Toddler cleaning teeth and drying hair

[Ste7hunt]

2 and a half year old hates cleaning teeth and having hair dried. Have tried reward charts/stickers, numerous toothbrushes etc and toothpastes but still hates it and just screams, sometimes we have to hold her still to get her to do them, also having hair dried and getting changed can be similar just screams and wont sit still

Yup join the club. But tooth brushing is non-negotiable here so if he doesn’t capitulate it’s a two person job. He’s lucky if we bath him more than once a week so hair drying isn’t really a problem here.

Same here its non negotiable one way or another she is going to do it. We would just prefer it without having to hold her down to do it lol and for a few months we had no issues then all of a sudden its I dont like that toothpaste and an absolute battle

I heard this tip, get a 2nd toothbrush and let your little girl 'brush' her own teeth. Then you have to inspect afterwards but this is when you get to have a go.

Hair drying, is it the noise or the heat that bothers her?

We never use a hair dryer as mine hate them so we just don't bother and let it dry naturally and wash it as little as possible 😀😀😀. Teeth obviously need to be brushed but we have battles here as well. Even the seven year old hates brushing her teeth for some reason so I get it.

Hair drying isn't really an issue. Teeth brushing is essential though and there's a few different things you can try. Have you watched teeth brushing songs together? She could clean yours while you clean hers, take it in turns doing hers, sing the songs and there's an app called BrushUp that could be helpful.

@Ste7hunt I know a child that had severe auditory issue with a hair dryer - I'd stop that if you can unless totally necessary. As for the teeth - how about an electric toothbrush of sorts, or something with sounds/lights?

Would a new toothbrush help? You could let her choose one with her favourite character on.
I wouldn't bother with the hair drying, you could just wash her hair earlier so it dries before bedtime.

I agree re hair drying-it’s not necessary. Ha e you tried the strawberry toothpaste the from Tesco?

You don't need to blow dry a toddlers hair. But agree the teeth brushing. Mines the same and he's nearly three, it's a nightmare.

I know you said in your op that you’ve tried lots of toothbrushes but just wondering if you’ve tried the brushes for 3+? Our almost 2 year old hates getting her teeth brushed but we bought her a 3 + as they have longer handles (so we could brush them easier really). She’s a lot happier with it than then shorter ones. It’s still a bit of a palarva but not as bad as she was.

I read a tip on here about toddler tooth brushing- once they're clean, make a really big deal about how shiny bright they are, how they're blinding you they're so bright, etc etc. Seems so simple but it has worked for my toothbrush avoider, she loves the game. Happily brushes teeth now.
Before that, I used YouTube teeth brushing songs. Good Luck.

Hey Duggee tooth brushing badge on YouTube - you won't regret it

My son used to hate having his teeth brushed. I started asking him what animal he wanted and then would make that animal's noise whilst brushing his teeth. Since I started doing that he's been fine with me brushing his teeth.

We had to hold my daughter down screaming to brush her teeth till she was around 3. One night I started doing some daft dance moves and she was laughing so much she let us do her teeth no problem! She was fine after that. My son is nearly 2 and has to be pinned down for teeth. Sadly he is not impressed by my moves so we’ll have to come up with a different strategy.

My daughter was the same. Gave her a brush in front of the TV and put blippi on YouTube with his brushing teeth song and any other songs for toddlers. Used to do this in the evening. Then slowly started to do that in the bathroom and tell her about teeth getting dirty if you don't brush them. After a bit she used to let me brush her teeth.

*sorry meant to say used to do that in the evening as well as the morning. I let her have the brush whenever she wanted so she was used to the idea.

YouTube on my mobile phone. My DS never gets to watch YouTube so it’s a real treat when he gets it for ten minutes at teeth brushing time. He stays as still as a stone.

Sainsbury's do a berry flavoured toothpaste that DD liked, she also liked the tooth brushing songs on YouTube.

She's 6 now and still hates the hairdryer and the hand dryers in public toilets so we just air dry her hair.

Yeah.. I’d skip the hair drying (cut it shorter if necessary). I remember using a tooth brushing app that played a tune and you got stars or something with my youngest. Also fruit flavour toothpaste, as they couldn’t stand the mint.

I have to get my son to sing a song or make an animal noise that causes his mouth to open wide. Every time his mouth is open I start cleaning. Make take a few tries but we get there. Currently it's into the unknown from frozen 2 or roaring like a dinosaur as loud as he can.

Ds is not a fan of tooth brushing so I let him take a shot first, then finish up afterwards. I also do mine along side so he gets used to the routine of it and occasionally he will try and do mine for me as well. We also have a couple of toothbrushes so I let him pick which one he wants. We still have battles some days but its getting better.

Well I imagined the teeth being in four quadrants, top left sing this is the way the tigers brush their teeth, brush their teeth, brush their teeth. this is the way the tigers brush their teeth early in the morning. Then bottom left this is the way the lions ....... Top right this is the way the monkeys........ bottom right, this is the way the elephants........ that takes around two minutes and you have clean teeth. Feel free to add in animal noises.

Picking own toothbrush in the shops and watching the Elmo YouTube clip helped here. I think that video has over a billion views so clearly this is an issue for many parents!

Elmo brush your teeth video on YouTube and make animal sounds. For DD, she would have a go herself then I would say- ‘I think I can see a monkey back there’ brush whilst making monkey sound, then move on to another animal sound for another section of the teeth

You don't need to blow dry a toddlers hair
Get a bamboo hair wrap and this absorbs lots of the moisture
Bring bath time forward so there is time for hair to dry before bed