Toothbrushing Hades... losing my center. - Page 2

[Dragonfly]

srain - He'll be 4 in November. I've tried involving him in the process to some degree, but probably not enough. I think I'll sit down with him over lunch and start generating some ideas. Thanks for the reminder.

StarMama - Things do generally go MUCH better when we get to his teeth earlier. The times we have the most trouble are when his father brings him back late (which is more and more frequently), so that part is a little out of my control. Those times I wish I could just let it go until morning. Occasionally I do and try to wipe out his mouth when he goes to sleep. It was a lot easier before he had his adenoids out and slept with his mouth gaping open!

Still churning... thanks for the continued input. Think I'll print this out and read through it more closely later on today!

[beanma]

i think you need this thread from the dental archives, dragonfly -- http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ead.php?t=3697 . there are a lot of good ideas in there, many of which have already been mentioned here. i think the thread starts off w/ brushing baby's teeth, but has other threads incorporated, too, that probably address the 4 yr old battle, too. (i also think one of the smilie codes must've changed 'cause smilemomma has a frowny face response a lot on the first page when i think it was probably a big toothy smilie instead.)

anyway, we have frequent protest here, too (3.5 yr old dd1) and to tell you the truth i think a lot of it is out of habit on her part. she'll start off hollering, but then when we get in there she's fine. i do try to make it fun and tell stories about mousie ballerinas doing pirouettes on her teeth (or whatever she's into -- the ballerinas probably wouldn't work for your little guy, i'm betting :LOL ). she responds pretty well to that, but she loves stories and requests them all day long. maybe your ds likes stories, too? or songs? or firetrucks? you could make siren noises while you brush. good luck with it. it's no picnic!