Cleaning teeth is a nightmare.....

[Tam]

Hi Girls....

I was just wondering if anyone struggles to do their little ones teeth?

Alfie is a complete nightmare! He used to love having them done, but now he is so impatient about doing them himself, he bangs, kicks, pushes me away and anything he can to stop me doing them!

He is so strong it is unreal. (i.e We went out for a meal about 3 months ago, he was in a highchair and when he had finished his dinner, he pushed the table which seats 4 away from him) I just sat there in shock lol.

To do his teeth, I have to put him in his highchair and tighten the straps to restrict his movement and have even had to get one of Paul's ties to tie around his arms to stop him lashing out and pushing me away......but I feel SOOO bad doing this that I have only done it twice and now only do his teeth once a day when Paul is here to help me, and we still both struggle like hell!

Anyone had or know someone that has had the same problem? x

 

[Always&4ever]

Sorry hun, Jas is fairly good, hope it gets better soon xx

 

[littlelady]

Leeons a nightmare he screams at me and bites the tooth brush he just wants to do it himself his soooooo independant!!

 

[Wobbles]

Caitlin takes the brush off me but thats atm I guess lol

What about the Mummy & Alfie do teeth together in the bathroom ...A lil baby stool step thing for Alfie?

 

[Tam]

Caitlin takes the brush off me but thats atm I guess lol

What about the Mummy & Alfie do teeth together in the bathroom ...A lil baby stool step thing for Alfie?

We try to make it as fun as possible....honestly if people saw the things I do I would be put in an asylum! lol. There is no way he would stay put to have his teeth done, we have tried it He is as happy as Larry when he is doing it himself, but he can't do them properly yet so we HAVE to do them. x

 

[lauren-kate]

Maybe use some kind of reward system. If he behaves whilst you brush his teeth, he gets a sticker. So many stickers in a week and he gets some kind of treat?

 

[sabby52]

Letting him chew on the toothbrush for a while is just as good at this age, alot of babies dont like having it done, Dec is actually quite good at the tooth brushing, but thats because I have been brushing his teeth from 4 months even before he had any, so he is well used to it now. They do go through little phases where they dont like it but it wont last forever, let him have a good old chew on the brush, just replace it more often and try to encourage him to twist the brush while he is chewing, make a game out of it, but dont worry hun I have known people who didnt brush their kids teeth at all until 3 years old !!!!! they just let them chew on the brush and their teeth are just fine, now I am not saying stop brushing his teeth I am just saying give him a little break and try and do it himself for a while, he will be fine xx

 

[Tam]

He used to love having his teeth done, he would cry when you stopped. But now he wants to do them himself and gets really frustrated and hates us doing them.

We did stop doing his teeth properly (2wks) whilst he was unwell as he had a rotten cough, but you could see them going yellow even tho he did chew on his toothbrush. He has a full mouth of teeth and you can see where they were discolouring!! Which wont be helped by the fact he will only drink squashes, which is another reason I need to keep on top of them.

Since we have started doing them again they are lovely and white again. But we have cut it down to once a day as it really does take both me & my OH to do them! So we do them before bed.

Thanks for all your advice girls. x

 

[slk79]

We have this problem too. Comes in waves though. Kirk will go weeks of hating the toothbrush, the a few days he'll love it. We've tried allsorts. The obvious ones didn't work for us, like telling him how clever he is etc... We tried reverse psychology which worked really well for a few weeks but doesn't work anymore. I would hold the toothbrush, and hubby would in a jokey voice say "don't brush you teeth", then pop outside. I would stick the toothbrush in, then hubby would pop his head round the door and say the same again. Made Kirk giggle and was a fun little game, until he got bored of it. I desperation also tried bribery. Told him the toothfairy would leave him a coin if he was a good boy ad brushed his teeth. It worked for 5 days, so he has a grad total of 5p to put towards a toy.... he loved putting it in his money box though!
Sarah x

 

[Tam]

We have this problem too. Comes in waves though. Kirk will go weeks of hating the toothbrush, the a few days he'll love it. We've tried allsorts. The obvious ones didn't work for us, like telling him how clever he is etc... We tried reverse psychology which worked really well for a few weeks but doesn't work anymore. I would hold the toothbrush, and hubby would in a jokey voice say "don't brush you teeth", then pop outside. I would stick the toothbrush in, then hubby would pop his head round the door and say the same again. Made Kirk giggle and was a fun little game, until he got bored of it. I desperation also tried bribery. Told him the toothfairy would leave him a coin if he was a good boy ad brushed his teeth. It worked for 5 days, so he has a grad total of 5p to put towards a toy.... he loved putting it in his money box though!
Sarah x

Oh cool....we will try the reverse psychology, that mighthelp!!

I will also get some stickers as uggested and give that a go, and I am also thinking of getting Jade to sit and let me do her teeth and Paul try to do Alfie's if he shows interest as he does mimmick Jade alot!

Thank You again girls! x

 

[slk79]

Oh, we also tried having a couple of different toothbrushes, and toothpaste too. Meant he could choose a toothbrush to use and the toothpaste so he felt like he was in control. Made it a bit more fun too
Sarah x