Hi, my 10 month old girl used to not mind having her teeth brushed, but now hates it. She has 8 teeth and I feel that it is important to gently brush them at least once a day, which I do at night. I have tried letting her play with the toothbrush with a tiny bit of the non-flouride baby toothpaste, but that lasts only a few seconds. Then I try being silly, singing songs, and distracting her with her older sisters dancing or brushing their own teeth in front of her, but usually just have to let her wag her head and cry while I brush her bottom and top teeth. Sometimes I just wipe them with a wet towel instead, but often get a bite in the process. I welcome any suggestions and similar experiences.
Thank you to all of you who wrote in with thoughtful and experienced suggestions about how to help a child become more comfortable with brushing her teeth. I have been trying some of your suggestions and making a little progress. So far, having my baby's big sister brush her teeth in front of her while I brush her teeth has worked the best. I'm also going to try the switching of techniques approach as I try all of your suggestions to keep things interesting for both of us as we find the preferred methods. I appreciate your time and thoughts. Thank you! A.
My daughter basically brushes her own teeth and loves it. She does a pretty good job. Try giving her the toothbrush and let her go to down, this instills indepedence. She even lets me start the process, so I brush her tongue, the inside of her mouth all her teeth. She mimics what I do, it works for us. We use infant toothpaste and a basy Einstein toothbrush made for her age. She has never fought me on this.
After my 21 month old takes a bath I wrap him in towel and just brush through all the noise and fighting he puts up it needs to be done he now has gotten to the point where he will just lay there wrapped up in his towel and allow me to brush. My oldest was easy he loved having his teeth brushed but Evan has hated it from day one. If you keep the same routine before, during, and after she will eventually except it and not put up as much of a fight. I find that if dad has Evan's head on his lap he doesn't put up as much of as a fight. Good luck.
Hi A.,
My kids weren't HATING it but they only wanted to do it themselves. What I did that worked for my twins (They just turned 2 last month) was have them bring in a favorite stuffed animal and I pretended to brush it's teeth. I had them do it too. They I pretended that the stuffed animal was brushing their teeth. etc... Every kid has different tolerance levels too. Hope that works for you. Good luck.
Hi A.,
Try putting her brush with in her reach while you & your other daughters brush & have fun. Don't even mention it to her. My son is going through the " I do it myself" phase & If I try to push things it becomes a big deal but if he does it himself we are all smiles. good luck.
I read in one of the Parenting magazines about some wipes a dentist husband/wife team made up but haven't seen them or know anybody that uses them, but the theory is you can wipe the teeth clean even when your child is sleeping. I would continue to use a toothbrush with her so she gets used to it, but if you're worried the teeth aren't getting clean enough, maybe you could try the wipes. Good luck!
Check out onestepahead.com; they have a toothbrush for infants that they chew on to brush their teeth and she may like that better. Also good for teething discomfort.
Don't stress about it too much at her age...
Particularly if you give her lots of mineral rich and nutrient dense foods - lots of eggs, organic liver (I know, sounds gross but if you introduce it early they get used to it!), real broth made from chicken bones, lots of organic yogurt, foods like this build healthy teeth that resist decay!
A couple of thoughts... maybe let your child hold one toothbrush and use a second one to brush her teeth... maybe let her brush your teeth while you do hers or let her brush a favorite stuffed animal's teeth while you do hers... maybe lay off for a couple of days and in the meantime have everyone else in the house brush their teeth in front of your daughter and make it seem exciting and fun in an exaggerated way but don't let her participate, then after a couple of days she might want to join the fun...
I actually use the toothbrush on my 11-month old son that slips onto my finger and has small bristles that also massage his gums and he loves it. When I show him the toothbrush he automatically opens his mouth because I think it feels good on the gums! Either that or he loves the taste of the toothpaste, ha. Its worth a try:)
You might try rotating the tool you use -- we did this with my son, and it helped. We used Spiffies toothwipes (they're wipes with zylitol, and fruit flavored -- recommended by a pediatric dentist we know), a regular baby toothbrush, and the plastic toothbrush that fits on your finger. When we encountered resistance with one form, we switched to another.
If you live near a Bldg 19 store, they have an adorable book with animals brushing their teeth, she can actually practice on them with the brush in the book, then you brush her teeth while she is busy with the book. Distraction always works well for me. Try letting her look in the mirror at what you are doing. Buy her a singing toothbrush. I do not use flouride yet on my child (a controversial subject). I give my son positive reinforcement while brushing telling him how white his teeth are getting, just make it fun. He sometimes starts off screaming but always ends laughing or intrigued by brushing. Keep in mind, her gums may be a bit sore in areas since she is growing teeth, get an extra soft tooth brush. Good luck.
Try a toothbrush with cartoon characters if you haven't already. I have also had good luck with an electric toothbrush. It at least requires less time getting the job done. I have let her brush my teeth while I brush hers- although this can be dangerous for you :). I have also told her things like "there are puppies in your mouth and we have to get them out." That worked for a couple of weeks. I have to keep changing up my strategies though because every couple of weeks she hates brushing again!
These may help now or maybe later down the road:
I've always used two children's toothbrushes, one for my 2 year old DD to use and one for me to use to brush her teeth while she "helps." Or I have her brush my teeth with my own toothbrush while I brush hers. And I let her hold her toothpaste tube. Try Weleda children's toothpaste - it's not super sweet or fake-flavored, but still good.
Another tactic is that I tell her I have to get that blueberry pancake, ham sandwich, etc. out of there! Or I say is "Auntie Jen in there? Is your pal Lucy in there?..." and I go on with a long list of her favorite people.
