Defiant Against Brushing Teeth

Have you asked her what she doesn't like about it? And go from there?

Perhaps it's simply the taste of the toothpaste? Easy to change that. My kids only used Tom's of Maine Strawberry for years. The minty stuff was too strong for them.

Both parents work in this house and an hour is out of the question. I put her on the floor and sat over her and brushed them for her while she screamed and dad looked in amazement. We did that for about 1 week and from there on I asked if she would do it and if not let her know I would.

She is now going to be seven. She walks in every day and brushes her teeth and laughs at the thought that I had to do things that way.

I have a couple of tricks in the arsenal for this one:

Buy two or even three toothbrushes.Put them ALL in her toothbrush cup. It is NOT "Time to brush your teeth." but it IS "Time to pick out which toothbrush we're going to use!" Kids at this age are trying to have power over something, so you have to give them acceptable alternatives. Brushing vs not brushing is NOT acceptable, but the Dora vs. the Elmo toothbrush IS. It's worth the extra two or three dollars for an extra toothbrush, to avoid the fighting.

Also, if you have to, hold her down, and do it that way. All the while, telling her, "This is the HARD way." She will quickly understand that opening her mouth for you while you do it is the EASY way, and you can then offer her the choice of HARD way, vs EASY way.

Sing a song while you brush. The same song, every time. This will let her know, while it's happening, how much longer she has. We do the alphabet, and then sing the alphabet again, backwards. (It took some practice!) When we get back to A, brushing is done.

To get to the bathroom for brushing in the first place, you can invoke "Mommy Monster" (aka, the "Tickle Monster") "Get to the stool, or the tickle monster will get you!"

Eventually, toothbrushing will become more of a habit, than a chore. The trick is to get there without going insane.

Good luck! Hang in there, mama!

At 2.5 you should still be brushing her teeth! Even if you think she can do it alone, at that age they do not yet have the motor skills to do a good job at it. Our dentist recommends that parents assist with brushing until kids are 5 or 6 and closely supervise until 8 years old.
If she refuses to have her teeth brushed by you, I would pin her down and brush them. That's what I did with DD when she was younger. Once they understand you mean business and don't feed into the drama, they will comply. I know it sounds terrible, but I tried the whole song and dance...when that didn't work, we had to do it the hard way.

Unfortunately my mother didn't care or didn't know better to take care of my baby teeth... I have had a lifetime of terrible oral health - it's expensive to take care of and has caused me great discomfort over the years... I was not going to let that happen to DD. Nowadays she refuses to go to bed or leave the house without brushing her teeth!

Good luck.

My daughter does not like brushing her teeth, but a few things that have helped:

- brushing our teeth together....she likes to copy me so that we can be twins, so I'll brush my teeth and help her brush hers at the same time.

- use the kids spin brush or a vibrating tooth brush and refer to it as "time to tickle your toothies!"

- change toothpaste. My daughter never liked the toddler toothpastes. The only "kids" toothpaste she likes is the Crest My Way Mint toothpaste for tweens, and she really prefers a regular basic adult mint toothpaste like plain CREST toothpaste. When I was a kid, we didn't have all the kiddie toothpastes, we had plain Crest. So I figure it didn't hurt me as a kid, so it is unlikely to hurt her as a kid. And, this is again a way that she and I were using the same thing (twins!) which also thrilled her.

You have started a power struggle area. 2.5 year olds like to do this. I'd just say let me know when you are ready, until then, you have to stay in your room.

We held them down and brushed their teeth for them if they refused, and then they knew that was the consequence if they refused again. It took an hour?? Yeah, not in this house.
I do not normally advocate this kind of parenting, but I have different rules for health and safety issues. Brushing teeth is one of those.

I guess I would say,
BEFORE breakfast (or lunch, if she doesn't each much breakfast)
nothing to eat until your teeth are brushed.
It sounds a little harsh, and I'm not sure why she's having such a problem with it (?) but that's the only thing I can think of that would connect eating your food to cleaning your teeth.
I wouldn't spend an hour trying to convince a two year old to do ANYthing, you either do it or not, and these are the consequences.
Hopefully someone has a better idea than me!

I told my boys that they couldn't have anything sweet (desserts, fruits, peanut butter) if they didn't brush, because brushing protected their teeth from the cavities caused by sweet, sticky foods.

If they didn't brush, the sweets would be stuck and cause cavities...so no sweets!

It worked.

This is NOT bribery...because I never gave them sweets after they brushed, just stated they couldn't have them at all if they CHOSE not to brush. Natural consequences.

http://www.spinbrush.com/toothtunes.html?gclid=CLeyqd6Dgr...

http://www.brushmyway.com/?gclid=CPPF5ISEgrMCFdI7Ogod2mgABQ

http://www.dentalcare.com/en-US/oral-b-crest-professional...

These are loads of fun for them. Add a cool toothpaste:
http://www.orajel.com/kids-oral-care/training-toothpaste/...

And you are set!

My kids loved the electric brushes and are clean teeth freaks thanks to it.

Watch what he does and try to imitate it. I told DD that we could do it the hard way or the easy way but tooth brushing was something that was not negotiable. So if she yelled about it, I lay her on the floor and kneeled over her and brushed them. The dentist calls yelling "loud compliance". You can buy non flouridated toothpaste that is safe to swallow in the amounts small children use. Eventually DD grew out of it.

Can you make it fun for her? Buy something like Agent Cool Blue, or the coloured disclosing tablets so she can see the plaque she needs to brush away? I just explained to my boys that they would have to get fillings and teeth pulled if they didn't look after them.

Night time is probably more important, so that's good - it's after she's been eating all day and there's tons of stuff on the teeth. But maybe picking out her own cool toothbrush would help.

And google toddlers brushing teeth. You might find a funny one, or one she likes that gets her to brush - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmKz-tS6124

Perhaps finding a rinse that she can rinse and spit in the morning would work - kids think spitting is fun, and if you make it clear that this is for spitting in the SINK ONLY, it may do the trick.

My 4 1/2 yr old loves brushing along with "Talking Ginger" - a free app. The app is a cat where you can drench it, blowdry it, and other things. Part of the app is a 1.5 minute timer where the cat brushes her teeth, spits at the end, and her teeth sparkle. Pretty cute. My kiddo laughs at it and watches it as he brushes. I only wish the cat spit-midway a few times like the kids need to do.

She won't outgrow outright defiance. It will get worse.

At 2-1/2, I brushed my kid's teeth. I would just do it for her until she's about 4. If she gives you a hard time, then afterwards she has to go to her room.