Toddler Toothbrushing Tips?

I feel your pain! My four year old daughter still puts up a fight. Its soooo annoying. But Brushing teeth is just something you have to do.
My 20 month old is very easy going and loves to "brush" his own teeth, but when it comes time for the real brushing its a struggle...We do things like "mouth wash" which for him is a tiny little drop (because of his age)...its kind of a treat, if they both get through brushing their teeth they get to have mouth wash and they love to spit it into the tub...We have also tried singing a tune (they say singing the ABC song 2 times is long enough brush time), nothing makes it perfect, some tricks work one day and not the other...
One thing that helped our older one for a while was I would give her a vitamin before brushing her teeth, then she would look into the mirror and get the color out of her teeth, the vitamins (chewables) will get into her teeth and it bacame a game to scrum it out...but that only worked for a while...and Vitamins are not recommented before 2...I hope something here might help. If not, just know that if she is pretty good the rest of the time, that it is a blessing and its better to struggle through teeth brushing than going to the denist for fillings! Yikes!

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I don't have any great ideas, but when my daughter did that at the start of brushing teeth we took a break for a few days and then tried to go back to it.After a couple times of this we got my daughter to understand that mommy or another grown up was going to brush her teeth for her and THEN she could.She's now fine with this.
I thought it was a good way for not only her to learn how to do it, but at 2 1/2 and us still doing them for her we know they're getting brushed completely, and properly.Good luck!

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C.,

Let her brush her teeth. Then, when she's done take the toothbrush and say "Ok, time for Mommy to check and see what a good job you did." Then brush her teeth for her while you "inspect" her "good job". She'll think it's funny and get her teeth cleaned at the same time. This has worked for me with both my 5 year old son, and my 2 year old daughter.

Good luck,
M.

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I'm a dental hygienist. My son is 22 months, now. Tooth care can be challenging with a toddler, but we just don't allow it to be a negotiable in our family! The way I do it with him is I let him brush his own teeth after breakfast and lunch. We go into the bathroom and brush our teeth together. Mostly, he just chews on the brush, but I show him how I move mine around on my teeth to get them clean. I also have him practice brushing his tongue (like I do). He thinks that's funny and gets into it a lot more than brushing his teeth! Then, at bedtime, I have him lie down on the bed while I brush and floss his teeth thoroughly. We used to have some royal battles over this, but I refused to give in--it was too important! When I'm working in his mouth, he is not allowed to have his hands in or near his mouth or touching the brush or floss. I allow him to swallow frequently, but in between, he is expected to keep his mouth open. I praise him profusely when he cooperates well, but when he doesn't, I firmly sqeeze the outside of his cheeks (with my thumb on one side and fingers on the other) to hold his mouth open. It's not comfortable and he hates it, so he quickly learned that it is much better if he just opens his mouth himself. I know that probably sounds harsh, but I make sure we always end on a positive note. And after I'm done (flossing or brushing) I let him have a turn, also. I've found that with little children it is much easier to have them lie on a bed--helps to keep them from moving around so much and give you a better view of what you're doing! It does make spitting difficult, but if your daughter is like my son, she doesn't really spit, anyway. That's why they make baby toothpaste without fluoride. Once you have brushing in a prone position mastered, then you can start working on doing it in the bathroom at the sink. Also, at this age it is only necessary to floss between teeth that actually touch eachother. If there are spaces between any of her teeth, don't worry about flossing there. And as long as you're getting one thorough brushing in each day (preferably before bedtime), you're doing well. Probably the other most important thing, right now, is to make sure that she isn't sipping on milk or juice throughout the day, or going to bed with milk or juice in her bottle. Restrict milk and juice to meal or snack times. Give her water at any other times.

