Brushing Tips/tricks for 2 Year Old

Get a couple more brushes with something she likes on them and then let her choose which one to use. Works with my 2.5yr old. Best of luck

I have the same problem! And to add to it, my little stinker is too smart to fall for the same trick 2 nights in a row, so I rotate these:

1. He has 3 different toothbrushes... one with Diego, one Elmo, and one electric. Sometimes just letting him choose which toothbrush to use is enough to avoid a fight.
2. "Find" animals in his mouth. He especially likes this if I ask him what other animals he thinks are hiding in there, then he has to open very wide so I can find them and get them out.
3. "Find" what he ate today. Pretty much the same as the animal game.
4. Let him brush my teeth while I brush his. I make sure to make a big deal about how wide I can open.
5. Ask him to scream as loud as he can... at least it gets his mouth open, and he thinks its hilarious if I scream along with him :)
6. Sit on the toilet with him on my lap facing me. Have him bend backwards and brush his teeth upside down. Of course, this is ridiculous, but thats probably the reason he likes it.

Good luck... hopefully at least of of these will work for you!

You could try this: Let her have her own brushing time and then when sh's done...tell her you've got to check her mouth....try "finding things" as you brush. I used to tell my son (while I was brushing) "Let's see...there's an elephant hiding behind that tooth....let me get him. Uh-oh, there's a giraffe sticking his head over THAT tooth...." etc. You could try animals, princesses, whatever she's interested in....good luck!

I really like the advice of Denise S---particularly asking her child to scream. That's a good one!

It could be that the tooth brush has hurt her sensitive gums where her teeth are coming in and she's afraid of letting it anywhere near her mouth now.If she didn't put up a fight before, I'd say that is the problem. I'd stay away from that area until the gums are no longer swollen and sore. It may take some time for her to learn again that brushing can be fun and not painful.

Blessings,
K.
www.joyfulconnections.net

Hiya! My son is a little over 2 yrs old too. When we started brushing his teeth, we did all the brushing. Then one day he just took over and refused to let us help. Since he's at that age when they want to do everything by themselves and don't want any help, I've pretty much just let him go. I even showed him how to squeeze out the toothpaste and put it on his t-brush.... He REALLY liked that!! So, to make sure he brushes well, and gets each "part" of the mouth, I brush with him and he copies what i do. Hope this helps and good luck!!!

I went through this also. My trick was to give her the toothbrush, and ask her if she would like to brush your teeth while you brush hers. Then she brushes her own teeth and you brush yours. Practice spitting into a cup and sink with her. Then say,"Ok now we stick out our tongue and brush it like this....the only reason to stick out our toungue....LOL.....Then go read a book together, and I would purposely talk about how well she did brushing my teeth.

I had the same problem with my 2 year old son... Until I bought a battery powered toothbrush! He loves to turn it on and off and he actually brushes his teeth 2-3 times a day now! I usually let him brush himself and once a week I go in for a "deep cleaning". Hope that helps a bit!

Hi K.,

Here is a web site:

http://www.blurtit.com/q290195.html

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.