Brushing Teeth - San Francisco,CA

We use Gummy Vitamins as an incentive - no tooth brushing, no vitamins. It works great! Also, most of the brands are 2 vitamins per day so you can divide them up - one in the morning and one at night. Good luck!

Hello E.: I saw a great show just yesterday on this & I wish I had thought of it with my 5 children!
Keep a small item hidden in the palm of your hand. This woman had a tiny rooster-- then pretend that you are chasing the rooster while you are cleaning the teeth. When they go to spit out with the final rinse-- toss the item into the sink. They think that it really was in the mouth.
I am starting this with my grandchildren and have different itemss if need be for each child.
For my youngest they had come out with these great tooth brushes that spin and have characters on them. He liked the idea of brushing with a super hero! I know they sell these just about everywhere. Good Luck, Nana G

We sing the Abc's or Twinkle Twinkle little star. She has her toothbrush, & I have one that I use on her. She gets to brush with her's first, Usually Im doing her hair at this point. Then I take my toothbrush for her & brush her teeth. I always tell her I have to sing two songs. Once my toothbrush for her had a smiley face on the handle, I started to make it talk. She loved it. But that toothbrush fell in the toilet. So we discarded that one. Now we have one that has a penguin on it, so sometimes Ill make it talk. However she knows thats mommys toothbrush for her, She will chew on hers, & I advise her that I dont want her bristles to get all wacky & out of place.
I hope this helps. Oh & 1 more bit of info. Dont feel that since he doesnt want to have his teeth brushed that you should give up. Tooth decay can start very early. My friends daughter at 18 months old was reccomended to get her cavity ridden teeth pulled. Which is why I dont let it be a choice with her. I just try to make it fun.
Good luck!

For our toddler we often let him play with a toothbrush (Oral B brand is pretty soft) and put a little toothpaste on (orajel - it's sweet and okay to swallow) for fun. At bedtime I first brush his two stuffed monkeys' teeth (he sleeps with them) and sing a little song about getting the "tooth bugs" out. I then ask him to lie down so I can see what bugs are in his mouth. I know it sounds gross, but he loves that as I'm brushing I'm telling him all the different bugs that I see...

I think you can also talk about what other things you see in your child's mouth (e.g., certain animals, Sesame Street characters, etc.). My sister is an ophthalmologist and she says the power of suggestion is pretty interesting with toddlers - they've told her they do see "Elmo" or "Dora" through the lens she's looking at.

Hope this helps a little...

I gave a brush to my son and let him "brush" my teeth while I cleaned his. Worked like a charm. Just be careful not to let him jam it down your throat. :D

i made up a silly song about brushing teeth and would stop singing whenever he would bite down or pull back. he knew that i would stand there all night until we got through the song, and if he takes too long getting ready, we dont give him his beloved nighttime story. he is almost 4 and we have only taken away his book maybe 5 times.
also, at his age he is capable of understanding a real explanation for why we take care of our teeth. my son and i speak often of how we "take care of our bodies" such as washing, sunscreen, vegetables, and exercise. he is very proud to know that the decisions we make about his body are helping him grow strong and healthy.

Hi E.,

You could try making up a song that you can sing, and choreograph entering the bathroom, putting toothpate on the toothbrush and make a fun humming or grunting part to do while brushing, and the spit. All kids love the chance to be gross w/o consequences you could totally capitalize on that, and he may begin to look forward to the routine after a while becouse he gets to be silly.

You don't have to be a great songwriter, use the tune to happy birthday,itsy bitsy spider, little bunny foo-foo...something upbeat. Like "We're marching to the bathroom to clean our yucky mouth, scrubbing on our tongue and all our teeth north and south, but first we got to get the toothbrush and the toothpaste...(pause or better yet make sound effects while putting toothpatse on the toothbrush) Now listen while I hum a tune with all these bubbles on my face...

OKm LOL I know I am not the best songwriter ever but it was really fun giving it a try. Let us know what happens, friend.

