Brushing Teeth - Long Beach,CA

I use the oregel it comes with a little finger mit - but I like the one by Tupperware better (it comes with a little holder so the bristles stay clean after you clean or when you travel). You just have to get past the biting.
real baby tooth brushes work good too, but my son bites the bristles out.

One thing that I have done with all of my kids was when they are up in the high chair I give them a tooth brush to chew on. They get something to chew on and also little do they know it cleans the teeth. Hope this helps. You can find children's tooth brushes in the tooth brush and tooth paste asle at any store.

Try to find "Spry children's tooth gel". It is zylotol, a natural plant extract that is antibacterial and prevents cavities. It's easy to apply, just squeeze a drop or two on the teeth, no need to even brush if you're really struggling with her. I've even applied it when he is asleep. Zylotol is also naturally sweet so kids love it. good luck, I've been there!

buy a couple of childrens tooth brushes. And childs tooth paste. Try & see if she will let you use that in her mouth it not put a little tooth paste on the brush & give it to her. Even if she just chews on it at first. Then she will get more used to having something stuck in her mouth & around her teeth.

The goal is to brush their teeth every night... so work towards it- try every night. Just do your best.

C. Graham, sleep consultant/sleep blog writer, www.lullabyluna.com

I use a soft toothbrush and the Oral-B toothpaste made for infants. Start now or else you'll have a hard time. The toothpaste tastes like berries.

at 10 months try actually brushing them. i used a finger brush until my daughter got her top two teeth (about 8 1/2 months). i then started to use a stage 1 tooth brush and floride free training tooth paste. what i did with my daughter (and still do lol) is i sit her on the sink and i brush her teeth for about 2 mins then i let her brush her own teeth while i brush mine. i think your little one will like this and be a little more open to it. good luck i hope this helps :)

I have 3 boys, this is what worked for me. Giving them their own toothbrush to chew on. Obviously you need to supervise, I did it after dinner while they were still in the high chair and I was cleaning up or we were finishing eating. That way they are not running around with a toothbrush in their mouth. This helped familiarize them with it, the texture is quite foreign, so they were not as reluctant to me brushing their teeth later on. It gives them control which makes them feel empowered. Praise her for doing it and later she will want to copy mommy and daddy or big brother/sister. Make sure you get a little baby toothbrush that is soft.

aloha... i smiled when i read your e-mail, because i just solved that problem for my little girl. there is an infant toothbrush with toothpaste that walmart sells. you fit the brush on your finger and move it in small circles on the gums and teeth. my little girl (7 months)enjoys it, because she gets to chew while i rub. i would love to read how it goes, if you are able to make the purchase. hope this helps...

Good Morning R., this may sound silly, but you make up a teeth brushing song, and you brush your teethe together. Children love attention, and will do almost anything, if you make it fun, if you create a battle, or you have to pin her down, then teth brushing becomes a negeative. Since it seems like it may already be a negative, you may need to start singing the song and let her watch you brush your teeth, this may take a couple days, trust me her teeth will be fine, she'll eventually want to play too. When my kids were little I turned everthing that i thought they would like doing into something fun and silly, it worked. J. L.

I use the finger brush but dont put my finger in it so I have more control. Now my baby is 15 months and she finally knows not to bite down on mommys finger. You can also use a wash cloth and rub her teeth and gums.
:)

R.,

Try getting a small toothbrush and just let her chew on it. The main thing is to get the food off of her teeth but since she really isn't eating much yet, just using water and letting her chew on it will get the particles out of her mouth.

Good luck.

I used to have the same problem with my son. Until I started to make it fun, fun, fun! Everything needs to be fun or a game for toddlers. I used to make-up a toothbrush song. Have her pick out her new "toothbrush." I let him pick out the Spiderman vibrating toothbrush. Let her pick out her favorite character. Also, they have this mouth rinse for kids and turns their mouths blue. Once you start brushing the plaque off it turns white. That way you can see if she's brushing all of her teeth correctly. HAVE FUN & BE SILLY!! The more fun you make it the less tantrums she'll have. Also, use a kids toothpaste. My son loves Crest for kids. Bubblegum or Sparkle Fun Flavor! Adult toothpaste is too "spicy" for them. Good luck! I hope this helps. Soon you'll find her brushing her teeth on her own!

There is a great product called "Spiffies" www.spiffies.com
And it's a tooth wipe, with Xylitol, which helps to prevent and decay/cavities. I use it for my son. It really makes a difference, and its nicely flavored.

I use it for my son, after brushing his teeth... and can be used for babies after they have their milk/nursing before bed.

It's completely safe.

Phases come and go with cleaning young one's teeth...my son still gets that way sometimes. But, we just make songs, and I brush with him, or sometimes my Hubby has better luck than I do. Again, the Spiffies tooth wipes gives added insurance against decay when brushing is a doozy and you feel they didn't get clean enough.

When I have difficulty with cleaning my son's teeth... I have him sit on the floor, with me behind him, then wrap my legs around his torso/legs... and I find that it's easier to do from behind the child... much like how a Dental Hygienist cleans our teeth, right? They always seem to sit 'behind' the patient to work on their mouth. At least mine does.

Good luck,
Susan

You just need to buy her a soft toothbrush to chew on. Even if she just chews it will be better than not using anything at all.

She needs to get use to the idea of having a brush in her mouth so you can buy two brushes and give her one to play with. Let her stick it in her mouth; brushing is important but it's not like she'll develop cavities or anything the day she does not brush. Just keep maintaining good eating habits and work towards the brushing. It is mainly a way to start introducing and help adopting a good brushing habbit for her not necessarily for her to brush well or else get a cavity situation.

