I am looking for some help on teaching my 21 month old to spit during toothbrushing. She does well standing on the stool, brushing, letting me brush, and letting me rinse her mouth with water. I can't remember when my other two children learned to spit out the toothpaste and learn to rinse. ANy tips? I am currently using toddler training toothpaste/and or/ no toothpaste.
My denist office says they don't generally get it at that age. It was much later (like 6 or something). So just keep up with the toddler toothpaste without the floride.
This cracks me up because we were just trying to do this! We practiced first with plain water until she got that. Then, when we brushed, we made sure there was lots of "foam" that she could spit out. Good luck!
I just remember reminding my kids to spit all the time, but they never really did it on their own until they started school. Just one of those little battles you choose not to fight I guess...
Hi - We first practiced in the shower. It was fun to hold him in the shower and get big mouthfuls of water to spit out like a fountain! Then, when brushing teeth, I role modeled spitting. After I asked him to do it, we did it together in the sink.
Warning: we went through a phase for about a week of him spitting out milk and water at random times. Be sure to explain that we spit in the sink, but we drink our milk from the cup, or whatever works for you.
try teaching the 'spit' technique with just water. maybe colored water will make it more fun at first. i did this and my kids caught on pretty quickly.
My kids couldnt get the hang of it until around age 3--just keep using the training toothpaste because it doesnt have flouride and it is ok to swallow.
This is a tough one to teach. We watch "The Good Night Show" on PBS Kids Sprout each night and they have a segment called "almost beddy bye time" that airs about 20 minutes before the end of the show (roughly 7:40 p.m. central time) where they sing the "brusha-brusha song" and show many different children brushing and spitting. Then, they wash their faces, etc. It's a cute little song that's easy to remember. Maybe it will help. Good luck.
Hmmmm...wish there were a magical answer...my six year old just really learned how to spit...just use non-toxic, non fluoridated toothpaste...
Does she watch what you do when you brush your teeth? Maybe it's hard for her to understand that spitting is part of the process. I'd try a little tune/chant... something like brush, rinse, spit... but more creative than that. My son still thinks that toothpaste is a snack, so he sucks it all of the toothbrush (which is why we still use the training stuff, and only in miniscule amounts.)
