one with a dancing man is fun.

see if you can find something he can be distracted by.

Or do the 'shakl I brush your ear?? Shall I brush your nose? How about your fingers??' Then generally they are thrilled to correct you and offer up their teeth!!

A toothbrush each and shouting words or making noises to get them to open their mouths into an appropriate tooth brushing position. If non cooperative then basically pinned down and forced. I’m amazed by the number of people that think it’s less cruel to let their children’s teeth go unbrushed than to make them do it. Our dentist was always very clear that it has to be done and the upset of forcing them is much less than dealing with bad teeth later.

How does everyone cope with a mouth clamped? Mine just clamps her mouth shut or pushes her tongue out and won't let me get near. I've been just making sure she gets a bit of fluoride and one or two swipes top and bottom but I want to make sure it's more thorough now she's getting more teeth through.

Pinning down is all well and good if your toddler will still open their mouth...mine won't. I go with her chewing the toothbrush is absolutely better than nothing at all which is what we were managing when I was pinning her down.

@PeachesandPie .... this is the same problem I have!

Pinning down is all well and good if your toddler will still open their mouth...mine won't.

You can open their mouths too.

If I let my toddler off everything they didnt want to do then id not change her nappy, not brush her hair, not put her to nap, not get in the car.... you cant let them off teeth cleaning.

I had this exact problem until recently when we found a game that works with my 2.5 year old. I actually read it on here, so if that poster comes along, thank you, you saved my toddler's teeth!

We basically pretend there are tiny animals hiding in his mouth. Lots of 'what's that noise?', 'I'm sure I can see something in there' type build up and then we have to brush the animals out with the toothbrush. I normally chase monkeys out the bottom right, hippos out of bottom left, lions out of top right and tigers out of top left - you get the idea. Lots of animal noises, DS thinks it's hilarious.

Before we discovered this game we were at the pinning him down stage and it was traumatic for all concerned and as he clamped shut, I don't really think it was even effective.

Good luck!

Most of the time she will let me do it, we just go 'aaaaaaaaaahhhhh' and her mouth opens and I do what I have to do, we call her teeth the 'top shelf' and the 'bottom shelf' and try to make it a game. On the days where she's not feeling particularly cooperative we do pin her down and just do what we have to. It's not ideal but things like teeth brushing, nappies, bathing etc are non negotiable and have to happen.