brushing teeth

[WildFlower]

I know it HAS to be done, but I can't figure out how to get it done well. I have read several other people's posts and comments. Even if she just cries through it, that would be one thing, but I can't even get the brush ON her teeth, because she is pushing the brush out with her tongue constantly and moving her head back and forth. I do NOT want to hurt her trying to brush her teeth. I got a softer brush, because the one I had she wouldn't put in her mouth because it was too prickly. I got some baby training toothpaste with no dyes or fluoride. She will put the brush in her mouth and move it around and chew (with her back gums though) if the paste is on it. But she has 8 teeth in the front and they need brushed. I have resorted to using a washcloth but still get bit, because she'd rather bite the cloth than let me rub them. I don't know if it's doing any good. I looked last night and there is a brownish area on one tooth:( don't know if it's decay or just discolored area. :-/ If it's decay, I would feel so bad, I try to keep her from sugar and limit that and do what I am supposed to but, I can't brush her teeth if she clamps her mouth shut and forces the brush out with her tongue!

[ericaness]

:popcorn
teeth brushing is my least favorite time of day. we do all kinds of craziness to hold DS in place while we brush, but he always pushes his tongue in the way too. honestly the best brushing occurs when he is crying really hard, then he doesn't push his tongue out and it is over fast. but usually he is crying a little and fighting with his tongue and it takes forever. we have to be relentless because he does have some tooth decay. occasionally we can get him to laugh by making silly faces or yelling out, and then i can brush while he laughs, but those times are few and far between.

[bec28]

Ds didn't like it at first. Now he asks to do it :) I don't know if any of this would be helpful for you or not but we let him brush his teeth first. Sometimes I let him brush my teeth too. Then, I have him lean him head back on my lap, and say ahhhh! :) We started out with me only being able to brush for a second or two and then he was done. Sometimes I'd ask if we could try again. Now that's he's used to it, he let's me brush then all.

I'm sorry it's a battle. They suck. Here, it's washing hair. Ds hates it, so he just doesn't get bathed all that often :bag I understand you needing to brush teeth though :hug

[Naked Camper]

:popcorn for ideas. My 2yo fights it like crazy. I have to physically sit on him to get it done. It's traumatic for everyone - but I don't know how else to do it. All of my other kids were cooperative.

[MaybeGracie]

I introduced the concept of teeth-brushing to my boys by handing them their toothbrush and then brushing my own teeth. They watched and then mimicked me on their own. They do their initial sloppy brush and then I have them open their mouth while I do a more thorough job.

But, I'll confess, I didn't brush their teeth beyond a quick swipe with a washcloth (if that) at 11 months old. :shifty

[raining_kisses]

My best advice is to make teeth brushing fun. Relax, because she will be able to pick up on your cues and feelings. He used to clamp down on the brush, but I talked to him about what I was going to do before I did it one evening, and that really seemed to help. "Baby, you have little sugar bugs on your teeth. I am going to use this soft brush to tickle your teeth and scare away all the sugar bugs. Oh look, the sugar bug is running away..." *pretend to wave bye bye to pretend bug*. Make it into a silly game.

Singing a song has helped us over here sooo much. Here is our teeth brushing routine for anyone who may find it helpful. We started this around 15 months and it was an instant success. We now have tear free tooth brushing over here. :phew I made up this song and now he loves having his teeth brushed(usually).

Step 1. Have everything ready, paste on toothbrush and cup of water ready.
Step 2. Have DH hold them in his lap.(I have done this without dh as well, but it definitely helps to have someone hold them).
Step 3. Child gets to drink some water.
Step 4. We start "warming up" by singing in a silly voice "me me me me me!" like when singers on a sitcom warm up. DH starts helping DS clap the beat with his hands(this keeps DS's hands busy so he doesn't try to pull the brush out. Whenever DH is not around DS will still clap on his own.)
Step 5. The song must be sung with silly voices, different tempos, and different pitches. We usually sing it about 3 times through and count that as a success.

The Song (sung to: I've been working on the railroad)

I've been brushing on my teeeeth, all the live long daaay,
I've been brushing on my teeeth, just to keep the bugs away!
Can't you hear the bristles brushing, my teeth are so cleeean...
Thank you mama and daddy, my teeth really gleeeeam.

DS actually giggle when we are done with his teeth.:jawdrop It is a far cry from how it used to be! I am so thankful he enjoys it now. It makes the bedtime routine much more pleasant. Another helpful hint is too always brush teeth at the same time. Kids like routines, and G does better if he knows it is coming. We do bath, then jammies, then teeth. After we put on his jammy pants he starts saying "teeth! teeth!"

[Naked Camper]

what an awesome idea of a song to make it fun!

[Can'tTurnLeft]

Follow the advice of others. We are STILL struggling with tooth brushing with my 3 and 5 year old...

