Success at Toothbrushing - tips?

[Sillygirl]

The baby's teeth, not mine. I can handle that much.

Jonathan's got nine teeth with one more about to come through and some stinky breath. Swabbing the teeth with a washcloth just isn't goin to cut it any more. For the last few days, I have been putting a tiny amount of Crest on a soft toothbrush and then the battle ensues. He winds up pinned across my lap and I'm worried I'm going to poke the toothbrush in too far while I stuggle.

How do you get a one year old to open up for toothbrushing? What toothpastes are best to use, and what do I need to avoid?

TIA.

[MarisaSF]

My babe only has 6 teeth at 15 months, but here's how we've been doing it:
-We introduced a baby toothbrush early-- back when she was all about putting things in her mouth.
-We sit her next to the sink and let her look in the mirror.
-We give her the toothbrush and let her dip it under the faucet, while we rub her teeth, gums, and tongue with a washcloth.
-Then, DH takes her toothbrush and his and brushes *both* of their teeth at the same time. I'm not 100% sure how he does this as he seems also to say "brush our teeth, brush our teeth" all at the same time. (?) hmmm. I should pay more attention!
-We haven't used toothpaste yet. Hopefully someone can chime in about them. I *think* you're not supposed to use the flouride ones. Many parents I know just use a dab of some children's toothpaste for flavor in order to get kiddo to open up.

Good luck!

[dhano923]

My DS got his 1st tooth when he was 4 months old and they all came in pretty quickly after that. Once he had about 7-8 teeth, I bought 2 baby toothbrushes and a tube of baby toothpaste (by Oral B I think). I used to put a dab of paste on one brush and hand it to him, and then put a bit more paste on the other brush for me to use. Every morning while I brushed my teeth, he would use his brush to try and copy my movements on himself. Once I finished brushing, I would take the 2nd brush and tell him I was going to help him brush and I would do a quick brushing of his teeth. Then I'd rinse the brush I was holding and let him rinse the one he was holding. It worked really well for us.

Re: toothpastes, my pediatrician told me not to use adult mint toohpastes for DS because they can sting from the "mintiness".

[hez]

We use many of the same tricks:

* Payton sits on the counter.
* He controls the faucet (bad habit, I know, but it works).
* He gets to pick which toothbrush he uses (today we have Pooh and Cookie Monster, and he usually likes to hold Cookie Monster!), and which toothbrush Mommy or Daddy uses
* DH started a game with counting to 10-- he counts to 10 while brushing Payton's teeth. Very slowly, but Payton's all about counting so it works-- when Daddy gets to 10, Payton's done.
* Occasionally we double-team it if one of us is having trouble, and I'll dance (aka act like a crazy woman) to get Payton to laugh and open up.
* Now that he can drink decently well from a regular cup, a treat after tooth-brushing is drinking water from a 'real' cup, and pouring out the leftovers from 'way up high' into the sink.
* Practice, practice, practice. There were a few times it ended in tears. See above about the double-teaming.
* We did try letting him brush our teeth-- we weren't successful with that trick, but other friends have been.

We've used a children's toothpaste-- Payton hasn't learned to spit yet, and after looking at DH's teeth (decent amount of fluorodosis or however you spell it) I'm procrastinating on introducing toothpaste with fluoride.

Good luck!!!

[jhaud]

there are infant tooth brushes sold with the infant toothpaste in the infant section of any grocery/drug/supercenter store. these look like the ones i use with our animals - (but thankfully different colors and different stoarage locations!) they slide onto your fingertip and have soft short bristles. this is what we started dd with. we just recently switched to a traditional childs toothbrush at 15 mo. because she bit me one last time too hard!

she enjoys toothbrushing so we havent had any issues (except the biting) luckily. she opens up and then walks around with her toothbrush brushing on and off after.

others mentioned it, but do not use floride toothpaste... there are childrens varieties with and without so check the box carefully.

also - if you are having to struggle, you may want to try character toothbrushes... they also have childrens character motorized brushes (the ones that go back and forth or in a circular motion) this may help as it would feel interesting... or at least maybe make it a quicker job.

good luck!

[daisymommy]

We started early, like around 1 year old, and started with a baby Oral B toothbrush (they have different stages for their age). We have also always used Oral-B non-flouride toothpaste, with the yummy "bubble-berry" taste :) You shouldn't use flouride containing toothpaste until they can spit it out effectively.

We started out letting him first chew on the brush to get used to it being in his mouth, then we would take over and do a quick brushing on his few teeth.

When he was old enough, we started letting him "brush" his teeth all by himself. It isn't a very effective brushing, but he enjoys it, and it's good practice. Then we get to take a turn and do a more thorough job.

We finish off with a drink out of a "big-cup" (Dixie bathroom cup), which he likes.

He loves to brush teeth now, and doesn't ever fight us on it. He also likes to brush while we brush our teeth, and would brush 5 times a day if we let him :)

[JenfromWI]

DH have been successful with a couple of games that distract DD: 1) Pretending to brush a stuffed animal or dolls teeth and letting her do so, 2) Letting her brush her own teeth (before and/or after we do it), 3) Singing Raffi's "Brush your teeth" song.

[CiderLogan]

We have been using one of those toddler toothbrushes (usually Hello Kitty or some other character DD likes) and toddler (non-fluoride) toothpaste since we started brushing DD's teeth. You can also just use a toothbrush and water. I admit there were days it just wasn't worth the benefit at the beginning because of the struggle. But we just did it every day and now she loves it. Some tricks that helped us:
-counting her teeth (she loved hearing us count when she was first learning numbers)
-listing the foods we are "finding" on her teeth as we brush (this is her current favorite, and she especially likes to name foods we forgot to find so we can go back to find them)
-holding her in front of the mirror so she can watch us brush

HTH,
Jenny
Mom to Julia, 8/03
...and another one due 5/29/06!

[HHCs Mom]

Our dentist told us to use baby or toddler toothpaste since kids can't really spit until they're older and they don't need flouride if your water is flouridated. We use either Baby Orajel or Oral B Toddler Toothpaste and a baby/toddler toothbrush. Harrison likes to suck the toothpaste off the brush and likes to bite down on the brush, which makes it difficult. He has gotten used to having his teeth brushed twice a day so he is getting better about it. We look for Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird in his mouth and get them all clean! :) My mom did that with me when I was little and I remembered it and tried it on Harrison. It worked! I also like the idea of looking for the various foods on the teeth to brush them off. I also sing songs, tickle, and just do whatever necessary to get him to open up! :D

Good luck!
Kim
~ mama to a sweet boy named Harrison ~ 4.6.04

[Sillygirl]

Thank you all for the great advice. Obviously I was clueless about the fluoride thing and I appreciate the gentle correction. I ahve armed myself with Oral B toothpaste and brush for babies and we will see how it goes. Jonathan isn't much for imitating yet or knowing any characters but those strategies are filed in my head for the months to come.

Related: does the Brita water filter remove the fluoride from the water?

[MarisaSF]

>Related: does the Brita water filter remove the fluoride from the water?

No. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I read some studies about tooth decay being on the increase because of the growing numbers of people only drinking (and serving to kids) non-flouridated water. That said, I'm surely not the expert and I drink bottled water, but I don't avoid our flouridated taps out of principle, just don't like the taste.