Refusing to Brush Teeth!

[francesruben]

My three year old daughter has been increasingly reluctant to go to the bathroom, get dressed out of her pj's or brush her teeth. I have tried not to force the issue too much- if she wears pj's all day that's fine, if she doesn't make it to the bathroom in time its a bit of a pain but I'll clean up the mess and get over it. But I'm really having trouble when it comes to teeth. I can't let her not brush her teeth and I've tried explaining the importance of it to her but she absolutely refuses... if we do manage to coax her into the bathroom the toothbrush usually gets repeatedly thrown on the floor. I've tried everything (except strapping her down!) Any ideas???

[HoneyTree]

We go through a whole list of tactics.

First, starting about a year ago, we went through a list of people we love. I'd have ds extend the last syllable of each name so that his mouth would be open and I'd get in there and do a few teeth. Then, clamp! New name, try again. Example: Na-NAAAAAAAAAAAAA <--- open wide on the "AA"

Sometimes now we joke about who gets to brush the teeth. My husband and I pretend to have a big argument over who gets to do it, then ds jumps in and wants to do it himself. Sometimes he chooses one of us, sometimes we all get a turn.

It's a big deal for him to get to use my elecrtic toothbrush, so I got him his own brush attachment for it. That works sometimes.

Sometimes we pretend to have a battle with the sugar bugs. "I see a big hairy one in the back! I'm going to blast him with toothpaste!"

Honestly, it would be a battle every night if we didn't do some kind of game. And sometimes I have to go through all the games, then invent new ones, in order to get in 30 seconds of teeth-brushing.

Someone once said something along the lines of, what's more important, your child's teeth or their trust in you? And that seemed over simplified for me, but I got the idea. They're only baby teeth. By the time the big teeth come in, our kids will be more open to the more reasonable arguments for brushing teeth. It's not like you're setting a habit in stone for them to have mossy teeth for life. Meanwhile, if some nights you're too tired/worn out/out of ideas to play a game, well, fine! One night is not a mouthful of cavities going to make!

Good luck, mama!

[sacredjourney]

I know how you feel. 2.5 dd is the same way about brushing teeth and rinsing hair in the bath.

I have recently discovered a way to get her to brush her teeth. We always read at least one book before bed, and I basically remind her that she needs to brush her teeth if we want to have a bedtime story. It always takes the grumpy edge away, and gets her to open up. While I brush I talk to her, to keep her mind occupied, because I think she is uncomfortable having me scrub around in there.

Still need to figure out the hair rinsing thing, but that's a whole new thread

[Tashakittie]

right there with you, ladies! ds is 3.5, and the past few months he's been up to this same business of not wanting to brush teeth.a year ago, to even 2 years ago he was really into teeth brushing. he loved the minty flavor, and the feeling. now he dislikes it greatly, and pretty much everything about the ritual. but there is no escaping it. recently, if you are ok with tv, (we have the cable tv thing called "On Demand") and there is an episode of sesame street, where elmo does a segment on brushing teeth. that really hit a nerve with ds. he's not really been arguing much since he saw it...

[foreverinbluejeans]

We had to have special toothbrushes and toothpaste. My youngest has tactile sensitivities and couldn't stand the feeling of most toothpaste. I had to get non-foaming paste.

We woul do first, then. First brush your teeth, then we will go out and play. Something they wanted to do.