Tooth brushing with toddlers

[JumpingIn]

Ok, truthfully, how well do you manage to brush your toddlers teeth/get your toddler to brush them? How often and for how long each time? And how do you go about it?

I tried doing the whole 'let's brush our teeth together and be really relaxed about it' thing and his teeth never got brushed. I tried doing it together and at the end trying to brush his. He clammed his mouth shut so tight there was no way in. So now we have the 'toothbrush monster' and it's a kind of game. He has a funny accent and says silly things and I manage about 20 seconds of brushing twice a day. I feel like he should be having them brushed for longer but he's rolling around in the floor pushing the brush away/giggling/crying...I need solutions! And I'd love to know how everyone else is doing it and for how long. He's only 19 months. Thank you!

 

[george83]

We never got into the habit until much too late either so no real advice but just do you know your not alone! We've used toothbrushes that flash and they have to brush for as long as the toothbrush flashes which worked for a while and then we moved onto to character electric toothbrushes, we just use the cheap ones and then when we buy a new one they get all excited about using them which also helps

 

[.Mrs.B.]

Mine are 2.5 and 4, they brush with an electric brush for about a minute twice a day. My 2.5 year old sometimes does it by herself but usually wants me to do it.
I seem to remember it wasn't as easy when they were younger and your boy is still very young so maybe just time will help.

 

[CaptainMummy]

Mine have always been fine with toothbrushing! I usually do their teeth first for about a minute, and then I put a little more toothpaste on the brush and they do it themselves for another minute or two.
I still give my eldests teeth a quick brush when she is finished, as she has her 3rd molars and I find she struggles to reach them.
My dd2 also brushes her teeth at nursery and they have just introduced toothbrushing in dd3s nursery.

I have always been quite strict in that when they were babies, they were sat on my lap until I managed to get them brushed, so by the time they were 10/11 months they knew exactly what they needed to do!
We do them every night and most mornings (sometimes I forget if we are rushing about getting ready for nursery/school)

 

[KylasBaby]

Mine is 17 months. She looooves brushing her teeth! That said, she mostly chews on the toothbrush...we help a bit, but she doesn't like it. We always brush her teeth in the tub every night. Not so good about the morning. If we're in the bathroom she will come to the sink and ask to brush her teeth. But sometimes it's only once a day sometimes five times haha. It's usually just her chewing on the brush though. But I figure even that gets her molars so better than nothing.

 

[kellyc1987]

My 22 month old hates having his teeth brushed!! He will clamp his mouth shut, kick, scream and cry! It has been like this for a long time, we manager about 10 seconds but have to hold him down until he cries so much we can get the toothbrush in his mouth.

He will hold it himself and just suck the toothpaste off.

But for the last week we have been giving him a sticker if he let's us brush his teeth and today for the first time he asked me to brush his teeth for a sticker and he let me do it for about a minute, so things are looking up a bit

 

[Wannabe Mommy]

My LG sometimes likes it and does a good job and sometimes hates it and just sucks the toothpaste off.

What's great though is that they brush teeth twice every day at nursery too. They have their own brushes all gather around the table and sing a song while brushing. I think it goes - brush your dirty teeth, brush your dirty teeth, rub and scrub and rub and scrub, brush your dirty teeth.

Having covertly watched through the window she does a great job and really enjoys it at nursery

 

[k4th]

My ds used to have a bit of a paddy about brushing his teeth. We introduced a song - I used to sing it really fast while I brushed his teeth and then sang it again while he brushed his own teeth. We keep that routine, but now I sing the song slowly so we probably manage about a minute of brushing between us.

The song is just "this is the way we brush our teeth" to the mulberry bush tune ��

 

[Babybump87]

DD1 loves brushing her teeth. She got a My little pony toothbrush set for Christmas in her stocking and she loves it. We also use a flashing toothbrush with a timer for when to stop. Maybe let your LO pick out their own toothbrush.?.

DD2 on the otherhand hates it. Makes it nearly impossible to brush so I just have to try my best but shes only 13 months.

Sometimes I let DD1 do mine for fun which she enjoys!.

 

[jessmke]

My DD is 13 months and only has her two bottom front teeth, she sits on bathroom counter and 'brushes' her own teeth while I brush mine. She mostly just chews on the brush but at least it's something. I will be more strict about it when she has more teeth.

 

[amytrisha]

My son stands on his box infront of the sink, looks at the ceiling and opens his mouth shouting AHHHHHH very loudly whilst I brush his teeth.
We do this twice a day and then he also brushes them at nursery by himself (I've seen him do it by himself and he definitely doesn't do a good job that's why I do it at home)

 

[staralfur]

We used to be super relaxed about it and I'd let my LO try to do it herself, or I'd do it until she started screaming and then back off... and then at her appointment in November they found that she had some early decay on two of her top teeth (at the gumline on her incisors) and said if it wasn't stopped now they'd have to be filled. So, not to scare anyone who isn't super vigilant, but if I could go back in time and just push through and say "I'm brushing these well whether you like or not" I would. Because the last thing I want is for her to need fillings at her next checkup when she'll be barely 5!

So now we just do it. She hates it but it gets done. I have to hold her head sometimes or push her lip up/down if I need to get a spot but it's necessary.

I did find that once we switched toothpaste flavours she did a bit better. She seemed to HATE the mint but tolerates the watermelon.

