My 2 Year Old Daughter Swallows toothpaste....how to Correct Her.?

It took my kids until about age 3 and a half to be able to spit out toothpaste. It's a learned skill -- especially when you're supposed to spit out something that tastes good. Don't get mad at her, just remind her and congratulate her when she manages to do it. Just keep her in the fluoride-free and she'll be fine.

Baby toothpastes--usually called training toothpaste--are ok to swallow. Just show her how you can spit, and eventually she will get it. My daughter is almost 3 and is starting to.
Just make sure it's fluoride-free.

Baby toothpaste is ok to swallow. Just keep practicing with spitting after you brush. Or brush your teeth together so she can watch you rinse and spit. I'm sure she's not trying to make you crazy. She just doesn't grasp the concept yet.

Don't make it a big deal. My daughter was always swallowing the baby toothpaste despite being told repeatedly that she needed to spit. I didn't think she'd ever switch. When she was 3, we started talking about getting big kid toothpaste when she stopped swallowing the baby toothpaste. One day we were walking in Target and she says, "Mommy, I'm ready to stop swallowing my toothpaste." We went over and bought some big girl Princess toothpaste and never looked back.

My kids brush their teeth in the bathtub and my son (almost 3) watches my daughter brush and has learned how to brush and spit by watching her. So if you're not brushing your teeth together, I would start. I have 2 toothbrushes for my son. One that he can "brush" his teeth with that he also chews on and then his real toothbrush that I use when he'd done.

How great it is that you have a 2 year old who likes to brush her teeth! Brush with her and show her how to spit out the foam. She will get it and until then continue to use very small amounts of the flouride-free toothpaste. She's only 2 - if you punish her for this, she might not want to brush at all and then it totally defeats the purpose.

you say "NO" & you make her behave! Seriously, she cannot have toothpaste if she does this. Deny giving her any toothpaste "the next time" if she swallows. A couple rounds of this....& she'll learn!

EDIT: in response to one of the postings on this forum....my point of reference was - quite simply - if your child does not comply with your wishes....then you don't offer the toothpaste the next time. The toothpaste then becomes a reward to be earned. You're mom...you're in charge. & as for teaching her....just let her watch you & she'll be mimicing you just for fun! Being a strict mom does not mean being without fun.....

As long as it's fluoride-free, swallowing it is not going to hurt her. Remind her to spit when she brushes, but don't sweat it if she doesnt. Just don't give her toothpaste with fluoride until she learns not to swallow it.

Let her watch you brush, and spit.

Let her have fun with it, if you have to. Keep in mind, it's going to take a while for her to learn to spit properly into the sink, without making a mess. Just like it takes a while to learn everything.

Also, if she can understand the concept, you might explain to her that swallowing too much toothpaste will give her an upset tummy. (My oldest daughter wouldn't have followed that reasoning - she's too immediate of a thinker, but my youngest - also two - seems to almost understand, though we're not quite there yet.) Baby toothpaste actually shouldn't give upset tummies if swallowed (if used in a reasonable amount) - that's why it's baby toothpaste - but other toothpaste will, so it's a little white lie I didn't mind perpetuating.

I'm not sure what kind of toothpaste you are using, but my son's baby toothpaste didn't really foam and it was actually kind of hard to spit it out. They aren't very good at spitting anyway and if there isn't much in there to spit it is even harder. Like other posters have said, it won't hurt her to swallow it as long as it's fluoride free. We brush and then he rinses and spits with water from a cup 4 or 5 times. That way he is practicing spitting and I'm not so worried about him swallowing a little toothpaste. Right now I'd focus on the rinse and spit and eventually she'll learn not to swallow.

She's too little. My daughter was little over 3 before she stopped swallowing. Just make sure you are using Non-Fluoride tooth paste, it is made for little ones and they can swallow it. When she is older, 3 or so, and learns how to do this on her own, then you switch to Fluoride paste. I wouldn't worry about it right now, relax and just have fun! :)

It's hard NOT to swallow toothpaste - at least a little - when you're brushing your teeth. I'm way older than two, and I had to retrain myself once we all were told to keep toothpaste out of our innards.

But the parents of my grandchildren tell me that the baby toothpaste is not harmful to swallow.

You can tell your sweet girl that it's made to taste good so that she'll brush (she might not want to do that if it were made to taste like dinosaurs - or pillow stuffing, or something else she will laugh at), but it isn't made to eat. There are much better-tasting things to eat out in the kitchen. Then praise her when she tries not to swallow the stuff. This is one of the few occasions when it is not bad manners for her to spit something out of her mouth.

Stay with the safe stuff until she's proud of herself for NOT swallowing the toothpaste.

It's tricky at that age, my daughter only recently got the hang of spitting it out instead of swallowing and she's almost 4. Until then, I would just use a non-flouridated toothpaste or even just plain water. She can still practice spitting with it, and with sips of water from the cup when she rinses.

That's what baby tooth paste is for.
It's safe to swallow until they get the hang of spitting things out.
I'd make a side dish for supper that she's not crazy about (broccoli, liver and onions, whatever) and when she spits it out (funny how they never have trouble spitting when it comes to dinner), explain to her that THAT is what she needs to do with tooth paste.
Once she has it down, then you can switch to a more grown up tooth paste.
But there's no rush.
It's fine to use baby tooth paste as long as you want.

Wow, only 6 teeth? I wouldn't worry too much about her swallowing the toothpaste, since you said it is less than a pea size. If it has fluoride, that is the only reason it matters if she swallows it. If it is baby toothpaste, it may not even have fluoride, in which case, it won't hurt her at all to swallow it. My kids are 4 and 2 and they swallow the toothpaste as well. The 4 yo is getting better about spitting, but I'm not concerned since we just use a smear or none at all.