Teeth Brushing Battles

We have always had the teeth brushing battle with my son. (now 9) He has allergies and asthma and brushing his teeth gags him. We have talked with dentist many times and the dentist even give us some samples of different tooth paste. Nothing seems to work. One good thing about all this is his teeth are in better shape than his sister who does brush more but not as she should daily. Now that he is older almost 10 he is taking more pride in brushing. Maybe it is one of those things he has to do on his own time.
Have you tried rewards ? Example...Make a brushing chart for the fridge. (Sun.-Sat.) use a sticker for each day he brushes his teeth without a struggle. At the end of the week if he has all stickers he gets a reward. Doesnt have to be big things ... the dollar store has some really neat items or you could give extra priviledges ( never to early to learn this one) (movie,extra one on one time with mom or dad, trip to grandparents etc...)
Hope this helps .
V.

They have tooth brushes that play music when the children brush. He may like that. Have you tried taking him to the store to pick out his own tooth brush? They have different kinds that kids enjoy. They have they regular manual ones and they hav the kid ones that spin. He may like that. Let him choose his own tooth past. They have some cool flavors for kids.

When my son started brushing at 2 he was interested because of the flavored training toothpaste for toddlers, and he watched when I did it and wanted to imitate me. Good luck, I know how stubborn 2 year olds can be!

boy can I relate. My 2 y.o. is a mess to try to brush her teeth. I do agree with the electric toothbrush idea, they are usually very interested in them (if not scared! could go either way). I've been in every position trying to get her to open up. I do brush her twice a day. She doesn't fight it hard at this point but it's not easy. I figure a little gentle force is better than tooth decay and the drill (I have seen kids with cavities at age 3 and it is horrible). I make her stand on a footstool in front of the sick and hold her head while telling her to open. It's getting easier as she realizes she doesn't have a choice. The more children feel like they can control something they don't necessarily like, the more they will try to reject it, so the parent has to give the impression in the gentlest way possible that there's no choice in the matter. They gradually will give in and accept what they need to do (isn't this the whole premise of parenting LOL?). Some kids, no matter how fun you try to make it, they will not open up! Good luck...

Try to make it fun! Or more of a big boy task. Have him look into a mirror while he brushes with you cheering him on, or if there are siblings have them start at the same time and count and see who's are clean first. Anything that makes it seem like it is not a chore and something that they want to do makes them interested. Then say you need to check to make sure all the food is gone brush whatever they missed. This has also worked for my boys. Before they start brushing have them tell you or for smaller ones talk to them about what they have ate or drank that day. Tell them they have to get all that stuff off there teeth.Look in there mouth and say "oh i see that banana you ate, or oh there's the chocolate milk you better get it" they laugh hysterically and will brush until i am satisfied.

my daughter to fight brushing too...until i bought her an elmo toothbrush...her favorite tv character. and i also switched to a toddler toothpaste instead of infant toothpaste. seh seemed to like the taste better. i'd let her watch and daddy brush our teeth, and the let her try to do her teeth herself. after she got used to the feel of the toothbrush, i'd let her stand on the sink and brush her teeth and i'd just "help" so she'd back the back teeth good. and now she'll even let me brush her tongue.

Well, I just wanted you to know you are not alone. I am going through the exact same thing with my 23 month old son right now! It is so frustrating because I know he needs to brush but he just won't cooperate at all. He lets me get a few good strokes in and then he starts biting down on the brust and thrashing around. Sometimes I wonder if his little teeth are really sensitive and maybe it hurts a little or something? Anyway, hopefully we will get through this. I just don't want to hold him down and traumatize him so I'm kind of at a loss.

I know it might sound like I'm a terrible mom, but I hope you all think differently. I showed my kids the plaque commercial and told them that the little green men on tv is what will end up in their mouths and eat away at their teeth if they don't brush. So my 5 yr old, then 3, would brush everyday, twice a day and afterward would ask if the "little green guys" are all brushed away. Like I said it might sound morbid, but it worked. Now the kids love brushing their teeth.

If you haven't tried already...try backing off for a while BUT when you brush your teeth ask him if he would like to brush his too, if he says no just shrug and continue with your brushing while humming a fun tune and act like it is the most fun you've had all day! To put it better, my son went through the same type of phase so I would brush my teeth and have his on stand-by incase he decided he wanted to join the fun by brushing his too. After about a week he pick up the routine. Hope this helps!

at least make sure you are not putting him to bed with any sweet things ...milk or juice bottles , or last thing he has eaten being sweets. They say eating cheese though is a good thing for teeth...and let him learn to swish and spit water...you could put a target in the sink and let him spit at it, pretend he is a ...hmmm....what would spit? well anyway , you can do something to make it fun! Also you could have some sort of little musical wind up toy that you explain to him that you will wind it up and let it play while he brushes. Frankly, I am pretty sure that all my little 2 year olds did not get their teeth brushed every day and they all had good teeth, but i never let them take a sweet bottle to bed, just water. And they didn't drink alot of sweet things or have sweet sticky stuff much. Sometimes cultural differences do make a huge difference in approaches to small things in family life, but you will make the difference as you consistently are a good example to your little one.

Sounds like you are fighting him to brush his teeth, make it more fun and relaxing. Sing a toothbrush song or make one up if you do not know one. Show him how to properly do it and brush your own teeth at the same time, it could not hurt. Get a small child toothbrush and cup holder that is his or fun paper cups for the bathroom to rinse mouth out.

Good luck and have fun!
S. N.

You have to try and make it fun, My son did the same thing and I didn't brush them everyday, and now he has 2 crowns at age 4. It is not a good idea to not brush there teeth, you just have to put your foot down and be stern with them, but try and make it fun. Let him brush your teeth. Let me know if this helps. Pediatric Nurse J.

We just took our 2 yr old and 3 1/2 yr old to the dentist for the first time and here are some of tips I got while there:

1) if you let them have anything sticky (ie fruit snacks, raisins, lollipops, etc.) make sure they have something crunchy (ie a carrot stick) after to help take the sticky out of their teeth.

2) if you let your son watch TV, make a deal, he can watch his favorite show as long as he sits still and lets you brush his teeth. The minute he fights brushing or gets up you turn the TV off...it has worked wonders with our children.

3) finally, we found a great dentist that took polariod (sp?) pictures while we were at the office and now, when they don't want to brush we show them the picture of Dr. Avni and ask what would she say about this and they don't mind brushing so much.

Good luck!

J.

I recommend keep trying but don't make it a battle then he will not like it. Try using the flouride free toothpaste, try having 2 brushes (give him one and you one and work around his brush), try an electric toothbrush if that does not work. Also, maybe let him pick out a bruh with a character he likes and let him play with it or even take it to bed with him. I think the big thing is to get him comfortable with the brush and not to give up. Good Luck!!

Hi, I am a mother of 2 and I know the battles of teeth brushing. I always tell my son that if he doesn't brush his teeth he will pirate teeth and they will hurt. He always cooperates with me. He is scared that he will get pirate teeth. Have you tried a childrens electric toothbrush with a cute character on it. Or maybe let him pick out the toothbrush and paste at the store. They have some toothbrushes that light up. They are called fireflys. He maybe interested in that. And with the no milk problem, does he like juice? You can by minute maid orange juice with calcium. You can also by fluorinaded water. Well I wish you luck and I know things will get better in time, just keep pushing the teeth brushing thing and don't give up. It will come in all do time.