My Two Year Old HATES Brushing His Teeth!!

Some Kids just get into the habit of rebelling but what really worked for me was letting them try it for themself sometimes it gives them the bit of control they need.

I sing a song while I brush their teeth: 1 little, 2 little, 3 little teeth, 4 little, 5 little, 6 little teeth, 7 little, 8 little, 9 little teeth, all brushed and sparkly clean. Sounds crazy, but it got my daugther to allow me to brush her teeth at that age. The song changes to Pirates with the pirate tooth brush for my son or kitties when we have the Kittie tooth brush for my daughter, but you get the idea.

First, let him brush his own teeth. At this age cavities are more about diet than actual brushing. So release control on this one issue. One thing that I tried with my kids is singing a song while they brush their teeth. Right now it is Yankee Doodle. You can sing it as slow or fast as you feel necessary. They don't know the difference. Add verses! Always make an "inspection" of his mouth and if it doesn't seem clean enough have him brush them again. Brushing teeth can be fun!

Have you taken him to the dentist yet? This really helped my son feel like it's important to take good care of his teeth. He feels like such a big boy.

Take him to a dentist that does just children. If there any good they will make it fun for him. And its a Dr. of teeth that is telling him (thats how i told her who she was. I did that with my girl and it helped a lot. She was saying stuff like the Dr. told me this or that (don't remember what). When i had been saying the samething to her just days before we saw the dentist.

I agree with Kristie, it helps to make it fun and let them have some choice in the matter. Maybe not saying you can or can not brush your teeth, because it is an obvious neccesity as you say. But maybe giving him a choice of whether he does it or you do it, or both. Some kind of choice helps kids feel independent and makes them want to do something because they feel they are in control.
Is he teething still? My 19 mo old loved brushing her teeth and all the sudden she hates it, her molars are coming in:( So we use teething tablets before she brushes.
I have heard that a rewards chart works sometimes. Like a grren star sticker for attempting to brush, a silver for brushing for 30 sec, a gold for 1 min and so on and so forth.
Hope you find something that works, if not maybe call your dentist and ask for suggestions. Congrats on baby no. 2!

I wouls also suggest a visit to the dentist, may be it hurts, no harm taking him for a check-up. He may change his views.
Have you tried letting him brush his own while you or dad brushes his? you can always do the last couple of strokes for him to ensure it was done right.

I think God gave us two sets of teeth for a reason. My son used to struggle with it too, he wouldn't let me come any where near him with the toothbrush. But as he got a little bit older and began to see it was part of the morning routine for my husband and I he has become a little more interested and brushes at least once a day now. We had our first dentist appt. the other day and he wouldn't open his mouth for them and they really didn't seem too concerned. Just let him take his time, and show him it is part of your morning and night too he'll come around.

Have you tried letting him do it? I have a two year old also and what works with him is that he starts the brushing then when he's almost done I will say Mommy's turn and attempt to take over. It doesn't always work, but it's better. I find that it also helps to have him stand in the bathroom so he can look in the mirror and see how it's done. Well I hope this helps. Good luck!

When it comes to things that are necessities, like brushing his teeth, baths etc there I think it's a black and white issue. I would encourage you to try to make it a fun experience, maybe reward with stickers or something. But when all is said and done, he needs to brush his teeth and will have to get used to it. Hang in there, I know is hard when they throw a fit, but eventually he will realize that throwing a tantrum about brushing his teeth isn't going to get him anywhere! Sometimes it just takes a little bit more time for some children!

Have you tried brushing your teeth at the same time? Or even getting Daddy to come in w/ you 2? How about a teeth brushing party in the bathroom? I brush w/ my 3 yr old and then finish up for him to make sure he did a good job. I also let him pick he own paste out @ the store (Spiderman) and then finish up w/ "Okay let's see how white they are now" "Wow look how bright your teeth are Dallas!!!!We better go show Daddy!!!
Give it a shot
H.

Hi D.,
We have done a couple of things that may or may not work for your little guy but with which we've had success. Brushing is game in which we try to catch the "sugar bugs." They usually start by brushing themselves then I go in and "chase" those sugar bugs around until I've caught them all. Or I start then they finish. I give them the choice of who goes first so they feel like they have some control. As long as I can get a turn in there so we can be sure to get that last sneaky "sugar bug" that is "hiding" up here or under there, you get the picture. Of course, I try not to scare them with the idea that there are bugs in their mouths either. But so far, they just think it's fun! Good luck! K.

My son is two, born beginning of Jan, so we are on similar "development stages." I use the SonicCare on my teeth, and now my son has his own head for the SonicCare, with his name taped on it, so that he can brush teeth like Mommy. I like the Tom's of Maine children toothpaste, as it is has natural fluoride and tastes pretty good- you can get it almost anywhere (we get it at Target). When it comes to brush time, I sit him down on my lap, and thank him for letting me help brush his teeth while I verbally reassure him he is doing it gently.
About 2-3 weeks ago, he had a real problem letting me brush his teeth and it came down to another molar coming in- might want to check and see if that is your guy's problem also.
Also, if he doesn't let me brush, I tell him I am forced to clean his teeth with a washcloth- he really hates that!

