TEETH BRUSHING

[tonya]

MY DAUGHTER IS 20 MONTHS OLD AND I AM REALLY HAVING A BATTLE WITH BRUSHING HER TEETH...ANY HELPFUL HINTS??

 

[Tangnefedd]

Try to make it into a game. You both have a tooth brush, let her brush your teeth and then it is your turn to brush hers etc. Don't get heavy about it otherwise she will clamp her jaws shut. Tell her a story about the tooth fairy saying that when she is bigger and she sheds her teeth the tooth fairy likes nice clean ones, be inventive. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[Andry]

Buy her several toothbrushes and toothpastes to choose from. That way she can pick and choose. A word of caution is make sure the toothpaste isn't the minty flavour, as it might be a bit hot for her.

My son who's now four, went through the same things. But he's got 6 toothbrushes! The way I see it, if it helps, and it's not that expensive, and he'll just use the toothbrushes until their worn anyways (it may take a bit longer!), go for it.

 

[pmcleanj]

Buy her several toothbrushes and toothpastes to choose from. That way she can pick and choose.

But be careful with the flavoured toothpastes not to let her apply her own, and not to use too much. Children will actually eat the toothpaste, causing flouridosis -- flouride poisoning -- which will severly discolour their adult teeth and may increase health risks later in life. My part-time daughter suffered flouridosis, just because her mother was trying to make the most child-friendly choices and bought flavoured toothpaste for her. The child's permanent teeth are an ugly mottled brown, and she's stuck with that for life unless she chooses at some point to have them veneered.

 

[Momzilla]

My son was pretty resistant at that age, too, but now he's a champion tooth-brusher. Be patient and don't worry too much about it--at this age, tooth brushing is primarily for getting into a habit, IMHO.

 

[Evening Mist]

"You brush mine and I'll brush yours..." was a successful game for us. Another thing that worked was to ask them to choose, "Should mommy brush your teeth or should Daddy brush your teeth?" They'd get into the process of making that choice, and forget to object to the ordeal itself. Also, we always gave them a turn to brush their own teeth first, and then we did the "finishing touches." As a last resort, my DH would lay them on the floor and tickle their bellies until they opened up and then playfull say, "Aha! I got in!!!" and make it into a game that way. Little bit too rough and tumble for my taste, but it worked for him and they thought it was hillarious.

Another thing we did when they were only slightly older was explain that we can't have sweet treats anymore if we aren't carefull to clean our teeth properly everyday. They both like sweet treats enough to appreciate our reasoning!

 

[Tangnefedd]

My daughter does not let her son, who is two, have anything but water to drink after his evening meal, which she thinks helps to freshen his mouth ready for teeth cleaning.

 

[tonya]

wow!!! thanx for all the wisdom...i am a first time mom...i get a bit stressed sometimes...don't want the youngun to have rotten teeth

 

[Sonifo]

Give her the toothbrush and let her do it herself. Get your toothbrush out and brush with her. Make it a game. They love games.

Her teeth won't rot unless you give her lots of soda, juice and candy. My kids have never had a cavity so I know from experience.

good luck.

 

[Evening Mist]

This thread is reminding me to include toothbrushes in the easter baskets!!!

 

[brokenbananas]

What worked for our daughter was seeing us brush and floss our teeth and having fun at it. We never really had a problem with her brushing her teeth (maybe due to that she wanted to follow our example). She's been brushing her teeth for quite some time now. We get her non-fluouride toothpaste. She also loves to floss (which I hate). We got her these little floss picks and she just has a hayday.

Other things we do is we praise her for being helpful around the house. Oh, our daughter is 3.67 yrs old. She willingly helps out on so many things. We try to make jobs that are seemingly icky or we don't like fun, then she thinks they ARE fun and wants to do them. No bribing involved.

 

[E-beth]

My son started brushing when I brushed mine and it is a habit we still do. When I am getting ready for work and he is playing, I will say' "Ready to brushy brushy?" Then he scampers into the bathroom, I put the baby toothpaste on his little brush, put mommy toothpaste on mine, and I sit on the edge of the tub next to him, and we brush away. I do the finishing touches for him, then I rinse the brush for him and he does it more.

Mine also loves to help around the house. He loves to push the broom and mop around, and push and pull the vacuum around with me. I enjoy it now, cause I know a time is coming when he will have to be reminded many times to brush his teeth and to clean.