Absolutely WILL NOT Let Me Brush His Teeth!

There is a "singing" toothbrush that can only really be heard when it is in the mouth. It worked for us

It will take time... My daughter hated having her teeth brushed... but, over time got used to it.. I started with a finger covering soft bristled brush and water..- you can get them at Walgreens..

I would sometimes put it on her finger and let her "brush" her teeth..now, she uses a toothbrush and loves it!!

Good Luck

Hi there !
I have 2 small children and we didn't start brushing there teeth till they were like 2 almost 3 yrs. of age !
They go to the Dentist every 6 mos. and have always had great check-ups and no cavities ! I have always given them sugar free juices, which I think this has really helped there teeth ! Try and stay away from the sugared juices, especially sugared apple juice !
Try buying an electric tooth brush, with there favorite character on it & make a game out of it, my children have electric tooth brushes & they love them !
Good luck & have a great day !.....

My 19 month old and I brush together. When we're finished I tell him to "let mommy check" or "it's mommy's turn" and then I'll brush his teeth. When we're finished with the teeth he sticks out his tongue and says "aaaaah" and I brush his tongue. He thinks it's a super fun game and at the same time we're getting something very important accomplished! Good luck!

Hi J.!!

First of all, patience is a must! What we did with my daughter a few months ago was, my husband and me show her who we brush ours teeth, and then we let her bush us, so she was having a lot a fun for two or three days, after that we gave her a small toohtbrush, and she start playing in front of the mirror at the same time we were brushing ours, and then is my chance to brush her tooth or my husband turn, and little by little we get her to brush her full mount, in a game way, but We held out patiently and is working, good luck!! We start doind this when she was 11 months and now is almost 18 months, never is to soon or to late to know, follow your mommy instinct

Hi J.!! My name is E. and I have a 23mth old little one named Ethan. When I give him a bath I give him a tooth brush and a little cup for him to hold on his own with just a little water in it and I make a game of stirring up the soup, tapping it on the cup then he brushes himself (w/a little help). This also works in the highchair w/ a suction bowl.

we started giving our son a toothbrush as soon as he could hold one. we let him watch us with one without toothpaste and he would imitate us. then as he got better at it and started enjoying doing it, we started putting the baby toothpaste on the brush. now he loves to brush his teeth and he is actually getting pretty good at it. he is 19 months now. at first his attempts to actually brush were hardly brushing...but more sucking on the brush but he tried! thats what counts because now he is doing so good!!!

Take him to wal-mart and let him pick his took brush himself. There are alot of toothbrushes with beautiful characters e.g superman, cars, diago. Then let him pick toothpaste too. Finally, let him brush his teeth by himself for the first time and then pick it up from there. Just say it's mummy's turn. Make it intresting while brushing like sing a song. e.g this is the way we brush our teeth.

good luck

It's great that you're starting this habit so early! Really, the most important thing right now is simply the habit, not technique. So, you shouldn't feel any pressure to scrub every tooth yourself. You're main goal is that it's fun and that you do it regularly.
With ours, we started them out by sitting them on the bathroom counter and letting them hold their little baby toothbrush while we brushed our own teeth -- complete with sound effects. The baby would gnaw on his own toothbrush during the process and try to copy us. At the end we'd celebrate with "yay!" and a high five. They also think it's hilarious to spit in the sink. Even though it will be a year or two before he can actually spit for real, they sure have fun trying!
We let them "rinse" (just run it under the water) and put their little toothbrush in the holder on their own (rather than taking it from him and putting it away yourself), then let the baby switch off the bathrom light (it's REALLY fun if they get to use their foot to hit the switch!). Letting them do these things independently really went a long way in getting them to enjoy the whole process. After we put the kids to bed I go back and rinse the brushes for real :-)
Anyway, after several happy brushing times, we asked if mommy could have a turn. Like one other mom said, I only got about 2 seconds for my "turn" at first, but that time has gradually gotten longer. It may help if you count or say a made-up rhyme while you take your turn. For example, you could say, "It's mommy's turn...I'll count to three while I tickle your teeth!" then maybe you'll get three seconds instead of two :-). We let them do it totally on their own in the mornings. We take our turn in the evenings after they've done a turn first.