But remember too that God gives us mulligan teeth ;) He knows that kids aren't going to be able to practice great oral hygiene so he gives us practice starter teeth...:giggle

[mama_mimi]

We had a hard time with this too. It does get easier, eventually! DS fell several times while learning to walk and injured his mouth. So brushing was always traumatic. Some browning on teeth occured and are grown out now and not continuong to decay. I wept over this but it turned out alright. Check out the dental forums for advice about that, but be prepared that it may be decay and not just a discoloring. Doesn't mean it will be there forever though! Good thing this pair fall out! We used xylitol with great outcome. Also got flouride treatment from dentist. And got him taking omega oils ( he loves cod liver oil! Go figure!) and things are better in that respect too. Many times we forced brushing. I use a cloth until they have molars anyway so that let the trauma fade a bit so we could start fresh. Let him pick out a new brush which seemed to help. And we did a lot of family brushing. We did some singing too, ahhhh! Eeeee! And blehhhh! (tounge). Also a lot of excitement afterward and praise. As far as biting, if theres only 8teeth I'm assuming no molars. I stuck my finger on the back gums and they can't bite then. Hope something I shared helps! This too shall pass!

[cyndib]

No other suggestions than to get it done quick and be done. But be sure to stick with it daily. We slacked big time, and just ended up forking out $2600 for fillings on my 4.5 year old b/c half of her teeth had cavities, some pretty deep. :blush So, the trauma of brushing for a short amount of time sure beats traumatic dentist office visits. :hug2

[mommylobster]

Have you tried playful ideas yet?

One idea that I got from another mom on here was to use a reverse psychology idea and say "Nooooooo, don't let me brush your teeth! If I brush your teeth I get slimed! Ahhhhhh! Noooooo!" and then if they let you brush you have to pretend to get slimed :giggle DS thought it was the funniest thing ever that I thought it was so gross when I got "slimed". And repeat until your done.

After he got used to it it worked to tell him about all the kinds of sugar bugs I was getting (I just used what he ate that day for e.i. "Oooh there are lots of grilled cheese bugs! Oh, I got'em!" and increase the brushing speed when "getting" the sugar bugs.

It might not work but could be worth a try :shrug

[lalaithnil]

I want to thank Cate for the sugar bugs thing - it worked wonders for B!
I have another tip: puppets! B will let the puppets (especially the panda) brush her teeth. :D I picked up a bunch of puppets at the dollar store. :wink

[Tandem mama]

Cuppycake was like that. I got a kids electric toothbrush and she loves it. I don't scrub, I just touch it with her teeth since its moving anyway. I figure that's better than not even getting a toothbrush to her teeth lol

[MercyInDisguise]

We have survived through a combination of playful parenting (DH typically makes monkey noises and gets C to do the same, then kind of brushes while his mouth is open). :giggle We also keep 2 toothbrushes for C. I wet one down and give it to him and let him chew, and that way his mouth is open for me to brush the other side.

But it's still my least favorite time of day. :shifty

[trish101]

We used the spinning type electric toothbrush, it was one of the only things that worked.

Also I pretended to paint her teeth different colors. For some reason, she thought that was really fun.

Keep trying different games/play ideas. Eventually you'll find one that works :)

[Naked Camper]

i like the "painting teeth" idea :tu

[Tandem mama]

We have survived through a combination of playful parenting (DH typically makes monkey noises and gets C to do the same, then kind of brushes while his mouth is open). :giggle We also keep 2 toothbrushes for C. I wet one down and give it to him and let him chew, and that way his mouth is open for me to brush the other side.

But it's still my least favorite time of day. :shifty

:giggle @ the monkey noises. I don't know why I find that so funny. Maybe because he seems so quiet

[cbmk4]

When our kids were younger they usually could be cajoled into accepting toothbrushing by using a playful approach, but occasionally, when that failed, toothbrushing became a two parent job--one to hold, one to brush. I would still sing, make silly faces during the process, etc., but I would proceed with gentle, but firm confidence that the process was indeed going to happen despite tears and protests.

Even now, my almost 7 year old will sometimes "refuse" to open her mouth for my final toothbrushing once-over. She has a twinkle in her eye and a silly grin on her face. Now it is just a joke, but she clearly remembers the struggle she used to put up.

[JuicyMoosey]

Hi - just finding my feet around here.

What worked for a while for us was having a special teeth brushing song. Daddy would brush while Mummy sang - it was always a race to see if mummy would finish the song before daddy and dd finished the teeth. They always won, because I would just keep singing it over and over until they had finished. Seemed to work.

[mommylobster]

We used the spinning type electric toothbrush, it was one of the only things that worked.

Also I pretended to paint her teeth different colors. For some reason, she thought that was really fun.

Keep trying different games/play ideas. Eventually you'll find one that works :)

"Races" help in our house too. DS just can't resist winning :giggle

[Jules]

When our kids were younger they usually could be cajoled into accepting toothbrushing by using a playful approach, but occasionally, when that failed, toothbrushing became a two parent job--one to hold, one to brush. I would still sing, make silly faces during the process, etc., but I would proceed with gentle, but firm confidence that the process was indeed going to happen despite tears and protests.



This is us around here. Somedays playful works great and some days its like DD just decides nothing is going to make that happen.

I have good luck sometimes with telling her I am getting different foods in while I brush like "Oh look theres a grape, ooh now I found a piece of toast, ooh there some cheese in there!"

[Naked Camper]

painting the teeth worked like a charm today :woohoo