Need Advise on What to Do When You Have to Fight to Brush Your 17Mth Olds Teeth!

I had this same problem with my son who is now 4 yrs. old. I used to have to hold his hands down and lay him on the floor or couch to do it. What I have found to work is brushing his teeth while doing something he enjoys, like while he's in the bath tub. I never have a problem now. What also works for us is telling him we need to brush until we count to ten and count slowly, or simply using a timer and say when the timer beeps we are done. The timer and counting also work for a number of other activities.

Well all I can say is I feel for you and your child. But think about it through her eyes... Once you crossed the lined and made the experience of brushing teeth scary by overpowering her, it is now a dreaded activity. Of coarse we all want to do best by our children but sometimes we need to realize that one night of not brushing teeth will not cause them to fall out. Pick your battles. You need to start over. When the power struggle starts. Drop the activity. Don't follow her around with a tooth brush but instead find a time she is relaxed and ageeable. I always found the bathtub to work. Let her spit in the tub. I would sing a special tooth brush song(make one up) then show her the brush. Try to help her brush quicly then when she starts to fight the stop and tell her ALL DONE! What a big girl, You did it, you brushed your teeth. Each time she will lighten up and the teeth brushing will get more easier. Just remeber to be fun and playful, make her think your are one her side, she will accept you more if you dont terrify her. I mean no one wants to be held down and forced to do anything.

Hey H.:

Congratulations on the expectation of your new baby. I want you to know that your not alone and we have all been through the brushing the teeth worries. Here is some suggestions that I hope will help you and your baby girl:

1. Take her to the store with you and find the tooth brush character that she likes; You know, let her pick it out and let her give the clerk the money only for her tooth brush. While she is choosing her brush, tell her that in order to pick out her favorite one, that she will have to brush her teeth--(kids are smarter that we give them credit for!) Also, look for the same character tooth paste or something that she really likes.

2. You should brush your teeth at the same time as she does--even if it means that your brushing twice in the morning and at night--and Act 11/Reach has a mouth wash/rinse just for kids, buy her that and some cute little Dixie cups and show her how to swish it around in her her mouth and spit it out. They really seem to get a kick out of that, and it makes them feel like a big kid.

3. She might not like the feel of the tooth brush, so a Dentist suggested to me once to take a soft cloth or baby towel and put some tooth paste (her kind of course) on it and rub her teeth. It's a lot to do, but it gets them clean.

I hope one or all of these suggestions can help you.

Be Blessed

C.

my son did the same thing just do the best you can and i have had my son on drops i put in his apple juice with both floride and vitiams you can get an rx from dr.

I have to agree with everybody. mine hates his teeth being brushed. He will chew/suck off the water but that is about it. Sometimes I can get in there but not usually. I try to get him to eat an apple regularly because that actually helps clean the teeth a bit. Any crunchy vegetable helps actually. It is not great but better than nothing. And no milk before bed. Only water to help rinse. I also do my best to keep him away from "sticky" foods. I am going to try a spin brush though. Good luck.

Most of my kids would let me, but every once in a while I hit a stubborn spot. In those cases I have two toothbrushes. I let them have one and when they put it in their mouth to chew on they usually put it to one side... I can slip my other in on the other side and brush for a few seconds, then they will switch sides and I can get the side they were chewing on first. Also if you play big laugh or singing games it will get them to open their mouth. The spin brushes work really good because it brushes faster than you'll be able to.
The brushing the teeth and clipping the nails are always difficult at that age.

You can try brushing them with just water on the brush while she is napping, because tooth paste is not a necessity right now. Or you can have her work at it while you are brushing yours. So, you can make it fun by brushing together. Another option is to give her a wash cloth and let her chew on it.
The body naturally protects their teeth until they are two and then the enzymes in the body that protect them start to not be as intense.
So, don't worry about a sudden outbreak in cavities. Do the best you can without the fight. It's the age and she's trying to have some control of her life. The fun is just beginning and don't worry you both will be fine.
You can also try just brushing her teeth before bed or every other day instead of twice a day every day. As she gets older you can add more.

I always had luck brushing my children's teeth by telling them there were monsters (cookie monsters) in their mouths and I had to get them out with the tooth brush. I would let them brush first and then follow up with the brush myself to get the monsters they missed. The children appreciated my help. Encourage them to do it themselves, but do not make it a battle. Always remember to brush right before bed and nothing except water afterwards. Believe me, a trip to the dental office for tooth aches will be much harder than brushing well at home. (I am also a dental hygienist and know this firsthand!)

