Brushing Teeth for Toddler Help

When my son was a toddler I would let him have his tooth brush and he did what he wanted to with it. I would even brush my teeth with him and after a while he wanted M. to brush his teeth. I remember trying to brush his teeth he would "bite" my fingers and giggle. It takes time before they get the hang of letting you brush their teeth. Eventually I made it into a game where I would see how long he would open his mouth for and he liked that. Soon he would open for M. until I was done brushing his teeth. I never did brush my son's teeth before nap time, just did it in the morning time and before bed time. You may want to brush his teeth when he's taking a bath. I didn't start my son on regular toothpaste until he was able to spit in the sink and that was until he was about 4 years old. I think I replaced my son's tooth brush every month or two months because he would bite on them. Hopefully this helps you.

It was difficult at first.
I used the training toothpaste at first w/a cute toothbrush he got to pick out.
Then moved to a spinning Scooby Doo tooth brush I found on sale.
So that helped.
Then hubby & I would both always brush our teeth w/him so he could see us while showing him how we do it.
At first we would brush his teeth FOR him (which he hated).
Then he started brushing his own teeth w/us right there coaching him.
We graduated to the kids spinning tooth brush (that helped a lot).
Last but not least I explain he why he doesn't want the cavity creeps to visit him at night. :)
Explained about the dentist & how brushing our teeth will help our visit. ;)
Btw, I keep a cute tiny cup for him to swig some water & spit. It helps.

Make it a game. If he screams, then it's "loud cooperation" per our dentist. We taught DD to say "AAHHHH" and "EEE" to show us the flats and fronts of her teeth. Sometimes I say, "come here and show M. your teeth, donkey!" because that's what it sounds like if she does it fast. If he does it himself, then say you need to check his work. Or brush first and let him check your work. Or, if you are brave, brush your own teeth at the same time and then swap so you each "check" each other.

We started using toddler toothpaste with flouride early but DD had issues. Usually they say around 2 yrs old. Replace a toddler toothbrush as often as yours, or as much as needed due to chewing.

Try to floss. As soon as teeth touch, they should be flossed. I have a hard time with DD, but flossers help.

The facts seem to be that it really does not matter how much you brush or floss. If the child gets bad teeth genes from the parents the teeth are going to have cavities. So don't beat yourself up if he ends up having to have dental work done on his baby teeth.

You are doing more than most moms, really, I don't know any moms who brush the babies teeth twice per day.

I think just doing what you are doing sounds fine. The pediatric dentist you see may have more ideas on how to go about this though.

It's really hard, but just keep at it! If he is not taking fluoride drops every day I would say use toothpaste with fluoride. Our daughters dentist said to let her brush in the morning and we brush and floss at night. Are you flossing? We use a floss stick that you wind on floss. It makes life so much easier. You might also try an electric toothbrush. Also, went daughter was that age I had 2 tooth brushea for her. One that she used that always was very chewed up, and Just for parents.

I must admit I'm not really that good at getting my son to cooperate with toothbrushing. But what does work for us is, I ask him to say "Eeeeee" and he smiles like for a camera, then I can do the front teeth. But, like your little guy, as soon as the toothbrush hits his mouth his lips clamp down, so I often need to hook my finger in there to keep them open enough to brush. Then I ask him to say "Aaaahhh" and to look up at the ceiling and I can get to the inner surfaces. I also bought him a fun Thomas toothbrush, and it's battery powered so I feel like I can be more effective in brushing with the small window of time.

I haven't had to replace the Thomas brush yet, but the other two we had before it looked awful, because he was biting on them so much. As for the toothpaste, they really shouldn't use the regular stuff until you are sure they will spit it out and not just swallow it.

Good luck, this is one of the trickier moments of parenting a toddler, in my opinion. I wish you patience!

My son is 22 months. We took him to the dentist recently; he said it was ok to use fluoride toothpaste, but only a TINY amount. He showed us how to basically squirt the paste so that it's all the way inside the bristles, and to use an amount the size of a grain of rice.

My son would only bite on the toothbrush. The dentist suggested we try a spinning power toothbrush - at least that way, if he bit down it was still "brushing". It worked - and now my son loves to brush his teeth with his spinning Thomas the Train toothbrush. He even keeps his mouth open for M.! I usually brush his teeth well at night, and a quick brush in the morning.

"Spiffies" tooth wipes are great.
It has Xylitol in it, which is a natural cavity and plaque preventative.

www.spiffies.com
I used that on my kids when they were toddlers and I even used the tooth wipes myself.

E-bay also has it and Amazon.
Some CVS stores also have it and online.

My daughters started really YOUNG with their children...really before they really had any teeth...so that it was just a part of the routine for the boys. Lately our youngest grandson has had to be enticed with battery operated super hero toothbrushes...and she also found stickers that she rewards him with on a chart on the bathroom wall after he lets her brush his teeth. There are so many different ways..you just have to keep experimenting until you hit on the right solution for your child.