Need Help with Brushing Teeth!

E.,

I had trouble with my oldest and tooth brushing. One day I gave him my hand mirror to hold so he could see what he was doing. This really seemed to help!!

Good luck with those toofers!!!

Have you tried taking her to the store to pick out her own toothbrush? Let her pick whatever character she wants and see if that helps. Sometimes, I find my three year old (which is worse than 2 for us most days) does better if I let her choose. For us it is she doesn't want to brush her hair. So, I let her choose the hair tie and we are good to go. It seems so simple, but it does help us. I hope it works as nicely for you.

This may sound kind of ridiculous but I had the same problem with my son...a control freak at 2. So, I got us "matching" electric toothbrushes that he picked out at the store. We brush our own teeth. Which really consists of him sucking toothpaste off and a little swirl of the brush around his mouth. Then we "SWITCH". Using my toothbrush he brushes my teeth however he wants and then "SWITCH" I brush his however I want. Takes forever but I get what I want like brushing his tongue. It's all about making a game out of it.
Good Luck!
J.

This sounds so familiar! My daughter will be 3 in November and we started the toothbrushing ordeal when she was about 1 year old. i understand where you are coming from with having healthy teeth. My daughter used to make me so frustrated, because that's all she would do was chew on the toothbrush. They learn as they grow older on exactly what they need to do. Does she watch mom or dad brush their teeth? This is how I really got her doing hers. When I brush mine I let her know, she comes into the bathroom with me, we get our toothbrushes and toothpaste and start brushing. They don't get all of what they need to but the important thing is they are trying. So if you can get her to do it, even if it's for a minute and she won't let you do it or check, she's trying. As they get older and understand more, she'll do it.

OK, so I totally did what one of the posters said and basically laid across my son to get the deed one! It was a horrible experience for both of us, but, eventually he stopped fighting me and tooth brushing became more enjoyable. After working in a dental office for 5 years, I learned many other tricks that you may find helpful. For starters, use very little toothpaste. A small pea size is all that you need, even for an adult. The more paste you use, the more apt she is to gag. Another thing that you may want to consider is an electric toothbrush. NOT a spinbrush. They do not work well because they are to big and when the battery starts to die, the brush becomes ineffective. Try the Oral B Vitality Precision Clean with the small round head. It runs about $18. It is rechargeable and works fabulous. Even if you can only get in 20 - 30 seconds with this brush, you are doing so much more than with a manual brush. Also, kids think of it as a neat gadget. Give it a try. This has drastically helped with my two older kids. Once she becomes more independent, you will be able to know how long she brushes from another room because you will here the brush on. The brushes have 2 minutes timers ~ this is the minimum amount of time you should brush. We have 5 in our home and will never go without them!!

Its ok for her to just chew on the toothbrush it gets her used to having the toothbrush in her mouth. You can always have her do something with her hands and you can take hold of the tooth brush and tell her mommy needs to see what a great job you did brushing your teeth and just run the toothbrush over her teeth and tell her your checking. If your using the Toddler toothpaste she really dont need to spit it out. You can run the toothbrush under the water and just run it over her teeth again. You can always stand with her in the bathroom and brush your teeth and have her do hers and let her see you spitting the toothpaste out its how she learns by seeing her parents doing it. She will eventually start doing it. She will understand later that she needs to spit it out and not swallow, but with the toddler toothpaste no need to spit.

I usually let my hubby brush our daughter's teeth since she fights me, but I've heard of another mom who lets the kid pick out a stuffed animal (or puppet) that will brush their teeth each time. Maybe a silly song too.

I don't think you need to say the dentist said something, when he didn't. If you talk to the dentist and he suggests it, then you can say so.

My mom always called apples, celery, etc. "nature's toothbrush". They indeed do a pretty good job of cleaning the teeth!