It may take you a few days to transition to "fun" brushing time if it's been something he really hates so far. Maybe let him off the hook for a couple days and just let him watch you (don't worry, there are children who don't lay eyes on a toothbrush until they're in kindergarten, so your son shouldn't be harmed by a week-long break). While he's in the bathroom with you, make it fun, giggle and say how the brush is tickly, etc., maybe let HIM have a turn to brush YOUR teeth, etc. After a couple days, set his brush on the counter, but don't say anything about it. If he doesn't pick it up on his own at that point, wait another day and this time hand it to him instead of just laying it on the counter. Or, buy a couple of fun looking new brushes (I found some at CVS that blink!) and let him pick which one he wants out of the toothbrush holder. Any way you can offer independence with this is a plus.

He really should come around eventually. Our first child totally let us brush her teeth right away, but we had to be much more gradual with our second. Even as a baby, with a big sister to emulate and both parents making all kinds of "rrrrrr" noises it took him a while. But, the patience has paid off. We can completely brush and floss all of our 4 yr old's teeth, and I get a good 30 seconds in my 2 yr old's mouth every night. And they've both been to the dentist and had great check-ups!

Good luck, and happy brushing!

That happened to us too. Well, TV was the answer. But it worked mostly because he didn't watch any TV before. So we started allowing snippets of TV only while brushing teeth. That distracted him and/or was enough of a 'bribe'. U-tube is good, because you can pick short movies of whatever they want to watch!

Good luck.
G.

Hi
Probably don't need my 2 cents but thought I'd share what I did with my twins...now 3 y.o. They also refused to give me access to their teeth.
1. Bought them those rubbery like non bristle gum/tooth brushes from one of those baby websites probably onestepahead. They loved those.
2. Bought the beginning type toothpaste without fluoride and brand new very soft toothbrushes from the same website (they were in the shape of a triangle which made it easy to hold on to). I would let them gnaw on those as practice.
3. When they had a hand full of teeth took them to my dentist...a friend....and he showed me how to brush their teeth. They hated it.

-lay them on the soft ground (towel on floor or blanket on floor)
-sit on the floor at their heads and look down on them upside down
-hold their chin down to open mouth and insert toothbrush at an angle then brush
-they might and did scream but it made it that much easier to see all of their teeth.

To date they are cavity free and have had 2 exams/cleanings.

Good luck to you!

PS Doesn't hurt that I didn't give them candies, cookies, sweet drinks at all until about 24 months.

Different approaches have worked with my 3 boys at different times & stages. Sometimes the flavored non-floride toothpastes work to create interest in the process. Sometimes we race to the bathroom with the prize being the winner gets to brush his teeth first & then it's my turn. As a baby, my oldest son had a favorite song we would ALWAYS sing, otherwise he was EASY to get his teeth clean. My middle boy has been & is still my trickiest. He really likes things to be silly, so sometimes I make up songs about silly things like dinosaurs who rake leaves in the backyard or a kangaroo in the kitchen all while brushing his teeth. My middle boy also complained about the mint toothpaste being too 'spicy'. After much experimentation, we finally found a watermelon toothpaste that he likes. Later I found vanilla and chocolate flavored toothpastes at my pediatric dentist's office... probably not a help now with your young one who isn't ready for flouride. Another thing I was concerned about with the 'yummy' flavors was that they'd taste too good & they would wind up swallowing instead of spitting or someone would eat it later when unsupervised in the bathroom. Oddly enough, he really complies with flossing! Something that works great for my youngest is that he lets me brush his teeth with the least complaint while he holds his own toothbrush while I brush with a 2nd one; we even travel with 2 toothbrushes for him. I'll tell him that it's mommy's turn first & then he gets a turn. I have a girlfriend who lets her daughter brush Mom's teeth while Mom brushes daughter's teeth. I never went for this as a 'real solution' because I figured I'd get poked either in the mouth or eyes too much for this to seem very appealing, but it worked for her. Ultimately there are nights that I brush a yelling mouth that is attached to a squirming body, but the dentist & I both agree that the teeth need to be cleaned & it isn't going to be any easier to pin them down for dental work if they don't get cleaned. Hope this helps. Good luck.

