I have a 27 month old son and he loves to brush his teeth, which I think is wonderful. My husband and I are having a hard time teaching him to spit out the toothpaste rather than swollow it. We use the floride free toothpaste so it is not harmful to him but he needs to learn how to spit. If anyone has any ideas that would be great! We have tried to brush our teeth with him and show him that we spit out the toothpaste so I am not sure what else to try.
H. -
It just may be the age. My son FINALLY started spitting and graduated to the floride toothpaste this week - he's almost 4.5!
Best of luck to you!
K.
My son is almost four and still really doens't have the spitting thing down. I also have a daughter that is 27 months and I really don't think she is anywhere near the spitting point either. I think you just need to give it some more time.
try a small amount of mild regular toothpaste--it "foams" up better and perhaps the foam/bubbly feeling will give him a better feel of what he needs to spit. You could also practice with water (from his bathroom cup)--take a little in, and swish it and then spit. (Just be sure to establish the "rules" that this is a tooth brushing thing, not a dinner table thing!)
My son is 3 and he hasn't been spitting for long. I have noticed some of the kids toothpaste seems to foam up more than others. The more baby kind doesn't really make anything to be spit. We don't buy that kind now but, he has finally caught on.
I agree with the other posts about non-fluoride toothpastes or just using a smear. However, if you really want your son to learn to spit I found that he didn't have enough stuff to spit with just toothpaste. We taught him to spit using water. It took lots of practice, but he eventually learned how to spit out water and now can spit other things (including toothpaste), for better or for worse!
They make fluoride free toothpaste specifically because children that age don't "get" spitting. Be patient with him, he'll figure it out in good time.
My daughter is 3 1/2 and she just started spitting. Don't sweat it yet!
Congratulations on teaching your son good habits at such a young age!
I wouldn't sweat the spitting thing at this point. Just keep demonstrating what you want him to do and he'll grow into it.
Hi, don't worry about the spitting. He'll get it one day. It's the brushing part that's important. My son is 4 and still can't spit. he just swallows. In fact, he stopped wanting to use toothpaste 6 months ago so we use nothing. Remember, you do need to persuade him to let you brush after he's done because they really can't do a good job at these young ages. We've always told ours that we need to double-check to make sure they got all the food out so we make a game of opening up his mouth and checking around with the toothbrush.
It takes awhiles - just keep demonstrating and eventually he'll get it. My daughter is 3 and has just started to get the hang of it within the past 3-4 months.
My son is 4 and has just started spitting within the last 6 months or so. Up until then, when we tried to get him to spit, he would swalllow first and then spit, so he wasn't actually spitting anything out. Don't worry about your son not spitting yet. When he is ready he will do it. Don't stress!
there are toddler pastes out there that are ok to swallow and stuff. spitting is a complicated thing. just keep trying, what is working with my son is brushing my teeth WITH him, and he copies me.
H.,
It is great that your son loves to brush his teeth. My 2 children didn't like it much at that age. I wouldn't worry about him moving to floride toothpaste yet. I think both my boys were 3 before they were able to spit and actually, my second son didn't do it until he was older. If you are worried about getting enough floride, you could always buy water that has it added. Just my thoughts... no scientific data to back it!
HI I was a Headstart teacher for many years and part of the program was tooth brushing everyday. We were inserviced a few years ago about just using a "very small smear" of toothpaste floride toothpaste and then the child brushes and then doesn't spit it out and doesn't rinse the mouth out. The theory was that the child was getting floride on their teeth and it was staying on the the teeth not being spit out and it was such a small amount that it was not dangerous to the rest of their system. I also feel it is cleaner (less germs) since they are not spitting. Take Care!
Hi H.! He will soon learn how to really spit. As far as toothpastes, don't feel like you EVER have to use a flouride toothpaste. No one in our family uses flouride in any form and we have lovely teeth :) I am 30 years old and have had ONE cavity in my entire life.
Our family uses a toothpaste with Xylitol as the main ingredient. It is from the Xclear company and the toothpaste is called Spry. I buy it from www.vitacost.com
Xylitol fights tooth decay.
My kids like this toothpaste because it's really bubbly and my daughter, who is 2, is able to really know how to spit because there is actually SOMETHING to spit out! :)
Also, it's not enough for a child to copy an adult brushing, as someone mentioned. Children need assistance up to at least 6 years of age for good dental hygiene.