 

[SarahBear]

Violet was always really difficult with teeth brushing from the beginning. We've got it down fine now, but not at that age. With her, it was bad enough that I was only trying once a day and it was a success if I touched the tooth brush to each area of her mouth. I also alternated between the tooth brush and a wet cloth, depending on which one I could be most successful with at any given moment. At a certain age, I was able to use youtube videos as incentives for teeth brushing. At first, it was that she could watch after brushing, and then slowly we were able to use it as a distraction from teeth brushing. That's when we started to get on a good path toward good oral hygiene. When we had teeth brushing down pretty solid in the evening, we started introducing morning brushing without videos. At this point, I can brush Violet's teeth int he morning without issue and in the evening, I get a really good brushing in and she doesn't fight it in the slightest. She hardly notices me do it, really! And we've got flossing down pretty good too.

Leo has been a lot easier with it, but now he doesn't like to sit still for it and has become more resistant. He's still not nearly as bad as Violet was. I have him lay on the ground and I used to have my husband tickle or distract him and I was able to brush that way. Now he isn't as easily distracted, but I still have him lay down and I have my husband hold him - holding his arms if necessary - so that I can get in and brush his teeth. It's not super easy, but I can manage it reasonably OK. His teeth are brushed twice a day. I don't know how long we brush his teeth for, but it's a reasonable length. When he's older, I plan to use video distraction just as I do with Violet because it's a good way to get a kid to sit still for a few minutes.

 

[Zephram]

Tooth brushing needs to be done whether they like it or not. They're not going to be scarred for life because you made them brush their teeth and they got upset about it.

Yes, it can be hard to brush toddlers teeth. My 18 month old doesn't like it much at the moment but we insist. I let him have the first go to get it out of his system (he mostly just chews it) and then I put my hand over his on the brush handle and actually move his hand and the brush to properly brush his teeth. Sometimes he gets difficult and I have to hold his other hand out of the way. I also have to move his top lip sometimes, but in this way we get it done. It's not worth letting it slide because they don't want to cooperate.

 

[kirstybumx3]

Rio has a go himself which mainly consists of brushing the front 4 teeth vigorously then sucking the brush for the remainder of the time. I always re do them after he's done them, getting him to say EEEEEE and AAAAAA so I can reach them all

 

[Iris45]

YOUTUBE VIDEOS( cartoons)- but only worked for us for little while.
! I found this post in search of suggestions for teeth brushing ideas. I have a 14 month old with mouth full of teeth (16) and 2nd year molars on the way, and we are struggling with brushing too. He hates it and its a battle every time. We only do it once a day in the evening. When he was younger we brushed teeth in the tub, but he is twisting and fighting so much that I decided to move teeth brushing to safer space- his room. We do it before bed, while he is sits in the armchair and watches youtube videos on my smartphone( he loves them before bed)- holding the phone keeps his hands occupied, so for few weeks I was able to do good brushing. However for few days now, he lets go of one sides of the phone to shove my hand with the brush away from his tightly shut lips. So its turning into wrestling match every time ( and he is freakishly strong) and I only manage about 15-20 seconds of brushing , and it's only while he finally gets so fed up with my tries that he starts screaming ( so opens his mouth) in protest.
Like the monster, and song suggestions. Will try this next.

 

[Cariad_x]

Ollie is generally pretty good but I've been brushing his teeth since he was very little as I'm terrified of the dentist ha. He went through a bad stage when he was around 2 but he's good now as he has a spiderman electric toothbrush that he loves.

Toothpaste flavour also has an effect. Ollie will only use the mint one and hates all other flavours. I let him choose his own toothpaste.

Timing wise: my sister bought him a tooth brush holder that has Thomas the Tank engine drive round the cup for the recommended time. That normally keeps him going the right amount!

 

[Jesenia]

My son is 1.5 years old and does a very poor job using a tooth brush. So I let him play everywhere in room with one and I follow done with a finger brush to do a proper cleaning.

 

[dani_tinks]

Esme has 10 teeth and HATES having them brushed. I usually do it whilst she's in the bath, after i've cleaned her and read her bath book; she will clamp down, scream, act like i'm murdering her etc. But then is excited to play in the water for a little longer and we can get on with bed time without the stress .

From memory my son was like this too. He's fab at brushing his own teeth now so know it will get better.

 

[misspriss]

We were a little slow to start with DS, probably didn't brush every day until around 18 months. He is 4 now, and has a small cavity on one of his first teeth, so I think it was our fault for being too relaxed at the beginning.

We actually only regularly brush once a day, at night, their dentist says this is the most important. They have toothbrushes that light up for 60 seconds (why 1 minute, aren't you supposed to brush for 2?) so I do it for the full 60, then push it again and we usually do about half the second 60. I don't see how it takes me the same amount of time to brush my 32 full sized teeth as it does their 20 small teeth, so 1.5 minutes seems enough.

We've been doing it for so long we just do it, we still brush both their teeth, I think 5-6 was the age I was thinking DS could brush his own reliably? He does "practice" brushing his teeth on his own, but not every night. We started flossing recently, on DS. We were at the dentist recently and his are close enough together they need to be flossed. I started flossing DD's too, just for the habit and being used to it.

DD was super easy to get in the habit because she wants to do whatever DS does.