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Hi C.,
We went through this struggle a little with our 3 kids too. It's an independance thing (oh the joys!!) :) We let them choose if they wanted to go first or if they wanted mommy or daddy to go first but either way we reminded them that the "doctor said" mommy and daddy gets a turn too. It was a very short struggle and now teeth brushing is fun. Keep it up, it sounds like you're doing great and congrats on your upcoming arrival in October!! :)

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I tried everything that I could think of with my one-year old who didn't like me to brush his teeth. I finally just decided that at least when he was throwing a fit his mouth was open and I could get his teeth clean. He is now 2 1/2 years old, and he still doesn't like or want me to brush his teeth, but he tolerates it. I always sing the ABC song for the bottom and again for the top. I stop the song when he closes his mouth or in some other way makes it so I have to stop brushing. Tickling also really helps to get their mouth open really wide. My son also only gets toothpaste when Mommy brushes. He loves toothpaste, but if he wants it, he knows mommy is going to do the brushing.

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we let her brush our teeth and we would brush hers. either take turns or at the same time. at first it is a game but after a few days you might get a few teeth clean.

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Hi C.,

You have some great responses already; I have one other suggestion.

You could try using a timer, and set it for a specific amount of tme like 1 minute. During the one minute your daughter gets to brush her teeth. When the timer goes off, then it's Mommy's turn to brush for one minute. Be sure to use the timer when you brush too, so your daughter can keep track of how long you get to brush. You could even make it a race and challenge her to brush her teeth as many times as she can before the tmer goes off.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

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We got this tip from a friend (our son was having the exact same problem) and it works great.

When you start brushing her teeth, pretend that you see some of the foods she ate "Open wide, I see some pasta way in the back! Look at that broccoli there, let me brush it all clean. There is yogurt all over your teeth; let's clean it up!"

My son will now start naming the food that he ate to be brushed away! Good luck!

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I had the same issue with my baby girl who just turned two. Here is what worked for me, I pretend like I can see what she ate that day and I need to "brush it out". "Oh, what is that, oh did you have oatmeal today". She looks concerned and nods. Then I brush more and say, "oh I think you must have had pizza for dinner?" And so on. It works everytime now. Good luck.

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I started off with "We each brush our own teeth, and then she brushes mine while I brush hers." It took a while but finally she caught on. Now we do "First it's your turn to brush your own teeth, then it's mama's turn to brush your teeth." It was definitely a bit of a battle at first, but now it's no problem. And my daughter likes being able to spit water in the sink afterward!

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counting to 10 or 20 while brushing always seems to work for our daughter - for diaper changes too.

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Ahhh...toothbrushing. We've tried everything with our 3 year old. Games, counting, naming the food we're getting out, toothbrushing charts, etc...it was something new nearly every week. Nothing really worked...at least not for more than a few days.
I hate to admit, but we recently resorted to bribery (thanks to a suggestion from a friend). We brush her teeth while she watches a movie (or short video) on the laptop. She zones out enough that we are able to brush her teeth without any screaming. We don't usually let our daughter watch TV or movies, so this is definitely a treat for her. Rather than getting rewarded after brushing, she gets her "treat" during brushing. Again, we do not advocate bribery for anything else, but toothbrushing is non-negotiable for us, and we were desperate to find something that worked.
Good luck and congrats on the upcoming new addition!

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I just say, "Mommy's turn first!" and I just use water, no toothpaste. If they are cooperative, then they get a turn to brush their own teeth with toothpaste. It's worked well for all three of my kids. Good luck!

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My little guy loves to brush his as well but wasn't too into waiting for his turn. So I made it a fun thing to do (and always have several toothbrushes on hand). When it is time to brush, I let him see me get the toothpaste and put it on and we both sit down in the floor facing each other so "Mommy gets to go first and then you". Sometimes my turn is longer than others but then he gets to take his toothbrush and brush for as long as he is interested in it. I figure as long as he has it in his mouth chewing on it, he is getting the feel of it and doesn't resist so much when it is time to do it. His dentist seemed to like the idea too. Good luck.

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I pretended to look for zoo animals in my daughter's teeth, naming them as I found them. And I did the same with my son, only with SpongeBob characters...I'd even say "Arrr" like Mr. Krabs, etc.

Find something funny to look for in her mouth. It worked for both of my EXTREMELY resistant kids.

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My daughter is 2 1/2 and we have the same battle. I get the first turn and I count to 10 while I'm brushing her teeth and then she gets a count of 10 and we go back and forth. If she doesn't let me do the first turn (or any other turn) then toothbrushing is over for the night. Sometimes that means we skip a brushing but overall it seems to be working. Good luck.