My doctor gave me a few free samples of these little towlettes that look like they are individualy packaged Wet Wipes. You just open up the little packets and wipe them across the teeth. They were super fast and easy to use when mine had her first few teeth. I thought they were a brilliant idea when we used the few that we recieved. I have not looked for them in stores since we do fine with a toothbrush here. You might look for those though.

Have you tried letting him do it himself? I put my now 3 year old on the sink and give him the brush. Once he got used to it he'll let me finish up the job. Hope that helps.

Is this a "jersey thang" J. stop torchering your kid. I have never heard of brushing an 11 month olds mouth. Who told you that you needed to do this? I want names. Unless youre feedin' him a caramel apple, let it go!!! Hes growing up too fast. Its bad enough he has to get haircuts on a regular basis. HAHAHA
If you dont believe me, ask a few "old schoolers" they'll confirm this. Dont believe the hype.
:) Margaret
P.S. Even the kiddo knows its not right.

My second child is like this, still at almost 2. She has a major gag reflex too so that does not help. Start slow and gradually challenge him in this area. I let my daughter brush first...(chew, whatever) and then I ask her "is it mommy's turn or do you need one more minute?" Before she was talking, she would hold up her pointer finger and mumble something to imitate 'one more minute'(I guess I ask her that a lot). After her minute, I would brush them as long as I could. IF she fought me, I would do it quickly, and say "good job, all done." I also tried to sing silly songs (just made up on the spot) to distract her and make it a silly thing instead of serious. As time has gone on, she is letting me do it better and better. Now she likes to watch in the mirror by standing on a stool and I brush them. I did force her to let me each night, even if it was for five seconds to start. I also have her brush once a day all by herself...just to let her play, explore and feel it in her mouth with no pressure. Then at night (the most important one of the day) I follow up after she does it then. Not fun, I know. But despite all that, no cavities for her first visit to the dentist just two months ago. He may be more resistant when teething...maybe a teether or something to numb them before hand would help. Like I said we were lucky to do a few seconds at first...but she was teething as well.

One thing you may try when you son is a little older is let him brush your teeth while you brush his. This works wonders for my daughter (23 months). My daughter mocks everything that I do, so this worked wonders for me.

Hi J.,

Have you tried making up a song about brushing teeth? Maybe it will work if he sees you singing the song and then brushing your teeth. I did a similar thing with my son when he was learning to wash his hands.
Best Wishes
~T.

Get him his "own little tooth brush" that he can carry around. Let him play with it and chew on it (safer in a walker or high chair or even in the car seat) and let him just get used to the bristles. I did this with both of mine and now, even at 2 and 4, they are avid tooth brushers!

I had a similar problem, but got really lucky with a solution. I just happened to have him with me when I was buying toothpaste and he saw a Thomas The Tank Engine Toothbrush and started begging for 'choo choo'. Sure enough, I got that toothbrush and he is happy to let me use it now! Sometimes it's the little things that can solve our problems. Hopefully it will work for you too.

We have much in common! Later in life, first time working moms - much to do!! I have found that he tolerates a "puppet" brushing his teeth rather than me! He will let others brush his teeth, but when I try to he throws a fit! One slip of the puppet on the hand and he is good!

Good luck!

S.

Hi J.,

Oh, how I remember this so well with my daughter at that age! What worked well for us is that we let her brush our teeth while we worked on hers. Make it a game. If you present it to your son as it's something you're forcing on him, it will only cause resistance.

I hope that helps!
A.

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