How did you teach your child to RINSE?

[sansdieu]

After brushing her teeth, that is? Mine just doesn't grasp the concept at all (drinks the water from the cup).

[slworld]

We are in the same situation. Most of the time DS just drinks from it. We start off with DH showing him what to do everytime and hopefully he will grasp one day (he does spit out the water sometimes). I am also wondering if I should give him some water to drink first before brushing just in case he is thirsty, KWIM.

[Ceepa]

After brushing her teeth, that is? Mine just doesn't grasp the concept at all (drinks the water from the cup).

We would demonstrate. Take a little water into our mouths, quick swish and let it fall back into the sink. We were working more on the concept than the execution. Until DC could reliably rinse without swallowing we continued with the toddler toothpaste. Afterwards, we switched to fluoride.

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

:yeahthat: and we made sure to make a big deal of the spitting part. But only in the sink.;);)

[sansdieu]

Well, how many times did you demonstrate? I've done it so many times... She gets the spitting idea -- in fact, she faithfully spits each time, AFTER having drunk all the water from the cup. She cannot and does not swish, since there is no water in her mouth.

What ages were your DC when they learned it?
I figured she'd get it by the age of 2, but we haven't had ANY progress. DD's verbal and analytical skills are exceptionally well-developed, so I thought this would be a piece of cake...

[maestramommy]

I think Dh taught Dora how to rinse. For months before she started actually using toothpaste, he'd spray a little water in her mouth during bath, then tell her to spit instead of swallow. Eventually she got that part down. Then he demoed how to swish the water around. She actually got that part pretty easily. We're now letting Arwyn have her cup, although most of the time she just drinks. She does know how to spit though.

We started toothpaste with Dora shortly after she turned 4. Arwyn still doesn't use (any) toothpaste. We've never used toddler toothpaste, just went straight to regular.

[fivi2]

I yell, "Spit! Spit! Nooo....!" ;) My girls are 4 and spit about 75% of the time. (which is recent. It used to be about 10% of the time)

[HIU8]

DS is 5 and finally got it. For DD, who is 2.5, I actually hold her mouth over the sink and when I say spit I pull her closer into the sink and she spits each time. This did not work with DS, but is working with DD.

[sansdieu]

I yell, "Spit! Spit! Nooo....!" ;) My girls are 4 and spit about 75% of the time. (which is recent. It used to be about 10% of the time)

:hysterical:
I should try that (knowing DD, she'll probably drink even faster if I yell "Nooooo!")



We started toothpaste with Dora shortly after she turned 4. Arwyn still doesn't use (any) toothpaste. We've never used toddler toothpaste, just went straight to regular.

I'm not using toddler toothpaste either. I bought some, and I understand it's fluoride-free -- but the ingredients are all scary-sounding chemicals, and I'm not sure I want DD to swallow it after all. I'd be happy to use it as a training toothpaste, but I'm not there yet.


I'm amazed that most adult toothpastes say they can be used by kids age 2 and over. Are there really that many kids age 2 who can rinse and spit?

[newg]

we started by just practicing the spitting..........I take a sip of water and make a big deal of swishing the water around in my mouth (making funny faces) and making a silly sound while spitting the water into the sink............she's pretty good at spitting it, but doesn't spit all the time..........prob. about 50/50; so I only use a little bit of toothpaste.
I have the Toms toothpaste for kids....it has a little bit of flouride in it, but I"ve read in a few books (including baby 411 and toddler 411) that a little flouride is good to help fight cavities at a young age, since good toothbrushing skills are not yet developed.