Most cavities come from sugar. Kids don't need refined sugars in their diets (none of us do). I got lots of cavities when I was young from eating candy bars with ingredients that stuck to the teeth (such as Sugar Daddy, other caramels, etc). My folks were not good about checking whether or not we had brushed our teeth... So, I have lots of fillings.

If you do let the kids have sugar, even a good water rinse after a meal or a snack helps some.

I wish you well... keep it fun. You have received lots of good suggestions from others.

I don't think you are being picky about healthy teeth. It IS important. Even with baby teeth, a cavity would be painfuld, at a minimum. There are things to compromise about and other things that are not.

Here is my two cents worth - Long before the battle begins, explain the importance of health teeth. Clean teeth are not negotiable. She may be too young, you'll have to judge, but consider the new mouthwash that shows the food that brushing misses. Tell her you are thrilled that she wants to do this job, but, she has to do it well. If she can brush her own teeth and not get too much "stuff" in the mouthwash, then she's done. If there is too much stuff in the mouthwash, you'll have to do it again. Tell her that fighting at the point will be a waste of time and energy, because these teeth are getting clean one way or the other. You can start this conversation by telling her you talked to the dentist about it and this is what he/she said to do. It becomes less of a battle between you and her because it's not YOUR rule, it's the dentist's.

It may be a short battle or a long one, but hang in there.

yeah, good luck with that! mine is 21 months and 9 times out of 10 refuses to let me brush his teeth...i'm meaning to ask the sitter for advice this morning about it. i will read your responses for advice...just know you're not alone!

When I took my 2y/o to the dentist, this is the way he had me hold him so he could check him out. You and Dad sit knee to knee, have her sit on your lap facing you, then lay her back so her head is on Dad's lap. Then have him start brushing! This worked at the dentist great. At home he has his days when he doesn't want help either. It's worth a try?!

What we did with our daughter was give her one toothbrush to hold while we brushed her teeth with the other. eventually we got down to one toothbrush she would hold while we'd help her brush. I'm not sure if that's helpful, but I hope so!

Hi E.!
I really like the idea of letting her brush your teeth, I think that will help. I also wanted to point this out: I noticed with my son a couple of years ago that I was putting the toothbrush too far into his mouth, causing him to gag. This sounds terrible, but I guess I just thought his teeth went farther back than they did. He used to fight me brushing his teeth, but it has gotten better once I realized that I was the one causing the problem! I just thought this might be something you want to check, so you don't make the same mistake I did!

Hi E., I know how you feel, I'm a dental assistant and mom to 6 and teethbrushing can be a battle. Just do the best job you can and leave it at that, it will get easier as she gets older. Make sure you use a todler size brush,not an electric one, they are uncomfortable for such a small child. A very small amount of toothpaste is fine, let her do it first while watching herself in a mirror and then you can "check her good brushing job" by just going back over her teeth real quick paying special attention to the gumline and chewing surfaces. Sometimes you can do the best job in the world and still get a cavity, those little grooves can be sneaky traps for decay to form in. Also, no sugery drinks and foods are just as important as brushing and regular trips for cleanings are key as well, starting at around age 3. Hang in there and relax. :)
M. B.

E.,
20 month old? Well, you need to relax some. The thing that sticks out in your request is "I am really picky about healthy teeth." This is your fist clue to what's going on. You might need to be less anxious. Give her the tools she needs, let her see sesame street and other movies of kids brushing teeth,let her see you brush, and let her see someone else brush that's a kid. She will eventually do it. Also, talk to your dentist and see how worried you need to be and if there is anything else you might want to do. Don't verbalize over and over her need to brush and how important it is, she is getting a lot of attention from it.Oh, I just remembered a movie that I bought my son called "Timmy The Tooth". It was great!!!! See if you can find it on the internet, or maybe toys r us. It was so so good. Someday you will look back and think about how small this prob. was. I can remember things like this, I worried over so many things and some how he made it to 14 and I'm now worried over other things. Good luck
It's a big job being a mom, and you make a good one.
DE

I have a 22 month old and we struggled with this as well. However, I just bought a second tooth brush and let her brush a while and then we would brush and it totally worked. Just giving her that little bit of control helped a lot. Good Luck!

