How on earth do you brush a baby's teeth?!

[Coolbreezee]

Tooth brushing is quickly becoming the most stressful part of my day! DD is 8 months old and her bottom two teeth have just come through. I've been trying for the last month to get her used to the toothbrush/toothpaste but it hasn't been very successful...
I've tried the gentle approach, gave her the toothbrush to hold and play with. Nothing. It's possibly the only thing that hasn't gone near her mouth. I've tried being firm, she clamps her mouth shut and wiggles and rolls over, I cannot physically hold her and I'm scared I'm going to poke her eye out with the toothbrush.
It took 15 minutes this morning until the toothbrush made contact with a tooth which I classed as a win. I'm currently resorting to a very quick clean whilst she's asleep and praying she doesn't wake up (so far that's not been very successful either)
Please give me your tips. I don't want to traumatise her but equally I don't want her to have cavities 🤷

Her teeth have just come through. They're not going to suddenly rot so you do need to calm down a bit.

Leave her alone for a while and let her see you brushing your teeth. Find a toothbrushing song to play. Let her brush your teeth. Have a toothbrush you keep for a favourite teddy so she can brush its teeth. Leave a toothbrush around just so she can play with it. Take all the pressure off.

Then try again with her in a couple of weeks when she's forgotten all the stress. The second it even touches her teeth for a moment clap and cheer for her. Hooray! What a clever girl.

You're playing the long game here. It doesn't matter if she's not keen right now. Don't make it a battleground.

You're putting a lot of pressure on yourself. She's 8 months - her mouth is probably sore from teeth coming through and poking around with the toothbrush. Try wiping her teeth down with a soft cloth instead. Eventually it will get easier.

You can hold her. You'll still be having to do it most likely when she's 1 and 2 and 3.

Toothbrushing is an absolute non-negotiable so you may as well just crack on. Hold her firmly however it works best and just get in there for 20 seconds.

I brush my 10 month olds teeth in the bath, so currently only doing the night time brush at the moment, she busy playing with bubbles n bath toys and she has to sit still-ish as she is in a confined space, seems to be working at the moment then let her play with the brush after xx

You just give a baby a toothbrush and leave it up to them, at that age that is all they need to do

You are way overthinking this

It's completely understandable. Baby teeth brushing is a common struggle that us mums have to face!

What worked for us was brushing my own teeth first to pique my little one's interest. When it was her turn, we turned it into a game, singing silly songs and making funny faces, etc. We used gentle baby toothbrush where she's most comfortable. Brushing sessions would take us too much time but it's working for us. Oh and we do brushing when she's generally calm and happy, trying to brush when she's tired, fussy, or hungry would be a disaster!

We had a dvd with a happy song about brushing our teeth that we played every.single.fucking.time. until it drove us mad but the happy teeth cleaning dance helped. So did admiring the amazing beautiful shiny white teeth and asking for DC to please let me look at the particularly beautiful one at the back. I also recall bribery in the form of little toys where I would have a basket of them by my left hand and toothbrush in my right and I would jiggle a toy just out of reach and "I just need to give a quick brush to tooth number 2 and then you can have this" for as many times as there are teeth in there.

Ohh yes the tooth brushing fun..! I agree with others - take the pressure off.

Have you tried one of those silicone chewable toothbrushes, or a soft finger toothbrush? It could be that the normal bristles are a bit sharp on the gums.

Other than that, we've found the main thing is to make it fun / a game (exhausting... i know..!). Ours is a bit older, but maybe it'll work for a baby! Eg getting a hand-puppet / fave teddy to brush her teeth. We used to pretend that the toothbrush was 'asleep' and would suddenly wake up in their mouth and be very surprised, which they thought was hilarious. Or a game where we were catching 'sugar-bugs'.

Anyway, good luck! it does eventually get easier...eventually..!