H.,
You know they say Terrible Two's start at 17 months...well I think they might be right. We had the same problem with all three of our girls. What our dentist suggested was to make a game out of it. Let her brush her teeth first and then when she is done tell her "now mommy has to brush them to make sure you didn't miss a spot" or something to that affect. Or even start out brushing your teeth together and then finish it for her. It helps if they think they are helping you too. But 17 months is a rough age because they are coming into their own and realizing they have some independence or so they think they do.

Hope this helps, take care and just breath!

A. Arce
www.globallysafefun.com

First let her pick out one of those spin brushes that has what she wants on it (ie Dora or Princess). Also get that Oral B toothpaste that is not harmful if swallowed. There are a couple of flavors to try (she may just not like the one you have). Then make a game of tasting the new flavors and the spinning action. While I brush my teeth, I let both my kids do what they want for a minute, they usually suck off the toothpaste and pretend to brush. Then I say "my turn" and I do their teeth. They never really cared because then they got more toothpaste. It may take a couple of days to actually get "your turn" but don't get frustrated. You have to make it fun, not a fight.

My daughter just turned 2 on 1/4 and we still have this fight! I gave up on doing it every night. My husband works at night, so I have to do it with her laying down so I can put one arm over her to hold her arms down and keep her on the bed, and I use my other shoulder to keep her head still and brush with that hand. The only thing that helps actually get the brush in her mouth is the fact that she is crying (more like screaming) so I cn get the brush in there. I have tried letting her do mine, she loves this, but still won't "let" me do hers. I have tried having her do it with her big sister who is 5, but that doesn't work either. She just chews on the brush and won't let any one else "get the spots she missed." My older one didn't like it either, but not to this extent. I am at a loss too!
Good luck!

My daughter is 17 years old and this trick still works today and this is the same way we tought my neice who is now 5 years old to brush her teeth. When your child is being stubborn it is because they are trying to be independent(the I am a big girl mentality). Try giving your child the tooth brush and at the same time you brush your teeth and tell them to do it like mommy. Then when she finishes tell her what a great job she is doing and that you just want to check her mouth and take her tooth brush and just do touch-ups on the back teeth. This allows her to grow up and do things for herself and you will start to notice as she gets older she will love brushing her teeth.

I know a girl(mom) who gave her daughter a toothebrush to play with, she put it with all of her toys and it seemed that the little girl liked to play with it and became familiar with brushing her teeth. Also while it's taking him time to learn to adjust, there are teeth cleaning tablets for the subborn littles one, basically just cleans his teeth, without the toothbrush hassle, of course he has to eventually go to a toothbrush, but maybe that would ease your mind knowing his teeth are clean. Also you could try to take him to get his "special toothbrush" basically let him pick out a cartoon chararcter toothbrush. ......Just trying to throw some ideas, hope they help. Good luck. M.

I am going thru the same thing right now...my youngest is 16 months and its a fight to brush! I do find that if I get out my toothbrush, he is more likely to do it himself, to be like me....Now trying the whole, "mommys turn to brush your teeth"--yea...thats not working so well for me....

My other kids were like this too, and not one cavity as of yet...Just do what you can...but if you make it a struggle every-time, they are less likly to want to brush later....

I go in, let him stand on the stool, he grabs his brush and asks for paste...then I have to turn the water on...I then get my brush ready, and he copies me--well--as well as he can!!

*hugz* Ill be watching this thread for others advice!

We had this problem, and some nights it’s still a battle. First I would let her brush her teeth, then I would follow up and count to 10. It would be a very slow count, but I would always stop at 10 since this is what I promised (this way it gave her an idea just how much longer she’d have to be still with her mouth open). Now, we tell her that she has fuzzies on her teeth or has monkeys jumping around her mouth and we have to get them out. Some nights she brings us the toothbrush and tells us to get the monkeys or birds or whatever animal she thinks of. Other nights, it’s not so much fun, and those are the nights that we go through a whole list of animals in her mouth until she cooperates to get “that” specific animal! We use a kid’s size spin brush, so we figure that as long as she is getting a few really good brushings a week, plus a few nights of not so good brushing, at least the brush is spinning against her gums and teeth.

Good luck!
~J.

I had the same issue with my oldest son but I went through about 4 days of the whole holding down thing and I couldnt do it anymore. I was afraid that he would hate getting his teeth brushed and that it would turn into a bad habit of not brushing as he got older. Plus I was afraid I would hurt him because he was struggling. So we got a nice bathroom stool for him his toothpaste and a toothbrush that he picked and I stood with him every night demonstrating how to get everywhere they pick up pretty quickly when they want to do it on their own. I always did a little of the back teeth by just saying let mommy make sure all your teeth are clean. I dont think I helped my son brush his teeth since he was like 2 1/2 . Just test ways to make it a positive experience and let her know that she has to watch you brush and do the same thing if she wants to do it on her own