Might want to try an electric toothbrush...they have them for kids for about $5 at Taregt. My daughter picked out a Dora one and it has made brushing teeth a bit more pleasurable. And I think she does a better job with it, so I don't have to get into her mouth as much. At this age they want to do it by themselves. Being able to do it independently has made it easier.

When my kids were that age, I would let them watch Sprout TV (PBS Kids station), and in the evenings there's the "Goodnight Show" where Nina and Star sing a song about brushing teeth (every night, several times a night). My kids LOVED that song and so I'd sing it while we brushed.

But then, just last week, we discovered a new, fun thing. I bought one of those Sonicare toothbrushes at Costco for my kids. It tickles their teeth when they brush, and they love it! My 4 year old giggles the whole time we brush! She has actually been asking me to brush her teeth instead of the other way around. Maybe you want to start with the Oral B battery operated toothbrushes from the grocery store before you jump into Sonicare (because of the price).

But, even if he kicks, screams, and throws a fit, then you'll just have to wrestle him down and brush his teeth. It's important, and he needs to know that it's not a choice. Obviously it's better if he enjoys brushing his teeth, but if not... oh well! Do it anyway!

He's busy with so many things that taking time to brush his teeth may seem like wasted time to him. You have to try to make it interesting... and I see others have suggested some good ways to do this. Or you may just have to set a firm routine for brushing and not back down from it. We do tooth brushing at our daycare right after lunch. The children go to the bathroom, wash their hands, then brush their teeth before going to their cots for nap. I give the child the brush, and have him or her brush the teeth themselves (and it may be more like biting the toothbrush than real brushing), then I do a quick brushing to be sure the teeth have gotten at least a cursory brushing. I don't try to fight to get a thorough job done each time, because I would rather keep them happy trying each day than to set up a resistance to brushing at all. You also might want to consider brushing more often during the day, because at least if he doesn't do a thorough job one time, he may catch the missed spots at another time.
I also have a brush for small children that is like a rubber finger guard with bristles on it. While I haven't personally used it, I think it might be a good tool to use with resistant brushers. You would put the brush on your finger and brush his teeth with it. Though it's designed as a first toothbrush for babies, I think it would work out well to get in one good thorough brushing a day for older children too. Mine came in a kit that we were given when we were licensed for childcare, but I'm sure you can find them in a store where baby items are sold.

Take him to the store and let him pick out a new tooth brush and tooth paste. Sometimes just changing it up a bit is enough. Maybe get two, one for evenings and one for the morning. Get really excited and animated about brushing!
Good luck!

Hi E..... my son was very difficult when it came to brushing his teeth; but then we bought him a battery operated kids toothbrush (his has Go Diego Go on it) and now brushing his teeth is a bit more fun for him. They are pretty inexpensive. We got ours from Target.

My 26 month old changes her mind about brushing teeth all the time. Some weeks she likes it, other weeks not. Sometimes she helps,other times she refuses. Try to see it as a phase and it might help pass the time more quickly for you. :) But in the meantime, I have used a variety of techniques. Making faces in the mirror is fun and distracting - like practicing happy, sad, mad, surprised - and making exaggerated facial expressions with them opens the mouth! Then we've tried singing songs that include a big "OH" or "AH". There were a few days were she absolutely refused and I basically had to tickle her to get her mouth open and then brush fast.
I've also read that introducing your child to all the different reasons we use the bathroom helps - like washing hands, and rinsing your mouth, bath & potty(obvious) and practicing cleaning up and such can help with the whole experience.
But really I think as parents we just have to ride the wave of autonomy our kids are practicing and there will always be phases of NOOOOOOO! Just keep at it and your little one will be back in YES mode after a while.:)

A friend told me that she tells her son that they're playing a game of cleaning the fire truck and proceeds to put a toothbrush into her son's mouth to clean the windshield, the headlamps, the tires and the windows. Each section corresponds to a different section of the teeth. I didn't think it would work for my son, but amazingly, it did. At some point, my son stopped taking issue with my brushing his teeth, but we still play the game sometimes. Try it!

this is one of those many things that just has to be done in life. better he learn that now instead of having to teach him at 4. forget terrible 2's 4 is a bear! just tell him it has to be done, screaming or not, his teeth will be brushed.