Is there a trick to being able to brush your child's teeth? My one year old fights me on it every day. He will either clamp his mouth shut or thrash around and put his arms up so that I cannot do it. I am usually successful in getting in a few brushes, but I am concerned about his oral health. Thanks!
Post by karinothing on Oct 25, 2012 19:38:48 GMT -5
We use spiffy wipes. They are flavored and I sing brusha brusha brusha (or the raffi song about brushing teeth). I usually get my finger in but then he clamps down and we just kind of battle lol. So, basically I have no clue.
Post by whitemerlot on Oct 25, 2012 19:40:06 GMT -5
Can you give him something to hold, maybe another toothbrush? Our son liked that. When he got a little older, he got to brush first, then we brushed. Now we have to play "dentist" every time.
He does hold another toothbrush! He will stick it in his mouth. But he won't let me do it! When I get desperate, I use a really thin wash cloth and try to wipe his teeth. He also hates that.
Post by kittycatlove on Oct 25, 2012 19:49:45 GMT -5
If there is a trick I want to know it too. My DS is 18 months and we still have some issues too so I feel your pain. What we tried to get him interested was for him to see us brushing, and then we sing brusha, brusha, brusha too. We can finally get where he chews on the toothbrush and then lets us get a quick swipe in.
Post by DarcyLongfellow on Oct 25, 2012 20:20:10 GMT -5
My dad's a dentist, so I'm pretty serious about teeth brushing. I just never let NOT having her teeth brushed be an option. I'd attempt to make it fun and let her do it, but if she wouldn't cooperate, I forced it. I see it as equivalent to wearing a seatbelt.
I'd actually ask her, "Do you want to do it the easy way or the hard way?" She'd always ignore me until I said, "fine, the hard way," then she'd squeal -- the easy way!
Anyway, the "hard way," suggested by our pediatric dentist -- sit on the floor with your feet straight out in front of you. Put the kid in between your legs with her head towards you. Put her arms underneath your legs and use your legs to hold down the arms (and legs, if necessary). Then use one hand to keep her head straight (you can also use your legs), then brush with the other hand.
It sounds like a torture system, but I only had to do that a couple of times. She decided pretty quickly that she didn't like the hard way :-)
Also, we went through a phase where she really hated it and I did the best I could, but by keeping it up, she never "won" and got out of mommy brushing her teeth.
I also have always let her have a turn. That's just to get her invested in the process, I don't think of her brushing as actually doing anything.
When I nannied I used to let the kiddo brush his teeth on his own for a minute, then I would brush them myself. I would also make it a game and go into it all positive "let me see those shark teeth, let's make them sparkle!"
I had to be all happy and overly dramatic, but it worked. I only had to pin him down once or twice.
We usually let him "use" a toothbrush while we use another to actually brush. I also make funny noises to get him to laugh and open his mouth. He also likes to brush if we are brushing our teeth at the same time. If all of us are doing it, he is much more likely to open up and let us help him brush.
The dentist told me that it's best to stand behind them when you brush their teeth since it's the most similar to the way you brush your teeth. He did a lot better once I started doing that, prior we were standing face-to-face, since I wasn't accidentally poking him with the toothbrush.
Good luck! Brushing his teeth was my least favorite chore for quite a long time.
Sounds like I am going to have to pin him down . I let him brush mine. He likes doing that. But he still won't let me do his. And I sing songs and do silly things. He doesn't care. Operation pin down will commence tomorrow.
DS was fighting us so hard, and then one day he had his toothpaste in one hand and a toothbrush in the other and he didn't fight at all. He does best for me when both hands are full and he's watching in the mirror. He "helps" in between me doing it. I do it from behind, like pp. We're still using a finger brush because it's easiest.
Ugh. Sorry you're struggling with this. I feel like it is like a parent's right of passage or something. Good advice from PPs. Our kids seem to relapse in to this stage every so often. Hopefully you don't have the same problem, but if you do we have found success with pretending to brush things out of their teeth. For example, "oh no!, there's a moose in there, we need to brush him out!" Or, "I see Santa's reindeer! Reindeer don't go in your mouth, let's get them out!" Or something equally silly. They seem to really buy in to the game part of it and think it is hilarious that we need to scrub them out of their mouths.