I'll keep this short.
My 1 1/2 year old hates his teeth being brushed. It was cool like the 1st time or 2 when he 1st started teething about a year or so ago, but has hated it since. He screams like someone is pinching him!! He wants to do it himself, which sometimes I and my husband let him after we are done, or sometimes before. I wonder if it is b/c at first I didn't use any toothpaste. With my older 3 I had the baby toothpaste, then the toddler kind and I had never had a problem brushing their teethers. But now we use just enough of the kids toothpaste to give it a bit of flavor, but it still doesn't help... Didn't know if anyone had solved a problem simular to this or not, but thought I'd give it a shot!
Thanks everyone!
To S.M.
Why do you say no floride when the doc gets upset at me for not giving my kids a floride suppliment? (we don't live in the city, so well water doesn't have it in it and she, the doc, has recommended us the floride suppliments, and actually so has our dentist). Anyway, the toothpaste does have it in it, but we put such a small amount on there, generally just touching the bristles of the brush onto the part of the tube where the toothpaste comes out. Soo, really just tiny bit of color on the brush.
Elmo's world has an episode on Teeth that you can get on DVD. My daughter loves Elmo's so when we first started brushing her teeth we did it with Elmo tooth brushes, and eventually all the Sesame Street characters.
Good luck!
Not much of a suggestion, but a bit of encouragement: My son (now 4 1/2) HATED getting his teeth brushed starting right about that age. Before that he had been fine (I have such cute picture of him chewing on a dry brush at 7 months, but I digress).
I would literally have pin him down, sit over his chest and get it done. His pediatrician said her son was the same way. It was easiest if he was so mad he screamed cause at least then you could get the brush in!
Anyway, now at 4, he happily brushes his own teeth with a Sonicare and then lets me "check"
Try getting an electric toothbrush if you can if only because it doesn't require as much bushing to get the job done; you basically just need to be sure it touches every tooth.
Hope this helps.
T.
Perseverence. We sing and make funny faces. I also let my toddler brush my teeth if she lets me brush her's. A pain in the neck, but it helps.
Make sure you don't use any flouride for your baby. It can damage his adult teeth under the gum.
PS - Well, interesting story. With my first, 5-6 years ago I was told no flouride until they could spit it all out completely and that she would get adequate flouride from our drinking water. With my toddler, recently, the pediatrican said use a little flouride. Then my pediatric dentist laid into me with charts and pictures abour "fluorosis" and ruining her adult teeth. However, I just googled the ADA and Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and they actually say a smear for kids under 2. So, ,I guess I don't know the right answer. Sorry for throwing that in the mix. Now I don't know what to do myself.
My son loves bath time, so we brush his teeth then. He is happier, it is less of a fight, and we're making great progress. When he brushes his teeth, I clap and cheer and praise. Then I say "My turn!" And praise him for being such a big helper. That's what has been working for us. Best of luck to you.
My 14 month old loves this toothbrush that's silicone and shapped like a banana. http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3476181
I let her teeth on it during the day and put a smear of the non-flouride toothpaste for taste to get a more complete job when getting her dressed. We also make huge exagerated "AHHHHH" mouths to get in there.
I think SM meant that you should not use toothpaste w/ floride in it until they can spit it out as they should not swallow it that is all. My dentist told me not to waist my money on the nonfloride toothpaste though unless i just want to use it to teach her how. She also told me that at my DD age of 20 mo it is okay to let her do it by her self most of the time and to not make a huge issue of it. I am lucky though bc she loves it and lets me do it. At first she did not really care for it but never put up a huge fight. On days where she will not do it, we have had a few, I know this is odd but it worked for me. I will take a doll in teh room or anything for that matter as we have used animal magnets that I have on the dryer. anyways...I tell my DD to show the doll or the magnets how great she brushes her teeth and then she just does it. she likes to 'show off' to them. but that is just her silly personality. might not work for you.
I'd let him brush his teeth first and then try to 'check' after wards. If he throws a fit, then don't push the issue. At least a tooth brush got in there to begin with right. He'll get better about letting you in his mouth as he gets older. But the more you try to do it now, the bigger and longer the battle will be.
As for the fluoride, you are right, well water doesn't have it but if a child this age were to swallow too much, it can make him very sick. Or too much over time can stain the adult teeth before they even come in. My daughter has this problem because the tap water where we lived contained too much fluoride then add the treatments from the dentist and then the tooth paste when she got older. Nothing we can do about it either to make the stain go away.
Good luck!
S.
I let my daughter brush her teeth at that age, I would let her 'brush' while I was doing other things to get her ready for sleep like change her diaper. That way she was laying down, not walking anywhere with the toothbrush. When she was done, I put her toothpaste on and did the rest myself.
We bought a Sonicare toothbrush for our kids (they have a kids' version now that is not as expensive as the grown-up's version). My girls called it the "tickle toothbrush" when they were toddlers. They loved that it tickles their mouths when they're brushing! That helped for us. Plus, dentist visits go much better since they have almost no plaque buildup, AND the feeling of the Sonicare is the same as the thing they polish your teeth with at the dentist - so they don't freak out.
We have always used fluoridated toothpaste for our kids - like you, we don't have fluoridated water so I feel it's important. But my younger daughter is very picky about the flavor. You might consider trying different flavors of toothpaste to find one your son likes. Although we don't watch SpongeBob, that toothpaste is the current favorite around here due to the flavor. (Go figure!)
Good luck!
