Brushing teeth

[Kate&Lucas]

How the hell do you do it??

Lucas is so fussy I just can't get to his teeth at all. He'd rather hold the toothbrush himself and suck it
This morning I ended up with him layed across my knee, holding his head and I STILL couldn't get to his teeth. He just sticks his tongue out! I need to sort it out because his teeth are getting really natty with not being able to brush them properly. With us living with his Nan almost all of his life he doesn't have the best diet (lots of sugar), which now obviously I'm changing but I'm really worried his teeth will end up in a right state (like mine!)

What am I doing wrong ladies?

 

[NuKe]

i found letting poppy do a bit herself helps! i brush my teeth at the same time and give her her brush, she will just suck it but then i take it and bare my teeth at her and she copies me, so i can do the front ones! then i do the side ones (takes a few attempts) i let her sit on the floor while doing this, and i sit beside her!

 

[Miss_Bump]

Evie has a little manual toothbrush that she holds and uses and i have got her an electric toothbrush to use on her while she is fiddling with the other toothbrush lol

I find that anything with the tune of The Wheels On The Bus makes it soooo much easier for her to let me do it.

Good luck!

 

[lepaskilf]

I wouldn't woory to much at this age about getting them completely clean!.... Just try not to scare her off the idea! All Tom would do at this age was suck on the brush and then every now and again i'd get a quick sweep in there.

Now at 26 months he will smile while I do the front and open wide to do the back. It just comes with time x

I forgot, it helped too if we pretend cleaned teddy's, the dog's, mine, daddy's, etc etc..... first x

 

[Peas]

I bought a flashing light toothbrush for 99p in home bargains you press the end of it and it flashes for a minute. my lo loves it and even though he still sticks it in his mouth and sucks on it, he hands it over when i says 'mummys turn to brush your teeth'. I sit him in my lap sideways and sing to him. He's got so much better at it and even lasts the whole two minutes.

I bought a bunch of them the next time i went. hth

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Thank you ladies!! Gonna give some of these ideas a go

 

[Natnee]

I'm beginning to improve with cleaning Belle's teeth. She's never been totally against it, but just tends to chew on the brush. So I bought a 2nd toothbrush, she still holds (and chews) the chewed one, then I have the other one. I then sing, any tune will do as long as you can incorporate the words 'brush' and 'teeth' LOL. Usually it's 'this is the way we brush your teeth' Sometimes she will let me get in a bit with 'my' brush and actually let me brush them. Then other days she clamps shut. I also bought a little step so she can stand at the sink. Some days she will stand on it, other days she's on my lap as I do it.
So it's still sometimes a bit of a battle but we seem to be making SOME progress which is a bonus!

 

[chubbin]

From age 10 months til now, Id let LO just chew and suck the toothbrush, and feel happy with that. Now he is letting me do a little brushing for him every now and again, and Ill build on that using the good advice on this thread xx

 

[Pink Flowers]

I get Oliver to copy what I am doing when I brush my teeth, Most of the time he copies but there has been some times when I have had to sit him down and hold his head.

 

[rosyfeathers]

I started brushing as soon as the 1st tooth appeared so that by the time my girls were bigger they were used to the toothbrush etc,
but also i remember around the 1 year mark when they decided they wanted the toothbrush all to themselves, i started buying new colourful ones every 3- 6 mths ( if i was in the shop with them id let them choose the toothbrushes and toothpaste),and have diffrent types of caps for them to put back on the toothbrush as well, so as soon as there was any resistance to teeth brushing i simply told them they would be no new toothbrush for them, or their tooth brush would have no cap, and that has worked for us -their mouths would be wide open then!
When i brush I let them have a go/ a suck on the toothbrush first,(give them some control)and then give their teeth a good clean myself afterwards- and then let them do the honours of putting the caps back on - and so far ive never had any probs with teeth brushing - its one of the highlights of their morning and bedtime routines!
Also, they had a book from Aquafresh ' the nurdles' and whenever i read it to them, theyd always want to be ' like the nurdles'....

 

[Kaybee]

I get LO to help brush my teeth while I brush his and then we swap over and do our own. (I then do mine properly and he chews his brush )

 

[gumb69]

my lo is smaller than yours but it's a nightmare, she only has two teeth and its about once a week i can brush her teeth because she clamps her mouth shut and it's an ordeal!!!

 

[KiansMummy]

Were still at the stage were LO holds the brush and chews
N sucks on it, everytime we go to the bathroom so 3 or 4 maybe 5 times a day I give him the tooth brush with paste on and let him do it he still won't let me go near his mouth xx

 

[katy1310]

I've always really worried about Sophie's teeth as well. She would much rather suck on the brush than have me brush her teeth. The things I've found work best are brushing my own teeth and encouraging her to do the same, and I also got her one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brush-Baby...f=sr_1_1?s=baby&ie=UTF8&qid=1321950230&sr=1-1

I still try to get in there with a normal brush too just in case but the brush baby thing seems quite effective and was designed by a dentist. The only thing is, Sophie never wants to give hers up and it keeps going missing because she carries it around after she has used it

 

[Kate&Lucas]

Katy that looks ideal! Think I'll be getting one as a back-up, thanks