My Baby Hates Her Teeth to Be Brushed Daily

I went thru the very same thing with my twins. I would have to pin them down. This went on for a while but they did get use to having their teeth brushed. No it's not such a struggle. I felt bad for have to go to the extreme of pinning them down but it's better than the alternative.
Stick with it, it will get better.
B.

Hi D.,

Toddlers who hate to have their teeth brushed are pretty universal - as evidenced by the fact that it's a frequent topic of conversation here. Despite the best of efforts, sometimes they have to be held down screaming. Please don't feel bad - you are doing the right thing!

What has worked for me is if I brush and let her brush her own teeth at the same time. Then I put tooth paste on the brush and brush her teeth as I let her brush mine. She still screamed sometimes, but it is what it is and it has to get done.
My daughter just had her 2nd dds appointment and he said her teeth look great. He also said, "the 30 or 40 seconds you get in her mouth, make the most of it." You may be a little too ambitious with 1-2+ minutes, but I'm not sure.
Best of luck!
C.

We let our daughter brush her teeth. When she was done, I would take her tooth brush and ask, "Did you brush here? Like thie?" and work my way around her mouth, rebrushing all of her teeth. I just kept inquiring if she brushed that tooth and that tooth. It worked for a good while, until she was able to really brush on her own.

We also took her to the ped dentist, who did some teeth brushing lessons with her to help her gain ind. and also informed her that we should continue to check her teeth like we had been until her next visit.

S

Hi D.,
In my opinion, there are some things you can compromise on with a toddler and this IS NOT one of them. (check out my profile to see why) My daughter did the same thing at this age. I gave her two choices, sit still and open her mouth until I was done brushing or I would hold her down and do it while she cried. It took several times of sitting on her while she cried before she decided to cooperate. I would remind her that SHE made the choice, and if she would sit still and open her mouth I wouldn't have to hold her down. This will not be the last time you have to make her do things she doesn't want to do. You don't want to deal with Early Childhood Caries, which is on the rise in the U.S., as it is traumatic and expensive. My daughter is now 3 1/2 and I still have to remind her to cooperate every once in a while. Remember, you are the "boss" in this relationship.
Sincerely,
L.

What flavor of toothpaste do you use? Maybe she doesn't like the mint, maybe its too hot in her mouth. Possibly Let her pick out her own tooth brush and try the battery opperated one, who knows just give it a try. good luck. Y. <:(((><

One thing I tried with my daughter when she was 2 was letting her brush my teeth. We would take turns. First, she would brush mine then I would brush hers. It might take more time but at least she might let you brush hers more easily since you will be taking turns. Good Luck!

Hi D.,

Maybe it's time for her to brush her own teeth to keep her entertained.

I did the "Your turn-mommy's turn" method, where we took turns. I added a sand-timer for US to watch while brushing. This helped me get in there first, then my son could brush his teeth until the sand ran out.

Worked for us!

~N.

Ahhh! My son is 6 1/2 and only after he turned 6 did he finally willingly (no, I take that back. He still isn't willing!) let me brush his teeth. I guess the big "step up" here is that I no longer have to be octopus armed and pry his mouth open, etc. I am REALLY looking forward to when he does it himself!!!!

Just because it is hard, dont back off. I did and regret it big time now. Because I didnt brush his teeth so consistently when he was an older toddler (and because I didn't give him fluoride) he had SEVEN cavities and a couple spacers in his teeth now as two were so bad they had to be pulled. :-(

It does and will (EVENTUALLLY!) get easier. She will get used to it. She has to. And you have to be consistent.

Suggestions - maybe a little timed piece of music or something where it only goes for 1-2 minutes and teach your daughter that you brush as long as it is going until it stops then ok, you're done.

