Brushing for Toddler

[juicyfruits]

i would love to hear how do you get your toddler to brush their teeth. I have difficulty in accessing to his mouth with a toothbrush.He did let me "brush" for a while, but its just not thorough enough. What are the books recommended to read to him?

[hypatia]

How old is he?
Do you use toddler toothpaste? This was a big hit for us. We do a little song, something like 'up, up, up', 'down, down, down', 'side, side, side'. She sits on the potty before going to bed and we brush teeth.

[Champdiva]

I had the same problem with my 2 yr old son. He refused to open his mouth. He would use his toothbrush to brush my teeth but refuse to let me brush his teeth.
He would scream and cry and clamp his mouth when I started to force open his mouth.
I often have to struggle to do brushing. Is there any better way?

[sunmoonstar23]

I had same problem with my son, he never opens his mouth and will cry for brushing his teeth. We checked with our doctor and she adviced to give automatic spinbrush, and that worked for us. First we will let play with it for a while and then we will brush his teeth without any problem.

[juicyfruits]

he is 2 years old. i usually sing.. this is the way we brush our teeth song..but it didnt last for long..in the end had to use a cotton gauze swab to wrapped around my finger and "brush" as i cant brush his teeth properly with his mouth closed.I didnt dare to try toothpaste on him as he is very picky..you know,if he decide to taste it,the toothpaste will leave a taste/film on his tongue,so i used toothbrushing solution

[waterdreamer]

This one is hard. I was a pediatric dental assist for 3 years and I saw lots of little kids who didn't like having their teeth brushed. If the parents didn't insist and get in there even against the childs will they usually deveolped cavities. 
My son was horrible at first but I had seen to many babies pit to sleep for dental surgery. I would have to chase him down the hall when I caught him I would lay him down with his head in my lap(if he was kicking I'd wrap my legs around him) I would then gently place my finger in his mouth and help him open. The whole time I did this I would say " mommy does this because she loves you and I don't want you to get sugar bugs on your teeth" then after I'd give him hugs and kisses. It was hard. But after a month he started toncalm down then after a little longer he would lay down on his own. Now he is almost 5 and reminds me every night we need to brush and floss
just think of it this way. If your toddler didn't want to have his diaper changed you would still do it right? Does like baths? Not up for discussion it just needs to get done. 
Sorry for the typos I'm on my iPhone. 
Best of luck

[kmum]

We  count while brushing.  That way my dd knows there is an end in sight.  The great part is that I can count very slow when neccesary!     Then dd is allowed to brush for practice.

[rugrat]

I'm also having the same problem.  2 months ago we bought a toothbrush for our 16 month old, he's happy to hold it and chew the brush, but as soon as I take it of him or try to assist him, he would start screaming and crying.

[piyu]

 I also had tough time brushing my son's teeth . Then one day I brought 'pepper series-books' for him.He loved them so much that he wanted to brush his teeth like pepper did.
  We sing along. I make him stand in front of mirror & he loves to see bubbles in his mouth.
  After he is done its my turn to clean his teeth.
  We also change his toothbrush every month. I take him to the market & he can select his own brush.
   He now enjoys brushing his teeth.

[juicyfruits]

hmm..so its like i have to "force" / pin him down to open his mouth even he dislike it? but I dont wish to put a fight with him as i dun want him to fear this daily brushing routin..its just tough to force open his mouth to brush.. 

[waterdreamer]

hmm..so its like i have to "force" / pin him down to open his mouth even he dislike it? but I dont wish to put a fight with him as i dun want him to fear this daily brushing routin..its just tough to force open his mouth to brush.. 

but as a parent it us your job to make sure he has good oral hygiene. You have to make sure he is having all areas cleaned or he is at risk for dental caries. Which I promise u is 100 times scarier for them then you enforcing brushing. Lots if praise and love but in the end it still needs to get done. But everyone has there different priorities and maybe he will never have a cavity but I personnally have seen too many kids suffer because their parents were to scared upset them
just my option... But I promise it gets easier. Talk to him about why your doing it and reasons.

[PY]

hmm..so its like i have to "force" / pin him down to open his mouth even he dislike it? but I dont wish to put a fight with him as i dun want him to fear this daily brushing routin..its just tough to force open his mouth to brush.. 

but as a parent it us your job to make sure he has good oral hygiene. You have to make sure he is having all areas cleaned or he is at risk for dental caries. Which I promise u is 100 times scarier for them then you enforcing brushing. Lots if praise and love but in the end it still needs to get done. But everyone has there different priorities and maybe he will never have a cavity but I personnally have seen too many kids suffer because their parents were to scared upset them
just my option... But I promise it gets easier. Talk to him about why your doing it and reasons.

I totally agree with you guys!
I have to deal with the same problem with my two years old daughter (her dad won't do it, because she gets upset when we help her to brush her theeth) so I am the one who has to deal with this three times a day, every day!!! I think sooner or later she will have to get use to this...she loves brushing her theeth on her own..but she doesn't do it right! so I need to help her even if she doesn't like me to do it..I WON'T stop doing it! because I think is part of educating them, they need to be responsable with their hygiene as human persons we are. I think is better two minutes of dealing with her each brushing time than days of painful dentists appointments (which are very expensive).and not fun for anybody!

[tatianna]

my dad was really big on teeth brushing
we sang songs about it
he would talk about "pearly whites" how great clean white teeth are
and would have the whole family brush there teeth together
also he would not let us have sugar as it could rot our teeth

it seems extreme but it worked
none of us have had any dental work
i try(doesn't always work) to do the same with my kids
i find if you start early and set a good example it makes it easier
sometime i let my 3 year old brush my teeth so i can brush hers
whatever works right?   

[Gage]

Hello,

I was lucky my son took right to brushing his teeth. I would sit him on the counter beside me and give him his toothbrush so he could try and I would keep one for me. It usually worked that I would brush his teeth and he would play with his toothbrush in a little bit a water that I would leave in the sink. We made a game in pronounsing the AAAaa sounds and such to get him to open his mouth. Now that he is 2 we have gone down to one toothbrush. Sometimes we have some troubles with him not wanting to keep him mouth open for me but for the most part he lissens well because he gets his turn after I am done. 

[kizudo]

Yep.  I'm with Waterdreamer on this one. 

One of my son's little buddies had the top four teeth removed when he was 18 months old due to breastfeeding cavities.  (He was allowed to nurse at any time of day/night and there was never any brushing.) He will not have front teeth until he's 7 or 8 - later than most kids get their adult teeth...when you lose your baby teeth at 5 or 6 there is a "hole" ready for the adult teeth to come through...when you lose them earlier the bone heals shut and the adult teeth have a much harder time to push through. He does not speak - even now at age 2 - I think it is because he can't make the right sounds...he may develop a serious speech issue because of it.

Being the anxious mom that I am, I booked an appt with my dentist and he said, as Waterdreamer said, you do it because you're the parent.  Parenting is not easy and if you have to put him in a headlock, you put him in a headlock.  This is a non-negotiable thing.  So...that's what we did and now he puts up with it 2 or 3 times a day.  Daddy entertains us at the bedtime brushing, but other than that it's a "too bad, it's happening, like it or not" situation.  He fusses maybe once a week now...and that's when the "headlock" comes back!

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