Brushing Toddlers Teeth: Before or After Breakfast?

My DD (21 months) eats breakfast at school so we brush before we leave the house. THere has never been a complaint. Also, toddler toothpaste doesn't have the same effect adult toothpaste does since it's designed to be safe if swallowed.

My kids usually eat breakfast, then get dressed, and brush teeth after breakfast. I, like you, have to do mine first thing. I have the same rule as others though, at a certain time, we are done at the table and dressed brushed and ready to go. Also, I don't know if this happens with you, but my kids get distracted by ME. I have to remind myself to not ask a bunch of questions and stuff while they are eating, because then they are focused on talking to me, and not eating. I mean we talk, but I no longer say, "hey, what do you want in your lunch today?....how about when school is out, what do you want to do?" I keep it on the food as much as possible. "How are your waffles?" Good job drinking your orange juice!" Wow, you are doing a good job on your breakfast" Things that relate to what they are suppose to be doing. And no tv, and no toys during breakfast either. Hope that helps :)
Oh, and one more thing, I have 4 note cards that I wrote on, and I sit them at the table, they are labled 1.eat breakfast 2.use potty 3.brush teeth/comb hair 4.get dressed (you can draw pictures for younger ones) and as each thing is completed my son turns that card over. I don't care what order it's done in, but when all cards are flipped, he is free until it's time to leave. Good luck!

Both my daughters were morning dawdlers, if I let them they'd take two hours to pick at breakfast. I instigated a time limit (20 minutes) to eat with a five minute warning before the time was up. I had everything set and ready to go when they arrived at the table so all they had to do was eat (i.e. waffles/pancakes buttered, syrup'd and cut). It took a couple of times of them not finishing before they learned that when I said breakfast was over, it was over. Missing part of breakfast was not going to starve them - especially since I knew in a couple of hours they'd have snack time at school. It did teach them to respect a schedule. Consider this with your K.. It worked with mine.
Good luck.

My son only brushes his teeth before bed, and his dentist said that this is actually the perfect time because it takes care of everything he's eaten during the day. I'll probably move to brushing after breakfast and before bed when he starts school, but I don't see a need now.

My dentist, as well as my son's dentist, recommends waiting until after breakfast. They (and I) don't see any reason to brush before. You might as well wait!! :)

my 2 yr old's dentist said for us to brush her teeth at night and to let her brush her own teeth in the morning, so I just give her the brush after we shower and it takes her less than a minute. I would get in to a routine of changing clothes and brushing teeth then doing breakfast, or even bringing breakfast in the car. I doubt that with childrens toothpaste food tastes that bad after brushing. I buy the toms childrens toothpaste, its strawberry so their is no aftertaste like the mint kinds.

I was going to say the same as Alisha--our kids eat breakfast at school, so I brush my son's teeth at home. My daughter is in kg and they actually brush their teeth at school after breakfast, but my son is 2, so I do it. As Alisha said, toddler toothpaste (and even kid toothpaste that you can't swallow) is not made in those minty flavors that adult toothpaste is. Therefore, I don't think it will bother the average kid much if he/she brushes before eating.

I know what you mean about breakfast--last year my kids were at a different school that didn't serve breakfast, and it took FOREVER to get them ready because they dawdled at breakfast. It is so much easier now that I take them before breakfast.

In the toddler years, I always let him eat in his pjs then brushed the teeth and got dressed last. Seemed like less last-minute shirt changes :)

Set a time limit when breakfast is done. If he is not finished, no big deal, no hassle, just a calm "Time to brush our teeth" and take the plate away. Give him a "2-minute warning." He has learned that if he dawdles, he doesn't have to brush.

It helped us to get everything possibly ready the night before. If he is not waking up well, he may need to get to bed sooner.

Be sure to keep things calm in the morning. Changing out of pj's helps wake them up, I think, so I would save the eating for last (but before brushing).

We always brush teeth after breakfast. There is a certain time at which breakfast is DONE whether they are done eating or not, then we go brush teeth and do hair, get shoes/lunch boxes/backpacks and are out the door! They always get dressed before breakfast.

After breakfast... unless we grab a bite on the run, but we always brush teeth before we leave the house. Put a time limit on his eating.

Maybe on his pre-k days, you can give him something quicker/easier to eat that is faster to prepare, like a bowl of oatmeal and fruit mixed in, or toast and eggs.

I change clothes first when they wake up and before breakfast too. For me, the battle comes to getting the shoes/jackets on!

My son eats slowly too, we brush in the highchair as I clean him up.

We usually try to brush teeth AFTER breakfast. But, if they are running super-late (my daughter is also a super slow eater), I will sometimes run upstairs, grab the toothbrushes/toothpaste and do them in the kitchen directly after breakfast but before we run out the door. My kiddos are 2 and 3.5 (another on the way in May). I work full time. Our au pair is better at getting them moving in the morning than I am and can usually manage to get them back upstairs for teeth brushing. Me, not so much!

Daughter changes out of Pjs first thing (she is nutty about it) before breakfast, son (younger) prefers to eat his breakfast in his pjs....so we have no set rules in that regard.

Best of luck!