question about toddlers and brushing there teeth-

[chozen]

our daughter is 20mo. old and right now she doesnt like her teeth brushed. it is a fight every time,i brush them anyway but i was wondering if any of you have a special thing you do to make it easier? i boght some chemical free toothpaste thinking that would help not really helping.

[cono0507]

My daughter is 24mo old. I sing the ABC's or make a game out of "looking at your big teeth!" and that seems to help. I also let her brush first and then "mommy finishes" but in reality, she just sucks on the toothbrush and then I do the brushing, but it gives her a sense of control.

[mommylamb]

Now, I'm not sure if this helps, but, I get him those tooth brushes that are battery opperated and have a spinning part of the bristles. I figure even if I'm not doing a particularly good job (because he's fighting me), at least those bristles are covering some ground.

[BillK]

Now, I'm not sure if this helps, but, I get him those tooth brushes that are battery opperated and have a spinning part of the bristles. I figure even if I'm not doing a particularly good job (because he's fighting me), at least those bristles are covering some ground.

:yeahthat:
We got both of them the battery powered Fire Truck toothbrushes and that made it a lot more fun.

Recently Zach decided he was "too big" for that kind of brush and wanted a normal one. Oddly enough both my wife and I use Sonic Care toothbrushes - but he wanted a plain old one - and he does really well with it.

[justincase]

When DS went through a phase of fighting us, DH came up with making a game out of "brushing" the teeth of the sharks, fish, turtles, etc. pictured on the ocean animals shower curtain. "Now it's the shark's turn! Now it's your turn!" etc. while giggling madly himself. Sounds dumb but it worked... I also had a special song I would sing only at toothbrushing time -- not a tooth related song, just a silly thing my mom used to sing me -- and I would only sing as long as there was cooperation.

[wendibird22]

I also let her brush first and then "mommy finishes" but in reality, she just sucks on the toothbrush and then I do the brushing, but it gives her a sense of control.

:yeahthat:

We also make a game out of making animal noises that get her to open her mouth or smile so that I can get the different surfaces. A monkey sound of oooooo ahhhh gets her to open her mouth wide for example.

[elektra]

My daughter is 24mo old. I sing the ABC's or make a game out of "looking at your big teeth!" and that seems to help. I also let her brush first and then "mommy finishes" but in reality, she just sucks on the toothbrush and then I do the brushing, but it gives her a sense of control.

:yeahthat:
We each get a count to five during each of our "turns".

[lkarp]

I hand DD2 (18 months) my toothbrush and let her brush my teeth while I brush hers. She loves it!

[newg]

I hand DD2 (18 months) my toothbrush and let her brush my teeth while I brush hers. She loves it!

I do the same thing.......have a "mommy" toothbrush next to DD's and she brushes my teeth while I brush hers.....now most of the time I'm trying to keep her from sticking mine down my throat with my tongue......but I do get the chance to brush those molars coming in!!!

[chozen]

ill try some of them :)im sure they will help.

[brittone2]

It is hit or miss here. Sometimes it just isn't enjoyable. We do try to use fun toothbrushes (we like the Firefly ones that light up from Target...cheap as well). When DS was small he liked if we looked for excavators, backhoes, trains, dumptrucks, etc in his mouth. DD likes it when we look for different animals. The crazier the better ;) But no, it doesn't always result in joyous toothbrushing, unfortunately.

Once she was over 2 she started to get the concept of "sugar bugs" that could "chew holes in her teeth" if we didn't brush, kwim?

[edurnemk]

My 19 month old DS loves brushing his teeth, especially if we do it together. We started letting him watch us brushing and he wanted to do it to, since he copies everything DH and I do (he even pretends to shave). I then got him an Elmo toothbrush at Target since he loves Elmo. I let him do the bruching even if he doesn't do it well. Once he was really comfortable I started intervening a little, taking his hand for a few seconds and actually doing some brushing, then letting him continue on his own.
Oh, and we don't use any toothpaste yet, just water, because he'd surely swallow it. I've read it's better to star using toothpaste when they'r around 3 and can understand it's not for swallowing.