tooth brushing

Our girls have been great teethers - got their teeth early - already have their first bottom molars. Anyway they hate tooth brushing. Here is what we have tried:
Tooth brush - them holding, us helping. Us holding. With and without non-floride paste
Washcloth to wipe off their teeth.
They hate it all - scream, cry, fight.

They do like holidng their own tooth brush and they will put in and their mouth and chew on it but I don't think that is good enough.

Tips/tricks? What works for you?

 

Mine hate it too! I have resorted to wrapping my legs around them with the back to my front in order to brush their teeth. They are starting to realize that they can scream and fight; however, it is going to be done. Some brushings are better than others. I have also started singing ABCs so they have an idea of how long I plan to be there. Then I give them the toothbrush to chew/suck on.

 

Ds loves having his teeth brushed dd on the other hand normally puts up a fight, but also luckily, she is a really good brusher. But I still always brush after her, I let her brush my teeth while I brush her's

 

I have one that fights it too. I sit on the floor with her lying in my lap and repeat over and over "mommy's going to be gentle, see, gentle" and brush as softly as I can while still getting the job done. She does munch on it for a bit after I'm done. Some nights she sits there nervously but lets me, other nights it's a battle but I still do it.

 

My hygientist told me at that age, it was good enough for them to just chew on the toothbrush. I would give them one to chew on, and make it less of an issue. Or, let them chew on one for a while and then just "finish up" for them. The more you fight them, the worse it will be. Now my kids run and brush and floss as soon as I tell them. FWIW, we don't have any cavities or issues with teeth.

 

Mine have always liked to brush. We let them chew on it for a while & sneak a few strokes in. Maybe you could try a spinning brush. My boys LOVED it when we bought them their first ones. I think theirs were the Hot Wheels.

 

my girls like to chew on their brushes but hate actually having them brushed. Lily is a little better than Mia. Each night, I give Lily her brush with the paste on it and she chews away, and I start with Mia, giving her a quick once over of each surface, then give her teh brush to do herself (chew on ) and I give lily a quick once over.. They do fight me but i try and find a medium...

 

We incorporated toothbrushing into our bedtime routine. We go upstairs for bed. DH holds them on his lap. I do a little brushing for each of them and then they get to hold/chew on their toothbrushes while I read a story. They get all drooly and pay good attention to the book. Then when the story is over, I take the toothbrushes from them and say "thank you." At first they put up a fuss when I took the toothbrushes away - but now they hand them right to me. We wipe off the drool and into the cribs they go. It's not as easy when we put them together with just one adult - but most nights it is the two of us.

Lately, DD has been fighting me brushing her teeth. DH just holds her arms down and I work through it - she doesn't have a choice and calms right down once I hand her her own brush to chew.

Fun, fun, fun....

Jess

 

We used to have issues but now that we've done the same routine for a while, they actually seem to enjoy brushing.

I do it after dinner while they are still in their high chairs. After I've cleaned everything up (their trays, sippies, them, etc), I tell them it's time to brush. I put the toothpaste (infant/toddler stuff) and brush one. Then I get the other brush and brush the other's teeth. Then we get down out of our highchairs and go take a bath, put on jammies, read, and go to bed. I do the same routine EVERY night, and now they know what to expect.

Eventually I'll transition them to brushing teeth in the bathroom but for now the high chair works well for us.

 

I don't know if it would be enough to distract them, but I recently bought the boys some toothpaste that comes out of the tube in the shape of a heart (I'll admit that the only type of toothpaste the store had on sale was the Disney princesses-themed one). They love sitting there and watching the paste pop out as a heart and then letting the "heart" clean their teeth.

It's a long shot, but the boys love it!

 

We have issues here, too. I've tried about everything. I do let them chew on the brushes, but if they hit the floor, they tend to pick up dog hair - ick.


I don't do chinese torture every day, but about every other day. They can do their own job, but I need to step in and make sure we aren't missing anything.

I tried the battery brushes and they both freaked out screaming and crying.

 

My girls hated it in the beginning, but then I made it a special game. I got an idea from someone here on TS and made up a silly song and got all excited about how "ITS TIME TO BRUSH OUR TEETH!" (said in a very loud and excited voice). Eventually the girls got excited about it too. I give them their tooth brushes and I sing the song, and then they chew and brush a bit and then I help them brush (they sometimes fight me on this a bit), and then we say "All done!" and they hand me the brushes. Consistency in our routine is key. They have to sit in their chairs to brush and they know when I say I'm getting their tooth brushes to go sit down in the chairs. They even hum the song now too.

The stupid song, two verses to the tune of row row row your boat.

Brush brush brush your teeth!
Brush them every day!
That way when you grow up...
You won't have to wear dentures!

Brush brush brush your teeth!
Brush them every day!
That way when you grow up...
You won't have tooth decay!

(I like the first verse better :lol

 

we had problems too..here are the things we tried that helped:
letting them hold a brush while you brush their teeth
telling them, "mommy first then you can hold it"
what really seemed to work and they've been fine every since was saying, "aaahhhhh, oooohhhhh, eeeeeehhh" while we brush and now they point to the tooth brush after baths and say the same thing.
We also got Thomas the train toothpaste and they are happy to hold the bottle while we brush.