hi there, my son's 2 yrs old. i been brushin his teeth forever, but he's hated me doing it for a couple months now. he'll take the toothbrush at first and suck on the toothpaste, that's fine. but when i say something like, let mommy try and brush your teeth now, he'll hide his face in my shoulder, turn his head, pretty much anything to avoid getting his teeth brushed. so frustrating. we go thru this every night. i'm obviously doing something wrong and need a new strategy, but not sure what. ideas please!!! :)
Both my kids (4 &2) have kids battery powered toothbrushes. It has made it fun for them to brush teeth. It also is a little faster for you because the toothbrush does half the work.
With my two and three year old, I try to make teeth brushing exciting and a reward: "Holey Cow, you guys get to brush your teeth now!!!! Wow, you even get to use your special blue tooth brush!!!! Lucky Duck, I wish my tooth brush was that cool!" Also, I brush my teeth at the same time. The kids take a turn brushing my teeth and then I take a turn on theirs. "Ha ha ha, that really tickles...okay, now give me your HUGE monster face, Ahhhhhhhhh...Good, I can see all of your teeth now. Well done, that was great brushing. Okay, it's your turn to brush my teeth now." I can't say it works perfectly *every* night, but for the most part, getting our teeth brushed isn't a problem. Hope this helps and good luck!
Add: Dinosaur and Monster faces + song and dance = most of our chores more enjoyable.
I don't really have any great suggestions, but I do need to say: you're not doing something wrong. 2-3 years old is prime time for declaring independence and asserting control, especially over your own body. It's just how it goes. It's hard, but be persistent, don't give up, be patient, and know that it will pass. In a few weeks (or months) he'll have moved on to something else that he wants to assert control over. It's all part of growing up.
you have gotten alot of suggestions involving songs, games, letting him brush your teeth etc and those ideas work then that will be awesome. for my son none of that worked and there was nothing that I was going to do that was going to get him to let me brush his teeth. I basically had to lay him on the floor and stradle his whole body, i would be on my knees over him with his arms next to his sides and then use my one hand to hold his head still while the other hand brushed his teeth. we did this for several months before he finally decided to stop fighting it. it was the same with hair cuts as well. my husband would hold him like a straight jacket, i would hold his head still and the stylist would cut his hair.
good luck with whatever you decide.
Tell him the doctor said you have to check his teeth to make sure he got them all cleaned off and make comments about how you find stuff, like "Wow, there's some of your french fry! Better get that out of there!"
You could also get a special toothbrushing towel. We did this for my oldest and it worked well. We let him pick out a beach towel and we only used it for brushing teeth. I would sit at one end and he would lay on the towel and put his head on my lap. This made it easy for me to see his teeth. I would have him get out his toothbrush towel while I got the toothbrush ready. It helped him feel like he was part of the process too. Good luck!
take turns - let him brush your teeth (with your brush) and then he has to let you brush his or he gets to brush yours if he lets you do his.
Get a special toothbrush - charactor, music, lights, whatever - let him pick it out though.
I let my kids brush their own first and then I "check" how they did and get the spots they missed.
My kids just got a kick out of the spitting - it's the only time they get to spit and for some reason they love it.
Good Luck!
Hi,
My 2 1/2 yr old son had the same problem. I tell him to open his mouth like a dinasaur or dragon and growl. Then when I brush his teeth tell him how scary his teeth are. If that fails you can always threaten not to read stories! I followed through with that threat one night when nobody came to the bathroom to brush their teeth and they listen to me much better now. :)
Good luck!
Like some others suggested, brush your own teeth with him. If you can get Dad to brush his teeth with him, even better. Don't push it, but make sure he stays in the bathroom and at least watches you. (Also, stick out your tongue and brush it--for some reason my son thought that was hilarious and that was the "gateway" to him deciding that toothbrushes are fun.)
Children need to see how much fun it is and how much you enjoy it. At this age, kids usually emulate others. Say things like, "everyone brushes their teeth" not just "You need to brush your teeth." That way he'll learn that this is an expectation of everyone, not just him. He'll decide for himself if he wants to join in the family.
when it's tooth brushing time, let him do it, set him beside you, grab your tooth brush and his (yours without toothpaste so he can see you) make it a game...let him brush his teeth WITH you and sing and dance to the song on the radio (3 min). (see who can sing the song best with the tooth brush in their mouth....it's fun and halirious
then trade up next time, let him brush your teeth, while you brush his (you're helping eachother out) and do the same thing lol
if he's leary, start off by letting him brush yours to show him there's nothing to it
I know they make toothbrushes for kids that play music, but ONLY while you are brushing...It plays the music inside his mouth, she he has to actually brush and not just push on the bristles. Maybe look into one of these...
Maybe you can make it a game and take turns brushing his teeth and make a really big deal about what a great job he is doing on "his turn" and just keep going back and forth with turns. The way we do it now (my son is 8) is that he does the morning alone and at night we both brush his teeth and I''ll keep doing this until I know he does a GREAT job alone.
First it is my turn with the toothpaste. (I used to tell him there was a monkey in his mouth and I had to get it out! I would chase it all around and get it out with the toothbrush. It was a game he enjoyed.) Once his teeth are clean and the toothpaste is gone (he spits as the bubbles fill his mouth), he gets a turn with water. He brushes with water, rinsing the toothbrush as he goes, until the toothpaste is totally rinsed.
I basically have to become a human straight jacket to brush my sons teeth. Its insane. I hold one of his arms behind my back, hold his other hand with my hand im not brushing with and hold his legs down with my legs. Oy!! I have had to do this for year, and hes finally starting to cooperate.
My kids avoided teeth brushing at all costs...I ponied up and bought them Kid's Sonic Care electric tooth brushes (about $70 each). They love them, and were bragging to the dentist about them at their last visit. So far so good!
My son is two and on and off hates to let me brush his teeth. I have recently given him a reason, for example: I tell him if he lets me brush his teeth quickly and without a fuss, we can read an extra story at bedtime. If he fusses and makes me wait too long, then I still brush his teeth but we don't read an extra story. Most of the time, he lets me do it pretty quick.
I also tell him we are brushing off everything we ate that day and go through all the food, snacks, and drinks. And sometimes, he even reminds me of something he had that I forgot to mention :) It passes the time while I'm brushing.
Good luck!