I have an almost 16 month old daughter...she didn't like brushing her teeth either. What I started doing was holding her while I'm brushing my teeth and giving her tooth brush to her. She would "brush" her teeth while I brushed mine, and then afterwards I would just ask her: "Can momma do it for a second and get the yuckies you missed?" That worked like a charm. She now awwwws as big as she can while I get the real stuff off that she was just pretending to brush. But she feels like she did it herself and like I'm the one pretending to clean her teeth! Hope this helps!

D.

We had this problem too but what ended up helping was taking our son to the dentist. My son was able to hear from the dentist that he has to let mommy help him brush his teeth every day and now it's the dentist that is requiring it, not mommy or daddy. He takes instructions from others better than from me... just something you could try!

My lil guy is almost 2.5yrs, and hates it as well. My fiend told me a trick that works really well. Tell him you need to get the Sugar Bugs off. I get pretty dramatic and even tell him "I see one, we gotta get it!" Then he usually complies. But I would try and make it a fun urgent game, not scary by any means.
Hope it helps!

My son didn't like having his teeth brushed, either. Then we got 2 toothbrushes and took turns. I knew he wouldn't do a good enough job on his own, but it helped that he was "being a big boy" and had some control in the situation. Toddlers are control freaks it seems. No matter whether he likes it or not, you are right... it is a daily necessity. He needs to learn it is important to brush his teeth or they will get "owies" on them and it will hurt a lot to get those "owies" fixed. Maybe find some kind of reward for him for being such a big boy brushing his teeth and letting you help make sure "the sugar bugs are all off his teeth." Does he like stickers? Or allowing him a special activity for only after brushing (like Play-Doh or something he LOVES to play with). Or a reward system like a small jar that he gets to put a marble in after his teeth are brushed (or sticker chart and put stars on it) and when the jar or chart is full he gets to go to Kiddoz to play. One last suggestion is the little tabs that kids chew and it colors their teeth and they have to brush all the color off to make their teeth pretty and white again can sometimes make brushing more fun. Good luck and I hope some of this can be helpful to you.

Hi. Having 4 girls and neices and nephews the only thing that worked was the sugar bug talk and how they eat your teeth away if you dont brush.
Good Luck

Do you do the brushing? Or does he? What kind of toothpaste? Need a little more information to help. But I'll try and help anyway.

If you're doing the brushing; nix that and let him take charge allow him to do the mediocre job brushing any two year old would do. Make sure he's sitting on the floor, or stand right with him (you don't want a punctured soft pallet!) while he's brushing. You also might brush your teeth with him; so he can watch how you do it! Front one, back ones, etc. After a few days, carefully revaluate whether or not he might let you 'help get the back ones'. If he's just refusing to do it altogether by himself or by you, consider another toothpaste; some are quite minty and 'hot' to a little one. I would also nix the electric one; as sometimes they are a little noisy and scary. Let him experiment with dipping the tooth brush in a glass of water, sipping off the water etc. If none of this works, he'll soon reach the age of reason, and you can show him a picture of a cavity or a person with gum disease!!! (sure it will have sorted itself out by then, though...)

Hope this helps.

We've gone through the same thing with our three year old. It seems to come and go. We had great success also with the sugar bugs. They took on a life of their own...open wider...I see pink and purple striped ones! Oh boy, there's baby sugar bugs on this side!....etc. The other thing that has really worked for us is leveraging the dentist. He had a very good experience at Children's Choice with "Dr. Charlie" and so we use that all the time. "Dr. Charlie said you have a beautiful smile and we have to keep it clean." "We're going to see Dr. Charlie soon and he wants to see what a good brusher you are." Dr. Charlie has become quite a legend in our house! Good luck because I know it is frustrating but it is so important!

I used to let my son brush MY teeth first--he really enjoyed that and I enjoyed watching his expressions while he did it.

I see that you have a lot of good responses already but I thought I would add one more idea. My sister could only get her son to brush his teeth by using a finger brush. It is just what it sound like -a plastic device with little ridges that fits over the finger. They may be a little less threatening than a tooth brush. I am not sure where to find one, but you may try Rite Aid. Good Luck!

Is it the brushing or the tooth paste that he hates. My daughter who is now 2 1/2 hated to tooth paste. We talked with our dentist and as long as the brushing is happening not to worry about the tooth paste. Also we got a specail mirror for her to use while she was doing it and an old school sand timer (hour glass) that she gets to flip over to start the brushing. It has gotten a lot easier and she is doing very well with it.

My youngest hates to brush her teeth too. I just recently found FireFly toothbrushes. They light-up and flash for 1 minute so the kids know how long they need to brush. My girls get their toothpaste on, we turn off the lights and they have a blast watching themselves blink in the dark while they are brushing. I've noticed that they both brush for the entire minute which is much longer then they used to.