shall i force brushing his teeth?,i confuse...

Becky - posted on 11/11/2010

I am a dental hygienist and have been in the dental field for 13 yrs. My daughter is 2 and doesn't always like getting her teeth brushed. Some days are more of a battle than others. My advice to all of you that are having trouble......YOU HAVE TO BRUSH THEIR TEETH EVERYDAY. No ifs ands or buts. Those baby teeth will decay fasterthan you think is possible. If you have to pin them down, tie up there little hands, or have your husbands hold them down, you have to get the job done. Eventually they will stop fighting you but if they never stop fighting, who cares. You are preventing some seriously traumatizing dental work

Nancy - posted on 10/28/2010

My daughter thinks it's funny for mommy to brush the chicken and broccoli out of her teeth. A friend of mine suggested it and it works. Now she wants to hold her chin for me and tilt her head up. If that doesn't work, give him your tooth brush and let him brush your teeth as you brush his....it comes with the risk of injury to you but those teeth will get brushed.

Melanie - posted on 10/23/2010

im having a similar problem with my daughter, she shows great interest in brushing her teeth, but she throws a fit if i brush her teeth, even if she gets to brush first, it has become a chore to brush her teeth, because i have to hold her down to do it, I have tried different tooth brushes, and treats, i have even let her brush my teeth to show it doesnt hurt. I dont know what to do!

Danielle - posted on 10/23/2010

just make it fun get a fun toothbrush his own toothpaste and make it fun like a race or who can get there teeth cleaner my so love it when i do hes always rushing to the bathroom in the morning

Jenni - posted on 10/22/2010

I let our 2 yo daughter pick her own toothbrush, that way its the one she wants and she has a cover for it as well that she loves because its a cat!! Also I ask her if she wants to brush her teeth - if she says no then no problem, we leave it - the dentist said its not the end of the world if she doesn't brush twice a day and also she doesn't really have to brush her teeth, as long as she gets the toothpaste in her mouth then thats fine. Generally though I find if I get her brush ready and mine at the same time and hand her hers while I do mine she's happy to brush too and pretend to spit into the sink!!! Good luck! :)

Tracie - posted on 10/12/2010

try a new toothbrush with his favorite characters on it, like Elmo or Wubbsy. He sounds like hes bored with it.. also, remember that you are the adult and know whats best, so he may say no but as a parent you must. That is, unless you dont mind your child having rottening teeth and such..

Michelle - posted on 10/09/2010

My daughter (just turned 2) has also had some days where brushing her teeth is a huge battle of wills. Sometimes its because she is teething, like now with her 2 year old molars, or just because she is a toddler doing her job very well. We have tried a number of things to keep it fun, and almost every night we have to try something different but it generally works. She has brushed our teeth while we brush hers. She brushes her stuffed animals teeth while we brush hers. Singing songs works sometimes. One of the best things that we do is tell her we want to brush out the piggys or the monkeys or whatever animal we "see" in her mouth so she can have clean sparkley teeth. She gets a kick out of that one. She laughs so hard sometimes we can hardly finish. She is now trying to brush out the monkeys first then we finish. Fun variety works best. If she is teething we are just a little softer in those areas and will sometimes give infant ibuprophen to help with the pain at night.

Christy - posted on 10/09/2010

My little one has done the dame thing. I recently bought him a spin brush that is "Thomas the Train" brand. He loves trains and loves that the tooth brush moves. Now he can't wait to brush his teeth again.

Lana - posted on 10/08/2010

My suggestion ties in with most people are saying make it fun but also have a routine with it like my kids shower at night so for them it shower and dressed then clean teeth and if i not sorting bedtime they remind dad they need to clean their teeth and they are 4 and just turned 2 . i let my 2 year old clean his teeth with his tooth brush then i clean them properly once every 2-3 days. for awhile he didn't want clean his teeth so rather than argue or fight with him i just gave him the toothbrush and told him to go play within a few minutes the brush was in his mouth and maybe getting chewed but encouraged him to let me put the brush in and clean his teeth hope it helps

Kim - posted on 10/06/2010

My 23 month old, back at 12 months old refused brushing... i did the best i could with a cloth after each meal... he had to have his top front 4 teeth capped shortly after one year... he was born with some bad teeth.... after the top four were capped, he has had no other problems. he is almost 2 now and his other teeth are fine. if he is going to have problems with his teeth he will have problems... and if not... he wont... just try.. but dont torture yourself or him... my son now at almost 2 will not let me brush his teeth and only will try on occasion if i brush when he does... just try to cut out most of the sweets and acid containing foods... and he should be fine.. unless he is destined to have bad teeth genetically...

Shenea - posted on 09/29/2010

Try getting him a toothbrush with a cartoon character. We got my son a Thomas the train toothbrush that spins, he loves to brush his teeth now. He doesn't really brush his teeth though he just moves it around and sucks off the toothpaste. I don;t force him to brush longer or anything like that. My ped said the only reason for them to brush is to get in the habit of it so not to worry about not actually brushing. We also brush our teeth together in the morning, he brushes after lunch at day care and he brushes at night as part of his bed time routine. Make it easy and fun its not super important right now so don't make him hate it.

Olivia - posted on 09/29/2010

My son just started to let me brush his teeth again and now hes doing the same thing. I found that if he has a toy with him, then i pretend to brush its teeth and then he seems more interested. We brushed thomas the tank engines teeth the other day, worked a treat :) dont force it too much though, it will only make him dred teeth time.

Leonie - posted on 09/27/2010

He isn't teething is he? Could explain why he all of a sudden doesn't want to brush his teeth...

Amanda - posted on 09/25/2010

I think you should continue brushing his teeth. Try to make it fun for him. Try making a game out of it or sing a song. I usually let my daughter brush her teeth herself at first. It makes her feel grown up. She loves to brush her own teeth. I usually finish brushing her teeth to make sure they are clean.