teeth brushing and when to stop giving milk before they go to bed?...

Zaida - posted on 02/22/2011

Hi Ladies... im really not having any luck at the teeth brushing. My son refuses to brush hes teeth and we've tried everything. he screams when we brush hes teeth. please help!!! what can i use instead of the toothbrush maybe or different ways. we even went as far buying him an oral b batery operated one with spiderman all over coz he loves spiderman but even that doesnt help.

Sashell - posted on 02/13/2011

My daughter still gets a bottle once or twice a day. Usually it is before her afternoon nap and sometimes before bed. If she gets a night bottle it is water. Although with potty training around the corner, the evening bottle will stop. I usually try to "top her off" like Donna does, with a snack (cheese is filling), an hour or two before bed time so she won't want a bottle before bed.
Brushing teeth has been pretty easy. My daughter lets me do it for her with no fuss. If she has the toothbrush she just brushes the front ones. I brush my teeth with her every night so she can see what to do.

Donna - posted on 02/11/2011

I think little kids burn so much energy they still need snacks before bed for a couple of more years. My daughter has 3-6 oz of milk and a little bland food about an hour before bed. We call it "topping her off!" like you would a gas can.
If she cries in the night we try not to go in if we can help it. She usually goes back to sleep on her own. Of she wakes a couple of times, if a little patting and humming doesn't soothe her, then we think about and try things for a) teeth relief b)thirsty for water c)then milk. But she has only needed milk at night once in the last month or so.

as for teeth brushing, like the others have said, model the behavior for her by brushing your own teeth, tell her about the process, then at the end, take over and brush them yourself.

Raychel - posted on 02/10/2011

With the teeth brushing my son sucks the toothpaste off too...we just let him "brush" his teeth and then we brush them again for him. My son isnt on the bottle but he loves his cup of milk at night we give him his cup at dinner and then whatever he doesnt finish we give to him again right before we brush his teeth and then he doesn't get milk anymore that night after the teeth have been brushed. But we put a cup of water in the bed with him and sometimes he gets up and gets a drink and sometimes he doesn't.

Amy - posted on 02/07/2011

I just normal brush her teeth. She does the same thing. Not too sure when I am going to start to get her to do her own. But I think she just may not be ready for that quite yet. As for the boddle I nursed and she is weeened from that but I do give her a sippy cup of milk at night some times. I just give it as a snack about 30 mints before bed and then do her rutten. Some time I don't give her one.

Alexis - posted on 02/06/2011

hahah, my son does the same thing with his tooth brush! LOL. I would stop with the milk before bed, perhaps just water. What we have done with our son and brushing his teeth is when we brush our teeth he gets on his stool and brushes his own teeth with us (suck on the toothpaste), Once we are done we then take over brushing his teeth to try and get them better. Since he has been watching us brush our teeth at the same time he is starting to mimic the same actions and actually brush his teeth, well the front ones....LOL

Rachael - posted on 02/06/2011

with my son i usually hold his mouth open and let him "help me" brush his teeth. as for the bottle thing, my son is still on the bottle. he has one when he wakes up, before nap, and sometimes before bed. i just try and feed him alot in the evening so he's not hungry by bedtime