Spiffies are wipes that take care of the bacteria for infants. (You can Google them and find out where you can buy them.) We, personally, don't stress too much about teeth brushing. We do it, but we also don't feed our kids sugar, they get a highly aborbable calcium/mag/zinc/boron supplement a few nights each week and they only drink water....no juice, soda, etc. We also use unfluoridated toothpaste.

Our first son went to the dentist for the first time at age 6 and they were surprised at how good his teeth were - small amount of plaque, but no cavities, etc. He now gets his teeth brushed about 5 night each week. Our second son is almost 3 and if he gets his teeth brushed 2 times each week, it's a miracle. Our almost 1 year old daughter just got 5 teeth this past month and we've never brushed them, but we do give her a toothbruash to play with, which she chews on.

Just like potty training, we try to make hygeine a good experience....so we work with whever our child is. Don't get me wrong, we do discipline our children, but we try to work with them rather than forcing them.

Both my daughters "chewed" on a toothbrush. They loved it...really helped with teething and brushing.

well when my son was 10 months old i use to sing to him while brushing his teeth. it of course had something to deal with brushing teeth. it kept him focus on my voice other than his teeth. that worked for me.

R.,

I am experiencing the same thing with my 10 month old who has just had his first two teeth come in within the last two weeks.

I started out by handing him the toothbrush to become familiar with it. He thought it was a toy. I was hoping he would put it in his mouth the way he does with just about everything else he gets into, but he didn't. He dropped it. I kept trying and finally when I was changing his diaper and he was buckled into his changing table pad after bathtime, I reintroduced the toothbrush and slowly put it on his bottom lip. He opened his mouth but was very wary and cautious. I got the toothbrush in slowly and brushed his bottom teeth with it. Now, after about 10 days of this he is better at opening his mouth but only when he is on his back on the changing table after his diaper has been changed.

I use a baby's sized toothbrush and warm water. I do this twice a day.

My only advice is definitly brush your own teeth in front of him so she can get curious. My son sees us brushing and is curious about what we are doing.. while brushing I also hand him his toothbrush so he can follow. In addition, place him in front of a mirror so she can see what we are doing. also, definitly let him first try brushing his teeth in his own way.. as a chew toy, I usually have to hold him down for his molars.. but its short.
But I hear your pain, I do the same thing every other night.

My son HATED when *I* brushed his teethe, but at that age was still sticking everything in his mouth...

So I gave up ;)

I bought a bunch of kids tooth brushes and would give them to him as "chew toys". Sure enough...in the mouth they'd go. And chomp chomp drool.

I'd check his teethe while he slept (the same time I'd trim nails). If he needed a little brushing, I'd brush.

Eventually he grew out of not letting me either a) brush or b) help. But those were 2 very distinct phases.

I always give my daughter who is 11 months her toothbrush with just some water on it, to chew on and play with for like 5 minutes then I tell her, my turn, and I give her something to play with while I lay her down and brush her teeth. It's always worked for me!

R.,

My dentist recommended letting my kids chew on the toothbrush (well supervised) to get them used to the feel of it in their mouth and to help clean their teeth. It works pretty well.

One of my kids is autistic and facially defensive. For the longest time he would not let me brush his teeth. So I'd put him on his back on the floor between my legs with his head between my thighs. I would pin his arms under my legs and that would give me both hands free to brush his teeth. If he wouldn't open his mouth, I would pinch his nose and he'd open right up. He did manage to kick me in the forehead a few times so you've got to watch for flying feet but overall, this is the easiest way I've found to do it with a REALLY resistent child. Some folks might think it sounds a bit extreme but he's 5.5 and he hasn't had any cavities. I certainly wasn't going to just not brush his teeth. He's 5 now and I have no problem brushing his teeth. He's cooperative. He knows that it will get done either way.

Good luck,
T.

We bought the soft finger brush and baby tooth paste (from Vons)...our 8 month old daughter loves it. We always brush her teeth while she is in the tub.

I feel like I could have written your post. My son is 20 months old and I am still having a hard time brushing his teeth. I have to lay him on the floor, put his legs between my knees, hold his arms down with my elbows and try to brush his teeth while he is screaming and shaking his head back and forth. I called and asked the pediatric dentist last week about it and they said pretty much that's the only thing I can do. His teeth HAVE to be brushed and she said it's very common for kids to not like to brush their teeth. She said he will grow out of it someday, but for now we have schedueled his first dentist apt. to have them do a cleaning to make sure everything is ok.
But, for you at 10 months old, I would just use a finger brush and water if she doesn't like the training tooth paste. Good luck!

My 1 yr old loves to chew on the vibrating toothbrush...it feels like a teether and brushes them in the process.

R.,
Sounds silly but I had the best response when I turned teeth brushing into a game...we pretended there was a frog or other silly thing in his mouth. The toothbrush was to chase it out. I said like, "Look, it's jumping to the inside so open up and I'll chase it with he brush! Oh! It jumped onto your tongue! I'll get it! Oh, now it is on the outside of your teeth! Close your mouth so we can chase it out!" etc...

Sounds really silly writing it down but we laughed a lot and got the teeth brushed too!

Also try not to do it when they are really tired. That helps...

Good luck with it all, I know how frustrating it can be. Hang in there!

Blessings,
Deb

R.,

Try giving her the touthbrush to chew on for a couple days then see if she'll take it with bubble gum baby tooth paste.

Good luck
CB