Toothbrushing | Imamother

EvenI

Sun, Jul 25 2010, 6:13 am

Does anyone have experience with a child who absolutely won't let his parents brush his teeth? My son is nearly 3 and we have had this with him since he first had teeth. It is impossible to brush his teeth properly. Sometimes, I can get to some of the teeth,but I can't brush properly. Sometimes he brushes them himself, but obviously not very well. This is getting scary. Any ideas?

AlwaysGrateful

Sun, Jul 25 2010, 11:55 am

We had this. Here is some advice that people gave me, some of which actually worked.

-Brush his doll's teeth (or teddy bear's) first. Let him brush the doll's teeth while you brush his. Or - and this worked for us for a while - let the doll brush HIS teeth instead of you. (Obviously, you're holding the doll's hands.)
-Go very, very slowly, giving small rewards. For one or two nights, tell him that if he lets you put the toothbrush into his mouth, he will get a reward (a minute of reading his favorite book, listening to his favorite music, or playing his favorite game with you works). Then for a few days, only if he lets you put the toothbrush in his mouth and brush for a second. Then to brush "until you're done" which gets longer and longer every day...
-Let him brush your teeth - but only after you brush his. The first few times, let him do it before you brush his and make it lots of fun (funny faces, noises, etc).
-You can get singing toothbrushes, red dye that you can brush off his teeth, etc.
-Have one parent read him a book, sing him a song, tell him a story, or do anything at all to distract him while the other parent brushes his teeth. After he does it (without realizing it), give him some big hugs and tell him you're proud of him, but don't go overboard. Soon, hopefully, he'll get used to it and won't need this.
-Make it a part of your nightly routine. Obviously, you'll need the other tricks to do this, but make sure you do it at the same time every day. That way, once it becomes second nature, he won't fight it anymore.

A year ago, I would have been nervous I'd be writing this. Please don't wait - it only gets harder to get kids into doing these habits. Is your kid seeing a dentist at this point? The dentist might have some ideas, or might be able to help.

octopus

Sun, Jul 25 2010, 12:07 pm

I think that at this point it is better to get the child in the habit of brushing their own teeth even if they might not do a good job of it. My kids and I brush our teeth together. I never ask them too. I take out my toothbrush and my 3 and 2 year old want to be just like mommy! They even HAVE to HAVE toothpaste (children's kind!) to be just like mommy. Maybe they don't do such a great job but they get two sets of teeth, right? So at least get into good habits so that the second set will be nice and wonderful. I also take 3 year olds to the dentist every 6 months just like everyone else in the family. You don't want your children to associate teeth brushing with fights/hassling/ or anything negative. That's why I don't make a big deal of it.

AlwaysGrateful

Sun, Jul 25 2010, 12:36 pm

Yes, they get two sets of teeth. But if the first set isn't healthy, that doesn't mean "Oh, no problem, there's another set on the way!" Not brushing a three year old's teeth leads to tooth decay, and also to gum decay. Not brushing a three and four year old's teeth (and even just not brushing them well) will give them unhealthy gums for the next set to grow in. Talk to a dentist before deciding that the first set doesn't matter much.

(Not talking directly to you, Octopus, but to OP and any like her who might read this thread and draw their own conclusions.)

It was tough at the beginning (we started younger - at like 1.5), and by now it's not a struggle and has no bad associations connected with it. It's just a normal part of the routine - we brush his teeth, then he gets a turn to brush, then we move on with bedtime. He's fine with that.

EvenI

Sun, Jul 25 2010, 1:09 pm

AlwaysGrateful wrote:

Just to clarify, we aren't starting now - and we started before 1.5, but we've never had any success and I am getting more and more afraid of the consequences.