Brushing teeth

Jaime - posted on 07/22/2009

I had the same problem with my daughter. Brushing her teeth was a nightmare every am and pm. After many failed attempts and her crying hysterically as I brush her teeth for her- I came up with a game/trick that has actually worked out well. This is going to sound crazy, but it works for us--I tell her that I see "Elmo" in her teeth and we have to brush him to get him out (choose a character that your son likes). I make this big- to-do/urgency about it. I sit her up on the counter (I'm of course by her side-never leave her up there alone) and say, "Oh my godness McKinsey, I see Elmo in there, we have to get him out!" She thinks it is hysterical. Now she actually opens her mouth so I can "get Elmo." As I am brushing I say "I got him, oops I missed he moved. Now he went upstairs on to your upper teeth." --that is how I get all of her teeth. After I am done, I give the toothbrush to her and tell her to brush her own teeth--with urgency tell her it's her turn to "get Elmo." After she is done I ask her, "Did you get him?" She replies, "Yes, I got him." Hope it helps!

Tracey - posted on 07/20/2009

anti cavity mouth rince.

just make it a part of the routine and dont take no for an answer.

some things just make kids scream.

what would be worse 2 min screaming twice a day or lots of screaming and guilt (yours)at the dentist.

Rebecca - posted on 07/16/2009

mine only bites the brush,and she is two.

she wont let me help her.i even give her mine brush.



i dont know wat to do?

its not so simpel to let her brush her teeth huh?

Kathleen - posted on 07/08/2009

the thing i found that works with my 17 month old son is i give him his tooth brush and i let him brush my teeth with it... he usually just brushes my lips lol but he thinks its great i then put some toothpaste on it and tell him its his turn to do his teeth and he does... he only does his front teeth so i still have to go over it and do the ones right at the back but he seems to think its fun... also another thing is why dont you brush your teeth at the same time?? i also do that sometimes i think it makes him feel like hes grown up or something because hes doing the same thing as me!

Beth - posted on 07/08/2009

My son (18mons) does the same thing from time to time. What seems to work for us is 1) give him something to hold while I brush first. For him, he simply loves holding his toothpaste tube - it has Thomas the Train on it & he loves "choo-choos". 2) I also count or sing a song sometimes about brushing the top teeth & then the bottom - I just totally make up words til I hit all the teeth 3) then I turn the brush over to him...sometimes he just chews, sometimes he lets me help him...it depends. The other thing I did from the start is make it part of his nap routine...so before each nap & bedtime, his teeth are brushed, Now that he no longer has an AM nap, I try to do it before we leave in the AM. This way even if one brushing is bad, the other 2 should make up for it. He hasn't been to the dentist but his Dr says his teeth look good. Hope this helps.

Jane - posted on 07/08/2009

My 20 months old son loves playing with the toothbrushes and loves cleaning his own teeth, but obviously he doesnt do it very well, he just chews on the brush until all the paste has gone! lol Every evening i make sure I give them a very quick brush myself but I have to gently hold him so he cant escape and sweet talk him into opening his mouth to let me at them! He only has six teeth at the moment, with a couple coming through at the back now, i dont wont to get into the situation where its a big fight and screaming match every night.

Peanut - posted on 06/27/2009

My daughter did the same thing, don't give up...she had 5 cavities by 23months!!! After that horrible experience I did all the stuff from the other posts, but she still resisted. So GENTLY forced her to do it. After a week or two, she was doing it by herself with the "vitality" tooth brush that the dentist recommended. Oh..she does it while watching me do mine. I do so very exagerated(sp?) so she can see what I'm doing. Also a stepstool and small mirror helped, so she could see her own teeth. Our teeth have never been cleaner!! 2x a day is something I never did before!

Paulette - posted on 06/27/2009

I told my boys to make funny faces and noises (not to loud or graphic, it's not play time) when they're brushing their teeth. To open wide I tell them say "ahhh..." and see if they can get their heads to flip open like a doodle character on a tooth brush comercial.??... and to "grrrrr...." like a tiger when brushing the fronts. I still go over their teeth for them when they are done and I've picked up the disposable flossers (the plastic ones that have the floss so they don't have to figure out the finger wrapping) for them to try flossing themselves and surprising enough they are better at flossing than brushing at times LOL...

I hoped this helps

Good Luck :)

Stacey - posted on 06/27/2009

Have you tried letting him pick out some toothpaste and brush? My son loves the powered one with disney charecters on them. Good Luck..