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With our son, we tell him that he cannot have a turn brushing until after we have our turn brushing his teeth. Be very careful to get a super soft infant toothbrush because even the soft ones hurt my son's gums enough that he hates it. Find something your daughter loves... with my daughter it was horses, and with my son it it dragons. I excitedly say that I see one in his mouth and then brush a part saying oh, I got him. Then gasp... I see another one and race to get him. it is a fun game for my kids and then they ask if there are anymore.

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The counting tip is great advice and so is letting them have a turn after you brush their teeth. We did both of those, but the thing that helped end the battle was the dentist telling our son that Mommy and Daddy needed to brush his teeth. As soon as the dentist said that, I looked at my son and asked him to tell me what the dentist said. He told me that mommy has to brush his teeth first and that was the end of the battle for us. I wish it would have happened at 2, rather than 3 though since he has beautiful teeth and is starting to develop a cavity because we needed to brush better. Thus, now we have to brush his teeth and then brush with flouride and have him hold the flouride on his teeth for a minute before he can spit and then floss. Thus, I suggest you figure out the struggle now so that you don't have to brush, brush with flouride, and then floss. Makes for a long dental process! The tips of telling them you will count to a certain number while you brush and then letting them have a turn are excellent ideas. Of course, we tried that early on and he still wanted to do it himself. And he was so coordinated that he looked like he was doing a good job. Boy were we wrong! So, if all else fails, schedule that 2 year dental appointment right away and make sure you tell the dentist to explain to your daughter the rules and then have your daughter repeat them to you. :)

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Hi C. -

We've had this with our toddlers as well, and we've learned that we need to be creative as much as we can, and then once we've done that, if they're still fighting it, then we just have to hold them down and get the job done (gently and kindly, but still firmly with lots of reassuring words). We don't like having to hold them down (and we only do this for serious health reasons), so trying to find good distractions are really helpful and defuse some of the fighting. For creativity, we've used puppets who have helped brush their teeth and we've also pretended to be characters they can relate to; my 2 year old loves Minnie Mouse, so we pretend she's Minnie at the dentist, and she opens right up for us to brush her teeth). My husband is a great entertainer, so often if I'm brushing the toddler's teeth, he'll do his silly song & dance to distract them and that often works well too. They key is to start out the routine by introducing the imaginative idea before the struggle has started. Onc a child is struggling, its harder to distract them. Also, if a child is over-tired, they're less cooperative, so it's best to get the teeth brushed before the toddler is already having melt-downs and feeling worn out. Use very calm, and cheerful tones to address the child as you begin so that you are keeping the feeling positive and not tense. Talk to them about keeping the teeth "happy" by keeping them clean. When you've finished brushing their teeth, you can ask them if they'd like to do it themselves for a minute then move on to bedtime stories. I've noticed that if we keep our routine consistent and work in the creativity on a regular basis, they eventually stop resisting or at least it becomes more minimal resistance once they understand that it's a non-negotiable routine. :)

Blessings!
J.

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I'll add somethigns I have not seen in the notes below - find books that talk not only about brushing and going to the dentist, but which also highlight plaque and germs in a funny way. My daughter loved the book Germs, Germs, Germs for example. Although it is about hygiene in general it shows the germs in the mouth too. So, we would sing songs about getting the germs out (made the songs up of course so they were super silly..like Plaque, plaque go away, we don't want you here to stay. Germs, germs get on out, go ahead and scream and shout...). She would brush first and then I would go in and make sure they were all gone - we'd spit them out, wash them down the drain, and they would make all sorts of noises as they were getting banished. I also told her that she would be going to a dentist soon and that we need to make sure she has healthy teeth to show the dentist; and that until she waas 6 the dentist told me that I had to help her brush her teeth - dentist's rules (that somehow made a difference also)> Go figure. Then of course, she loved her little floride pill, so that was an incentive to get the job done.

Hope that helps!

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for my daughter what worked was *rewarding* her with her floride chews. "great job brushing , let mommy finish getting all of the dirties off your teeth adn then you get your special floride". works like a charm.

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