Refusing to brush teeth

[HIU8]

Both DD and DS are now refusing to brush their teeth at night. My mother came to help when my dad passed several weeks ago. She allowed them to go to bed without brushing their teeth. So, now, every night they test us an throw massive tantrums screaming, falling to the ground, hitting etc... it's so so much fun. We have decided to send them to my mom's for a week and let her deal with the tantrums (kidding, but the thought has crossed our minds). Sshe got a huge talking to for breaking the routine for 2 kids who cannot handle a routine change of any kind whatsoever.

[karstmama]

always annoying to be undermined! are you soliciting ideas, or purely venting? i don't want to add to your annoyance! ;)

[oneplustwo]

Oh dear, that sounds so stressful ~ as if you didn't have enough stress in your life already! :hug:

[HIU8]

always annoying to be undermined! are you soliciting ideas, or purely venting? i don't want to add to your annoyance! ;)

Bring on the ideas, please.

[WatchingThemGrow]

Bring on the ideas, please.
new, exciting toothbrushes and toothpaste for each of them?
do you have them lay on the floor and look up while you sit spread eagle by their heads and brush them that way? (our pedi dentist suggested this, nice change of pace, but much easier to get into their mouths this way)
sonicare toothbrushes with sounds/cycles

[sariana]

Would a fluoride rinse intrigue them? My son just started using one. Maybe it could be the reward for brushing well--and it gets them some extra fluoride. Of course, they have to be good sputters.

If you don't use fluoride or don't want extra, a non-fluoridated children's mouthwash might still work.

[ABO Mama]

Show them some pics of mouths with rotton teeth :)

[rin]

Ok, this sounds weird, but this has been our recent experience. DD used to HATE having her teeth brushed; wails, thrashing, moaning, real tears, the whole nine yards. Made us feel awful, tooth brushing was a nightmare. Two recent changes have made a world of difference.

One: we recently got her a multipack of brightly colored flossers (those little stick things with the floss strung across one end). She LOVES them and every night talks about how we brush her teeth, and then we get to do flossing!

Two: Bought her new toothpaste. The last tube was some kind of Thomas sparkle toothpaste, the tube ran out and we got her Toms of Maine strawberry toothpaste and made a big deal about how it was special strawberry toothpaste. She adores it and now gets very excited about using the strawberry toothpaste.

It's been about two weeks without tears around toothbrushing, which is amazing! No idea if it'll last, but thought I'd share.

[HIU8]

Thanks for the ideas. DS is very very rigid. He ONLY likes our aquafresh extreme clean toothpaste. The flavor is INTENSE. What other brands make a very intense flavor (he for some reason only likes the sting he gets from the flavor)? I will have to go and get the neon floss. maybe that will do it also. We already do a flouride rinse and they will still do that part of it.

[karstmama]

my suggestion is a 'getting ready for bed' picture schedule. whatever y'all do, there's a picture. toothbrushing is one thing on the list.

'ok, now the schedule says time to brush teeth! we have to do it, it's on the schedule.' some kiddos respond well to some outside entity setting what to do. bonus, hard to yell at you - *you're* not saying it, *the schedule* is. of course, you made up the schedule, but they miss that part.

plus i love our sonicare. we had real tears for two times & he's loved it ever since.

[HIU8]

Thanks. We have picture stories for getting ready for bed for DS. We realized that we have my dad's oral b electric toothbrush. We are giving it to the kids and they will get to pick the color of the ring for their brushhead. Having something that was their grandfather's may be just enough incentive.

[crl]

Show them some pics of mouths with rotton teeth :)

That's actually what dh did with ds. It worked.

Catherine

[glbb35]

Take them to the dentist! Not as a scare tactic but sometimes we can say things till we are blue in the face and someone else says the same thing and they just get it. It is frustrating. We went through this with DS #1 and it all changed after DS#2 hit his mouth and had to go to the dentist. We took #1 with us and he then had his own appt and since then he never throws the tantrums. He doesn't care to floss but all the kids now know since the nice, sweet dentist told them how important it is take care of their teeth. I could have screamed it, pinned them to the floor, done the mouthwash, the floss the new toothbrushes and paste till I was blue in my face but when the dentist showed them how to clean their teeth and encouraged good habits it was a done deal!

Good luck, this is never easy. It is like trying to get them to eat vegetables or clean their rooms or do their homework or chores. Yeah, it all stinks but they have to do it and they will be better for it in the end. :)

B

DS 03, 06, twins 09 and baby 7/11

[HIU8]

they actually have dentist appts next week. Good timing I guess.

[doberbrat]

Xylitol to brush/rinse with while you solve the actual problem?

I wonder if there is some emotional component of it - ie, not brushing reminds them of the funeral?

the burts bees is pretty potent taste-wise. or you could go for something completely different like a fennel toothpaste from TJs.


that sounds like a total pia. Sorry you're going through it.

[Zansu]

Tom's of Maine makes a Wicked Fresh Peppermint and a Wicked Fresh Spearmint. They're much more zing-y than regular ToM flavors.

[janeybwild]

What is the consequence for their choice?