[GreenHippieMama]

My 16 month old has "baby bottle mouth" developing on his 4 top teeth.The bottom ones are fine,but he lets me brush and clean them.He goes bezerk if we try to brush,wipe,or clean the top ones in any way:thrashes his head around and clamps his mouth shut.His Ped. wants me to try and night wean him,but that's not really something I feel is right for us. I think the teeth are bad because it's impossible to clean them off. Any suggestions? I've tried letting him do it himself,I've tried to force it,tried tasty toothpaste and tried to get him to chew a washcloth,all kinds of stuff.

 

[Thursday Girl]

sometimes my dd won't let me brush hers, so I give her my toothbrush and well she brushes mine, i brush hers. Just be careful to not get to close as you might get the back of your throat stabbed with the toothbrush

 

[Song of Joy]

Here is a link with a lot of ideas on brushing: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=152649

In our house, there is no choice on whether she gets brushed or not. Brushing happens. Period. She fusses a lot, but with the tooth problems she has gone through already, she only has 2 options: get brushed happily or get brushed grumpily. Of course, at 20 months, she usually chooses grumpily.

If all the "cool" ways fail, I suggest you pin him down and do it quickly and gently. The alternatives (GA, 1.5 hours of dental work in a hospital, etc.) are a lot worse, trust me.

 

[malamamama]

I would definitely take him to a dentist. The decay will only get worse especially with his resistance. And then whatever treatment will be much more extensive later.
Dd hated it too at that age, I would have to hold her down. And because I didn't have the knowledge, I didn't push it enough and she ended up with caps, fillings and then extractions. And she is actually a healthy child, BUT we didn't get on top of the brushing at the get go and did we ever pay (emotionally and physically, as well as monetarily) It was awful, but after the first dentist appointment, it got to be much less of a struggle and now that she's older and reasoning, she complains some but doesn't resist. Hang in there!

 

[anythingelse]

I am with song of joy on this, you have to brush the teeth. no matter how you get them clean, you need to get them clean.

it is so horrible to watch your dc have a lot of dental work & it is really painful for the dc. much more painful & traumatic long term then having mom brush the teeth against their will I just had work done on myself at a family dentist and have watched the same kinda work I had done on me get done to lil ones. it is sad

i got flamed on another thread for saying this but not brushing their teeth to me is like not wiping their poopy bottom. you just do it, you try to make it as happy a thing as possible, sometimes it won't be fun & the child fights and then you focus on doing a good job as quickly as possible there are wonderful tips here in the archives and on the toddler parenting boards, IME is you need to find a dentist now and work as a team to prevent further damage to your dc teeth

 

[Smilemomma]

Where did you get flamed, Vanna'sMom? 'Cause I will go back you up, I say this all the time.

Gotta do it. If it helps any, once they understand that it is non-negotiable, they are much better with it. I've not met a child yet who hasn't come to at least go along peacefully, and usually they actually get to enjoy it.