GD and brushing teeth

[quaz]

Suggestions??

DD (18m) threw a 20+ minute tantrum b/c she didn't want to brush her teeth... complete with hitting, throwing her self down, growling, etc.

I finally brushed them while she was screaming.

That was the only reason the tantrum ended, b/c then I no longer needed to brush her teeth. : Otherwise it would have continued.

She nurses at night, and hadn't had her teeth brushed the day before, so I really felt they needed to be brushed.


Suggestions??
Tammy

[cmb123]

Originally Posted by quaz

Suggestions??

Hand her, her toothbrush when ever you brush your teeth.

[mamaofthree]

I lucked out I guess, but I always had my kids brush in the morning and I did the evening... as they got bigger and wanted to do all the brushings I would do a "touch up" sort of look in their mouth and get the back teeth. They never seemed to mind.
I just never made a big deal out of it, although to me it is a big deal. I just acted like it wasn't... LOL

H

[bionicsquirrel]

I feel for you on this one. My ds is a total tantrum-er when it comes to brushing time. He hates it. We go through phases where he is kind of okay with it and there are plenty of times where I let him do it himself, but overall it sucks.

When he brushes himself, it is not thorough. When I need to brush his teeth, he pitches a fit. So, for now, we are just trying to use nice words/tone of voice while we get in there, brush and try to make the most of it.

He is very excited right now though, because we ran out of toothpast for him and so he was using our fennel toothpast with lots of complaining. Tomorrow we are taking him to pick out new toothpast and he is very excited. Also, I have been trying a trick where I play one of his favorite short songs and he needs to brush as long as the song plays. this seems to ease some of the the tensions. Honestly though, I usually resort to holding him down and getting it over with fast.

[babybugmama]

I have done it all. I have awful teeth and so it is very important to me that dd brush well...So here's the laundry list: different toothbrushes, toothpastes, singing, her brushing my teeth while I brush hers, doing our vowels while I get the teeth. We talked about cavities and how they get there when food is left on our teeth and this is why we brush. Right now I make up a story in my head while brushing. She's really into faeries and elves right now so I tell a story about the elves and the mountain....

Good luck and keep trying those teefers are important!

[writermommy]

My middle dd gave me a lot of trouble with teeth brushing when she was smaller. I would use 2 toothbrushes, 1 for her and 1 for me to go behind her. She still doesn't do it right all on her own and sometimes I have to do it for her. When she would tantrum, I'd just talk quietly to her, but keep brushing. It really isn't negotiable. You can't not brush your teeth. Well, I guess she could, but she'd have no teeth and probably no friends, (REALLY bad breath)

[**guest**]

same here as babybugmama.

just wanted to add that it gets better, than worse again, and then better again. :LOL

i have posted about our problems with brushing here and on other boards. usually it gets better a night or two after i post :LOL

[MomInCalifornia]

We had BIG teeth brushing issues for a while. I have a few non-negotiables...brushing teeth is one of them.

We tried all the typical suggestions; letting her pick out a fun tooth brush, battery opperated ones, yummy toothpaste, singing songs, her brushing ours first, her brushing hers first and the list goes on and on.

In the end I sat and held her while my husband brushed as fast as he could, or vise versa. She hated it, we hated it, but as soon as we were done she was fine...not a tear to be seen.

This went on for months. Then one day it stopped and now she loves to have her teeth brushed. No rhyme or reason to it.

To me, it is just not an option to not brush teeth well.

[meemee]

tammy, do u remember reading all the posts in the other boards? they gave a lot of ideas. if mine and your childs similarities continue then all i can say is it is a phase and u have to ride it out. that is how i had to brush my dd's teeth from 18 months to 2 1/2 i think. i have tried every method in the book and nothing worked. so keep trying everything u can think of. for me what worked is getting dd the exact same toothbrush i was using (the adult one) and using it for a while before going shopping again for her own size toothbrush and paste that didnt look childlike with cartoon character.

if after 50 different ideas nothing works u know u will have to just live with it. but u still continue trying something new. dd still fights brushing. but i came upon a plan now. she sometimes wants candy or icecream in the evening. i tell her well u have to brush ur teeth afterwards. and if u give me a hard time with that then u cant get candy or icecream another time. that has usually worked. BUT i think brushing teeth for her is a sensory issue. no matter what i do i feel brushing teeth really truly does hurt her. i keep the toothbrush soaking in hot water for 5 to 15 mins prior to brushing and even if she doesnt protest i can see the agony in her face. she is not an unreasonable child. so i know there is something really wrong here that for 2 years she continuously protests brushing her teeth. could be her temperament but my gut tells me there is something more.

[Delphiki]

I gave my son an electric toothbrush at that age and all his fighting to brush his teeth stopped. He was teething and I think the other one hurt his mouth. Now he begs to brush his teeth all the time. I actually have to limit it and I think I have the only child who throws a fit when we are done brushing teeth

I hope it gets better for you.

[gaialice]

Hi! You know, I remember there was an excellent thread on teeth brushing a couple of months ago. Check it out!
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...48#post3374448
My current trick is the following: pretend a buttterfly is hiding behind her head, you look for it but cannot find it and then say "Ha! I saw her now she is in your mouth"... gotta catch it! let me try with the toothbrush!

[fire_lady]

Hi I suggest you let her brush her teeth.Give her colorful nice looking tooth brush and some flavored toothpaste.

Hope this one works for you.

[babybugmama]

gaialice - that's a great one..I will add that one to the repetoire!