Brushing their teeth

J&H were late teethers, although they have caught up and have all of their teeth in already. Since they started late and since I am still getting life back in order from having twins (yes, 1.5 years later), I did not start brushing their teeth yet. I tried the other night and they were very resistant. Any tips??

 

I'd say just add it to your normal bedtime routine... be consistant with it without being overbearing. What has worked best for us in getting them to open up wide is to make a game out of it... we say 'ahhhhhh' like you'd do if they were checking the back of your throat and do it everytime and they (for whatever reason) think it's funny. You can also mimic brushing your own teeth with their brush or if really desperate let them brush your teeth, but I don't recommend this as a habit . This lightens up the mood on those days when they really don't want their teeth brushed. And if they seem to be in teething pain that day or whatever (bad mood) we try not to push it with them but they ALWAYS have to let us brush for at least a few seconds. Works so far... Good luck!

 

I give mine their toothbrushes, in their cribs, while I'm getting my other kids into bed or cleaning up their bedroom. This let's them play with it for a few mins. Then I bring a cup of water and the tooth paste into their room and, one at a time, give them a quick scrub. Making faces and silly sounds works, and over emphasizing things like "OH MY goodness look at those dirty teeth!! Lemme scrub all the yuckies away! Scrub scrub scrub scrub scruuuuuuuuub!" Then I let them chew on their brushes for a couple more mins, because it's always a fight to take them away! :lol: They are starting to try to brush themselves, rather than just chew on them, and it's so cute to watch them! :wub:

 

we did lots of "eeee" and "ahhh" faces. i also found counting to 10 helped a lot (they had to let me brush as long as it took me to count to 10). we also let them brush first & then finished up. i also agree that it helps to gauge their mood & to not make too much of a big deal out of it, and that they do need to let us brush at least a little bit every night as part of their routine. just keep at it - like any change to a toddler's routine, it takes time & patience to make it stick.

if your kids like books, see if you can find some toddler books about brushing teeth. i always find reading about things helps my girls understand something new a lot better than anything else we do.

 

I agree with PP's in making it part of your routine. When DH and I started brushing the twins teeth, we let them see us brush our teeth, let them hold a toothbrush while we brushed their teeth, sang funny songs or nursery rhymes while we did so. Eventually the kids started to want to do it themselves and now they brush and we just go over their work. Good luck!

 

I don't have any great advice on overcoming resistance to brushing teeth, because we've been brushing our boys' teeth since they were about 9 months old and they are still...well, resistant. <_< Seriously, it's a fight just about every night; the only good thing we did was to ditch the finger brushes so they stopped biting the crap out of our fingers, and gave them stage 1 toddler toothbrushes. We've tried every technique in the book, but my guys just don't like to brush teeth. ardon: Some nights it's easier than others. We usually give them their toothbrushes for a few minutes to practice brushing on their own, then it's Mama and Dada's turn. Some times we'll let them sit on the bathroom counter and play in with water in the sink, sometimes we'll all sit down in the nursery and count flowers on the carpet, sometimes we'll sing Old MacDonald and let them shout out the animals.

If worst comes to worst and they are really fighting it, we hold them down and press the issue. I hate to say it, but if they're screaming, at least their mouths are open! :blush:

Good luck!

 

Tonight, they were possessed by sanity. I am sure tomorrow that will change. But they opened their mouths and let me brush. I just went over each tooth really quick. I am sure tomorrow this will change.

 

Surely this should be a mantra for all toddler parents.

 

LOL, yup. They were almost reasonable tonight. I think they did it to keep me on my toes.

 

I'm a dental assistant and for years encouraged parents to brush their kids teeth. Little did I know until I was a parent that it can be soooo hard! I started when a hint of a tooth showed because I am crazy about dental hygiene. My girls only have some in the front right now so it isn't a long task. I agree about making it part of a routine (plus it helps you remember to do it). I know its hard but 2Xday is awesome if you can do it(after breakfast and before bed). I found that they are interested in the tv so we try to get them to look at something on the screen and make a big deal about it so they are distracted and let me brush. I don't use paste yet, really the mechanical action of brushing is enough. But if flavours help, then try some yummy paste. And letting them play or chew with it does help too. I also found when they were teething they really didn't want me in there and sometimes you just can't do a fabulous job. Try your best, some kids may never like it. The group with the worst teeth are teenagers, so if you can start forming good habits now you are on the right track Also flossing when all the molars come in is important, but very difficult to do until they will open for you without resistance.