Tooth-Brushing Dilemma

I let my (very strong willed) daughter brush her own teeth, then with a seperate tooth brush I go in there and finish the job. That bug thing sounds funny (I like it), but you might want to be careful it might freak them out in ways you wouldn't think. I do have to say though, I have been blessed in that neither of my children have minded brushing their teeth.

One thing when I was a kid, my Grandmother had false teeth and she told me it was because she didn't eat the crust off her bread. I tell you that made me want to eat everybodies crust, just so my teeth wouldn't fall out. That might work with the teeth brushing thing.

Hi M.,
Here's a thought; might just work. Relate teeth brushing to something fun. What would happen if she found you brushing your teeth while jamming to a VERY fun song; dancing around the bathroom. Tell her this is the teeth brushing song and to grab her brush and join you. We had a song that we'd sing when we helped our kids brush their teeth; we'd laugh together when they tried to sing along while we had the toothbrush in their mouth. Our song went like this:
Ho Ho Ho Hosanna
Ha Ha Haleleuia
He He He He rose for me
Now I've got the joy of the Lord.
(those ho ho's and ha ha's worked great to get those back teeth).
Happy brushing!
K.

They sell these finger tooth brushes at Babies R' Us. They're little things you put on your finger that have these hair like rubber bristles. My daughter had no problem letting me brush with these but wouldn't do a tooth brush. Try them. They work.

I have an 18 month daughter and have had the same problems. She just likes to suck on the toothbrush . Im not sure how big your daughter is but I let mine stand on a stool and brush. I run the water so she can rinse her toothbrush off herself and this seems to help. We sing the "brush your teeth chchch, chchch" song. I basically let her play for a minute and then take the toothbrush away and say mine turn to brush your teeth. I usually only get the front ones so Im hoping her back teeth can hold out until she is more willing to let me brush them.

This is what works for us and is sort of along the "Bugs" line.
One night I pulled this out of nowhere, but it's been working like a charm.
We say, "time to get the Cookie Bugs" and I'll ask my daughter "do you want to get the big ones or the little ones"? So she'll brush first, getting which ever ones she chose. Then I go in for the other ones, brushing her teeth thoroughly. It used to drive me insane when my daughter wouldn't let me brush because I work at a dental office and I see what can happen, not to mention the cost involved.
Another variation was to name the 'Cookie Bugs', like "let's get the Grandma cookie bug", etc and so on. Gradually adding more names to our bug list. Eventually, if we forgot someone, we had to go back in for them, which means more thorough brushing!
Good luck!

I'm a mother of ten...25 down to 4...in recent years I've found an ionizing toothbrush that doesn't require any toothpaste except maybe once a week for a whitener because it produces ionization as it's brushed with that results in the plaque easily coming off the teeth and adhering to the brush...it makes mine feel like I just had my teeth cleaned. Anyway, view one at http://ecoquestintl.com/dealer_products/hygionic.asp

Plus I think that idea another response gave of letting her brush your teeth with such a toothbrush may help her see what you're trying to help her with.

B. in WI

I've told other moms this and it works with all of them. Hopefully for you too. I had a small chat with my daughter about bugs and germs and how they are on our shoes, hands, and even in our mouth. Then, the same night but well after our germ/bug talk...we started to brush her teeth and I said loudly, excited and a little disgusted, "There's a buggie in your mouth...Gross! Hopefully he doesn't poop in your mouth...yuk! We should brush your teeth to get that buggie." So, we brush and we chase that buggie all around her teeth. Sometimes he is slow and easy to catch, and sometimes he's fast and goes all around the mouth and we chase him...or he's a jumper and hops all over from top to bottom, or he's hiding. We finally "Catch" him and we wash him or spit him down the sink. Then, when we're done, I smell her breath and tell her how wonderful her breath smells and that I don't smell buggie poopoo anymore. She is almost 3 and we still do that...it's a little game we can play together, even though she is old enough to know there aren't bugs in her mouth...it's still fun and keeps her interested. Little does she know...there ARE buggies in her mouth. HAHA! She really likes our game. She'll even say, "I see a buggie...I better get him!" She chases him around with her toothbrush. She'll even point to her brush and say, "I got him...see him", even though there isn't a bug there. You get the idea...make it fun. She'll catch on soon. Good luck. Hopefully, this works for you as well as it's worked for us.

Hi, M.!

How about letting her brush your teeth? With your toothbrush, of course. That might be fun for her, and make her feel as though she has a little more control?

C.

1. We've tried the song if your happy and you know let me brush
2. I've asked her if she wanted to do it the hard way or easy way. The hard way is when she's on my lap and I hold down her hands and hold her head and force my way into the mouth with the toothbrush
This last one is working and she's 26 months and we've been doing it when she was maybe 20. The first two is what we did around 18 months.
3. What actually worked is having her brush her own teeth. We tell her she can brush and when she's done Mama will finish. She brushes for a minute or so and hands me the brush. My kid is 26 months too which may make a difference on what will and won't work.