I was just at my children's dentist last week and one of the techs showed me a picture of her brushing her daughter's teeth. It looked terrible but only lasts a little bit. She layed her daughter (who is 19 mths) on the floor on her back. Then she sits at her head and straddles her body.
She lays her legs over the girls arms and legs so she can brush her teeth. Depending on how much she wiggles she sometimes has to hold her head with her thighs or her chin with her other hand. I know this is hard to picture but really works if you have one that fights you. You may only have to do it for a while and she might decide it's easier just to cooperate standing. Also you might try a timer and tell her the first minute is for mommy and the 2nd is for her or vice versa. Good luck!

Hi E.,
I like Jessica's advice about the "Switch" game. You should talk it up as a fun game, and I bet she'll go for it.

Good luck!
Angie

Hi E.! I had the same problem with each of my 3 boys. The solution that we found was to make brushing teeth a family affair. Everyone piles into the bathroom and brushes their teeth at the same time, usually. Daddy doesn't participate during the week in the mornings since he goes to work so early. Another thing that made my boys more excited about brushing their teeth was getting them a toothbrush that plays music. They know that they cannot stop brushing until the music stops. I also make them repeat everything that I do while brushing. I have made brushing their teeth into a little game for them, and now they want to brush constantly! Good luck!

Hi E.,

I have been in your shoes. I have a 16 month old and brushing his teeth has been world war 3. I use to have to sit on top of him with his arms at his sides. Here is how I had good luck. My husband and I use a electric toothbrush. First we made it a point for him to watch us use it everyday. It peaked his interest because he wants to do what we are doing. Then after that, we got one for him to play with. We just turned it on for him and let him have it. He played with it at first for about a week before he began to put it in his mouth and test it out. We have two brushes for him. One he played with and one for his teeth. After brushing his teeth, we give him the other to play with. He will insert the brush in his mouth often experimenting with how it feels in different places and so on. The trick was to make it fun and not a big deal. If we stress about something, our child picks up on it. I am like you when it comes to oral health and I was stressed and frustated because I wanted my son to have great oral habbits. When I let it go and decided not to care as much at this point is when he started to want to do it. We now make it a game instead of a chore. AS soon as I quit stressing over it, he began to take interest. It's ok if she doesn't have her teeth brushed for a few days to get her to see that it can be a game and she can have fun with it. My husband, son and I all brush our teeth together now and my son really has responded positively to teeth brushing. If you are positive about it, she will be too. i also switched toothpaste. I use Tom's of Maine Silly Strawberry flouride free toothpaste for children. He loves it. That made a difference as well. I have to order it though. I know Wallgreen's carries Tom's of Maine toothpaste, but you want it to be flouride free. I am not sure what age children are able to have regular toothpase. It also comes in Silly Strawberry with flouride for older children if your daughter is old enough. I have seen the paste with flouride in silly strawbeey at Wallgreen's. I hope this has been of some help to you. I wish lots of luck and hope she begins to brush her teeth without the fight.

A. H.

Good Morning E., She is doing what most children do. Suck on the Tooth Brush & paste and spit ;) Let her do it herself and tell her Good Job Ava!! As she gets older she will do just great. As long as you make it part of her regular routine she will keep getting better at it.

God Bless you and your family
K.

The enamel on my daughter's teeth front teeth did not form, so brushing teeth has never been the least bit optional for us. What we've found that works is that she gets to pick out her toothbrush and daddy brushes her teeth while I brush mine. We both sing "Ahhh" and then "Eeee" in varying tones and act very silly. When we're done we rinse the brush and give it to her with just water on it so she can brush, too. Occasionally she gets to brush my teeth.

Good luck!