If she's actually letting you brush for the one or two minutes, I don't see it as a problem at all. That's quite a long time for her age. We actually take our daycare children into the bathroom and have them stand on a stool at the sink. We brush briefly, trying to reach all the teeth front and back, then let the child try to do some brushing on their own for a minute or so. This gives them some experience in handling the toothbrush so they'll begin to be able to do it for themselves. Our kids think it's a fun game, and want to brush their teeth every day.
I also believe that what the child is eating and drinking is often more the culprit in the rise in dental caries than lack of brushing teeth. Some parents don't realize how much sweets and sodas harm their children's health. Fast food eating is common, and soda is the main drink offered... plus not many child friendly vegetables and fruit are offered on the menus. At home the child often gets too much juice (which often is laced with sugar or corn syrup unless the parent is careful in selection) rather than milk or water.
If your daughter is getting a good balanced diet that isn't filled with these harmful foods and drinks, and you are able to get in the one minute brushing, she should have great teeth.

My daughter was the same way. My solution, I went to Walgreen's and purchased a $5.00 Go Diego Go electric toothbrush. Well, that sure did the trick! Not only does she LOVE Diego, she also has so much fun when the bristles go around in circles on her teeth. We even spice it up alittle by saying, "Here comes the train, choo choo!" while the bristles are churning! It has been a WONDERFUL solution!!!

Good Luck!

I think that it's pretty universal to hate daily toothbrushing, even my husband hates it... :) but remember that you are the parent and you're only doing it because you love your child. I'm a ped dentist and I have a 10 month old son and only now do I realize how hard it is when a baby fights you the whole time. I can see how easy it is to give up. However, the alternative of severe dental cavities is even tougher. Try your best to brush well during the first minute she sits still and also get regular dental checkups twice a year. Your dentist should be able to see if you guys are doing a good job or not and help make recommendations on how to improve. It may not hurt to have an authority figure other than yourself reinforce the importance of brushing. Then you can say,"Dr. ____ says..... "
Good luck!

I bought a fun toothbrush for my son called the "Firefly". It is a manual toothbrush and it lights up and blinks for one minute while the child is brushing. The child is to keep brushing until the blinking stops. You can order it from drugstore.com or amazon.com for a few bucks. My son loved it. Regarding your struggle with your daughter, her teeth must be brushed every day--this is not optional. I wouldn't make a big deal of brushing for one minute. That's a long time for some toddlers. I would be happy with a few strokes (by either you or her.) I would give her a choice: "Do you want to brush your teeth or do you want Mommy to help you?" Then, I would proceed in a matter of fact manner. Don't show her that you are upset. Just "help" her in a matter of fact way. And take care not to brush too hard. Hopefully the Firefly toothbrush will be attractive to her. Also, there is no shortage of enticing toothpastes for kids these days. You might try a different toothpaste.

Well, with four kids I thought you'd have seen it all! We went through a time when my 22 month old hated brushing his teeth. Once or twice I forced it on him, but then I decided to lay off of that approach because I could see in the long run this would only make things worse and have him always hate it.

We gave him two toothbrushes, a kid's one and Dad's motor one, which he loved. I started brushing my teeth, asked him to brush Mama's teeth and then asked him to try. He liked spitting for a while, and I got a bowl for him to spit in while he was standing around in the bathroom. I also got him a stool so he could climb up to the sink which he also liked. I have a sippy cup of water for him to have before bed to make me feel better about rinsing out his mouth a bit more.

Right now he likes brushing his teeth and actually does a pretty good job "tickling his teeth," but I'm also expecting him to revert back to not liking it one day!

My son didn't like me to brush his teet either, so I just had to hold him down and do it. It's one of those things that has to be done like wearing a seat belt. If he wouldn't let me do it I would tell him we were out of time or I was now too tired to read him a bed time story and he would have to go directly to bed. That seems to work well for him.

I had the same issue with my daughter. I would let her brush them first and then tell her mommy had to get the spots that she missed. It turned out to work great and she thought that she was being a big girl by doing it first.

My son used to do this also. He is 22 months now and brushes his teeth four times a day! The method we used was, I would say, "I'll knock the big chunks off" and then sing the "I'm gonna brush those cavities right off your teeth" song (I made it up to the tune of "I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair"). It distracts baby and makes you smile! Then let her do the "fine tuning" on her teeth. Let her brush her teeth until she's done. It'll make it more fun. You could also do the turn taking teeth brushing. I didn't do this because I've got sensitive teeth and my boys were rough! Good luck and keep trying. It is important to get her teeth brushed.

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