Help with brushing teeth

[Noodlelover]

I've been brushing my LO's teeth with a silicone finger brush since his first tooth popped through, no problems with it and he loves sucking the toothpaste off the brush . He now was eight teeth (four top and four bottom), a few weeks ago I noticed he had bad plaque on the front of his bottom outside teeth. Got that sorted and switched to a soft baby brush hoping that I could brush his teeth better with it. Now he hates it when I try to brush the front of his teeth, he'll wiggle, cry and try to hide his teeth with his lips making it harder to brush. I have no problems brushing the inside of his teeth and gums but as soon as he twigs I'm going for the front part it's a battle. I don't want to hurt him but I don't know how to brush his teeth gently whilst pushing the brush under his lips. He still willingly comes to me for his tooth brushing so I don't think it's that painful. I'm not keen on switching back to the finger brush because a) his bites are getting harder and b) I have fat fingers and have always struggled getting them on and off.

Any advice on what I could do?

Watching with interest as I’m also struggling with my son’s teeth. He will use the brush himself and chew on the bristles, but when I try to brush for him to do it properly, he clamps his mouth shut and won’t let me brush at all. If I try to force the issue he screams and cries. I despair as I know his teeth aren’t getting cleaned properly. I read an old thread on here that suggested pinching their nose so they have to open their mouth to breathe, but there’s no way I’m prepared to do that to my son!

My DD also not a fan of having her teeth brushed. She's 20 months now and getting her final molars at the mo. I've found a few things helpful - first when she was little and getting her first teeth, the dentist told me that just getting the toothpaste with its fluoride into her mouth was a win, to let her chew the toothbrush and then just do what I could without pushing her too hard. She advised that I obviously avoid non-fruit sugars and when giving fruit to give a larger portion of fruit less frequently (eg once a day) rather than letting her nibble on fruit all through the day to avoid her teeth constantly being coated in sugar. As she got slightly older, I invented a tooth brushing song which seemed to help and made sure toothbrushing was always at the same point in her routine. I've found her tolerance for toothbrushing has massively dipped everytime she's been teething so worth looking out for that too. She would only tolerate the tiny first toothbrush from brushbaby for a long time- it's easier because the head is so small you can get it passed reluctant lips a lot more easily! I also find it way easier to brush them with her lying on her back across my lap with her head hanging off the edge of my thigh if that makes sense. It tips her head back so harder for her to clamp her mouth shut and as she's lying on her back it's harder for her to pull away. More recently I've invented new toothbrushing games which help - now we 'brush' every bit of her from toes to head before we get to her teeth and we often brush teddy and doll's teeth before doing hers too!

Well teeth brushing is still a struggle here at 2.5 years! She'll let me do it most days but she's not happy about it. Things we have done that worked for a while before we had to try something new 🙄 :

-singing silly songs whilst brushing

• getting her to 'brush' my teeth at the same time
• listing all the people in the world who brush their teeth
• letting her 'brush' her own teeth afterwards with a brush that she can bite and chew 🙄
• brushing teeth on our laps, lying down, in short bits then doing a bit more

I think you just have to accept you're not going to get the perfect brush till they are older. Forcing it never works in my opinion and there are days where I do just give up if I'm honest