Advice on Helping 2-Year-old W/ Toothbrushing

I gave my daughter my toothbrush and told her that she can help me brush my teeth and that I need to help her brush her teeth too. So while she brushes mine I brush hers at the same time. Hope this help.

My 21 month old does the same exact thing. Call me crazy, but I usually just brush her teeth while she is screaming with her mouth open (it is the only way I can get her to open her mouth up wide). Generally I don't get too much physical resistance, but I do have to hold her arms down sometimes. Every night and every morning when I brush my teeth I invite her to brush her teeth as well. Although I purchased 3 different toddler toothbrushes with different shaped handles she still prefers "Mommy's" toothbrush. First she gets on her step stool at the sink. I then put toothpaste on my toothbrush and infant/toddler toothpaste on hers. Of course she always tries to put "Mommy's" toothpaste on her brush, but then complains it is too spicy. While I am brushing my teeth I notice that she is only moving the toothbrush around in her mouth, but not actaully cleaning any teeth. After I rinse and are finish I ask for one of her toothbrushes. I explain to her that Mommy has to brush her teeth so they get clean (I say it is like giving her teeth a bath). She is always very resistant since she wants to do it herself, but I just have to be a little stern and take control. When she opens her mouth to either cry or scream I go in very quickly and gently brush all of her teeth. I probably should brush longer than I do, but something is better than nothing. I know many people may not agree with my method, but she calms down quickly afterward and we move on to the next activity.

This might sound really mean, but show her pictures of tooth decay and let her know this might happen to her teeth is she won't brush them. I have three children and only my first daughter put up a fight with tooth brushing. I talked about the plaque bugs that were eating away at her teeth, I told her her teeth were like little beautiful china plates and we needed to brush each one and care for them so they don't turn bad.

The idea of letting her brush your teeth sounds interesting. We tried everything we could to make toothbrushing fun, but in the end had a period where all that worked was having one parent pin the kid and the other brush. The positive side is that he got through that phase and has been remarkably cooperative lately. And I agree, that screaming does open the mouth up for good access to those teeth.

I think it did get into his head that brushing was going to happen no matter what. We did give him a choice of whether mommy or daddy would brush his teeth, and sometimes that bit of control calmed him down.

We only brush out toddler's teeth at bedtime, though he can "brush" them himself at other times if he wants to. That cuts down on the number of conflicts.

i agree with all.. do what you need to do to get it done. because the little bit of trama that occures while brushing happens, helps to prevent the huge amount of trama that goes along with a cavity being filled or even worse , baby rootcanal! i had to sit holding my 7 year old foster daughters hand while she got 4 rootcanals. This was due to years of neglect to her teeth. poor baby came to us and her molars were literally crumbling:(

so yes hold them down if you need to ,because they will thank you in the end.

I bribe my son with stamps and stickers (he's 19 months), but he only gets a stamp if he lets "mama help". He only sucks the toothpaste off, but when he lets me help I make sure his molars get brushed, and then he can show off his stamp.

Hi P.,
I like you also have a 2yo (boy) and he used to love brushing his teeth at first, then practically over night hated it, b/c I was doing it for him. So I then gave him his space and a new tooth brush and new tooth paste and normally we brush our teeth together while singing a song that sounds like a train going by, (which he loves) and then I ask him if I can see what a good job he did. He normally opens up his mouth really big for me and I tell him how much candy I can see in there still. So he some how lets me get it all out (which is nothing actually) and then I show him his tooth brush and say thanks for letting me help you. It sounds like a much bigger deal than it should be, but my mom is a dental hygentist and I definitely do not want him losing any teeth or having tooth decay anytime soon.
Best of luck and hope this works!!
E. (from San Jose too) :)

Try to let her go to the store with you and pick out her own toothbrush and toothpaste. They usually like the electric toothbrush because it spins and they have cinderella etc. If that doesn't work try getting those red tablets that show where the bacteria is when she doesn't brush good and they usually think that it is really neat and sometimes that helps. Let her pick out the flavor of the toothpaste and buy her some dixie cups with little pictures on it and tell her that those are her own rinse cups but only if she brushes her teeth. Trust me you do not want to hold her down in the dentist for a filling-it is miserable. Good Luck!

hello P.,
I know what you mean. But with your 2 year old resisting of her oral hygiene is only going to hurt her in the long run. She will end up with tooth decay on her molars which don't get replaced by her permanent ones until about age 6. I worked in a pedo dental office and I would tell the parent/grandparent have the child face away from you while you are sitting on the covered toilet and wrap your legs around the child and tilt his/her head so you can see the back baby molars and brush thoroughly. Its also what the pedodontist had told parent/grandparent. You have to take charge even if she is crying while you are trying to brush her. Mention to her that if she doesn't brush her teeth she will get "sugar bugs" on her teeth and they will make them sick (by getting decay on teeth)sometimes it scares them when you tell them that or tell her that her dentist will come over every night and he will have to brush her teeth. Another thing you should try is have her pick out her own toothbrush and maybe she will let you. At her age she still needs help with brushing. Good luck...

with two of my kids I had them spit into the toilet, they thought it was the funniest thing. After a while of doing that they got bored and went to the sink. My girls are a bit older, however they now have tooth tunes, which plays music for 2 minutes (as recommended)in their mouth while they are brushing. Good luck!