16 month old will NOT clean his teeth - any tips, advice or any help needed!!!!

[ceebee74]

Says it all really.

Have tried doing it with us holding the toothbrush, we let him hold the toothbrush, tried it with him sitting on my lap, tried letting him wander round with the toothbrush, tried letting him clean my teeth first (not very hygienic I know . Have tried a baby toothbrush, an adult toothbrush - but nothing! Just point blank refuses to do it to his own teeth.

Had a brief respite on holiday when he did it every morning but not at home!

He didn't get any teeth until he was 9 months old so we were quite late on starting to clean his teeth - in hindsight, it may been a good idea to start earlier (even though he had no teeth).

The only thing we haven't tried is 'baby' toothpaste as the HV said that normal toothpaste is ok so we have stuck to that.

Have let it go on for a while but I really want to get it sorted before he ruins his teeth.

Have you tried sitting him in front of a mirror when you do it so he can see what he is doing? Getting a toothbrush for teddy?

Interestingly my dentist told me not to use adult toothpaste as children can't rinse and tend to swallow the toothpaste which has too much flouride in it whereas baby toothpaste is almost designed to be swallowed (IYSWIM) And we live in an area where there is no flouride added to the water and he still says it would be too much flouride.

Forgot to add good luck to the end of all that! I'm not suer if your DS is your first child but FWIW DS cleans his teeth beautifully because he just wants to copy his big sister whereas I remember having similar battle with DD as an only child.

Forgot to add good luck to the end of all that! I'm not suer if your DS is your first child but FWIW DS cleans his teeth beautifully because he just wants to copy his big sister whereas I remember having similar battle with DD as an only child.

Try baby toothpaste they can find the taste of normal toothpaste too strong.Saying that I still have to pin ds who's 2 this month down to clean his!

I had this trouble with DS#1. I used to end up kneeling on him on the bed to get them cleaned. HV just told me I had to do it somehow so we had twice daily battles for years. I didn't stress over it with DD or DS#2 - jsut let them mess about with the brush and lick the toothpaste - and they took to it with no fuss at all.

Guess which child has the fillings and which child still argues over cleaning his teeth....

We've had this problem - 2 ideas which have helped for us:

1. Changed to Boots strawberry baby toothpaste, he seems to prefer to mint (not so strongly flavoured I guess)

1. We associated cleaning teeth with having bubbles. So we clean his teeth then I blow bubbles for him. This has worked brilliantly. If he won't clean his teeth then he has no bubbles, but mostly he will.

The only prob was yesterday when the bubbles ran out but amazingly even though I explained there would be no bubbles he still let me brush his teeth!

We also make a big deal out of us cleaning our teeth and I sing a little song when I clean his teeth, but I'm not sure either of these helps - it's the bubbles that worked the miracle!

ds is 17mo btw, so a similar age.

Also I know some people disagree with rewards but I figure it is hard at this age for them to see any benefit in cleaning teeth and at least this way he has an incentive to do it! Over time it will just become a habit I hope.

Adult toothpaste is really really minty and has too much fluoride in them! I can't believe your HV told you to use it.

I agree with the others about toothpaste btw. It took ages to wean the oldest 2 on to mint toothpaste, let alone adult mint toothpaste. It's a very strong flavour and I don't know many children that like it to start with.

Thanks for the tips.

Canadian - I like the bubbles idea as he is obsessed with them!

Will also try the baby toothpaste - normal toothpaste was actually also recommended by a dental nurse who was giving out free toothbrushes at a weigh-in clinic I went to when DS was a baby

If the baby toothpaste doesn't help, maybe try an electric toothbrush - my ds loves using ours and it seems to get the job done a bit quicker which might be useful. You can get special children's ones (recommended from 3 years but isn't everything?).

Alarkspree - using our electric toothbrush worked briefly then he went off that idea too! did wonder about a child's one but we couldn't find any - where did you buy it from?

Ds is 17 months. I am a mean mummy... in the morning I say "no breakfast until we've cleaned your teeth".. he opens his mouth straight away. In the evening I say "no story until we've cleaned your teeth"... again, opens mouth straight away.

I got it from Boots.

Weegle's method sounds good to me too. Good luck.

Does he let you do it for him?

I had some success with mine by using toys. me: now come on teddy you need to brush your teeth (mock stern look in ted's direction)
-exchange long suffering looks with dd1.
me: (aside) dd can you just show ted?
(to ted) right so you open like this.. dd1 opens up and I wink and say cheers babe quietly.... and so on talking loudly to inanimate objects and conspiritorially to dc

Between about 14-24 months, I couldn't get my DS to clean his teeth! It was frustrating, he just kept his lips clamped shut! But he's great now, and his teeth remained perfect until the fell out and his new batch appeared. I'd say don't worry about it!

hi i had a quite relaxed approach to teeth brushing. i just brought my DD into th bathroom with me while i brushed mine and showed her her own brush and just gave it to her everyday when i was doin mine. she soon started wanting to spit into the sink!! now i bring her kiddy chair into the bathroom with us and she stands by me 'brushing her teeth' and spitting when i spit!!my DD is 22 months btw!! also i found that she didnt like the taste of the mint flavoured toothpaste so i bought strawberry instead and it works a treat!! and it is safe for little tummies if its swallowed!! HTH xx