Teeth brushing HELP!!

[Shenzhennifer]

I've been brushing my baby's teeth since before her was one. Now at 20 months he is really making it hard for me. He doesn't like it at all and is very strong these days for me. I have tried many different techniques but none work well. At the end of the day, all I care about is his dental hygiene but I really need some help on how to make it more manageable for him.
tips please !!!!!

 

[carang]

there is a book that i use at playgroup and have used at home, i bought it off of shopinhk. it is a soft book and has moving parts etc, that the kids love. it has been great to use, both of my kids are fanatical teeth-brushers...i'll see if i can find it and post the link for you.

 

[carang]

wow! that was easy to find! usually takes me A LOT longer to find what i'm looking for... LOL!

anyway, i'm sure your little one will enjoy the book, i know all the kids i've read it to have enjoyed it.

here's the link:
http://www.shopinhk.com/soft-cloth-books-c-37.html

 

[soon2bmom]

For me, distraction is the only way to go. I get my husband to hold his iPad with my son's favorite show on, I then quickly brush all the molars first, then if I am lucky, I can just barely get the incisors. My son would usually grab the toothbrush and chuck it into the sink, but mama has two more! Haha! When he grabs the second one, I use the third one; when he gets the last one, I am done!

It's tough, I know. I am a dentist myself but I find my dental degree totally useless when it comes to brushing my own child's teeth. Thank God for iPad.

 

[Shenzhennifer]

Thanks both of you. I have been doing more distraction techniques, tonight with our iPad, great idea. And pleased that I can get in his mouth for at least twice as long now! I might try to bring back in the toothpaste now.
Thanks!

 

[Balvo]

I give him my toddler my toothbrush and he brushes my teeth while I brush his. gives him something to do and he can practice on me

 

[thanka2]

I don't have much to contribute for ideas as my son has been pretty good about the teeth brushing.

But, I recommend this brand of toothpaste which I buy here.

I also sing to my son while I brush his teeth. I made up my own little song to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat:

Brush, brush, brush your teeth
Keep them nice and clean
If you brush them every day
They will have a sheen

I know it's cheesy but tonight, for the first time, he tried to sing along with me (with a mouth full of toothpaste).

I hope it gets easier for you--good thing you have that iPad.

 

[nicolejoy]

We also sing when brushing teeth, but we sing:

This is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth
This is the way we brush our teeth, early in the morning

It does sometimes help to get her to brush our teeth too, but not always. Singing works best for some bizarre reason... *shrugs*

 

[e-Maternity]

I sometimes use the scaring technique. I bought a book called "Going to the Dentist" and it shows a picture of a set of teeth that has alot of cavities. My son is scared of bugs. So, I called the cavities "bugs". Then I tell him that if he doesn't brush his teeth, he'll also get bugs on his teeth!! It works like a charm when I help him brush his teeth!

 

[plumtree]

Carrying on in the same vein as e-Maternity, we were lucky enough to find a Youtube video of a young man who did not brush his teeth but loved sweet drinks. My son was fascinated by the pictures of the blackened stumps of teeth and it was very effective in persuading him that tooth brushing should be a part of his daily routine. Also, getting him a nice toothbrush helped: my son is crazy about Shinkensen trains and we found a Shinkensen toothbrush in Apita in Cityplaza.
(Youtube can be so useful sometimes....)