Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

Tips for babies who are too young to understand reasoning and hate it? My dd is 14 months and we've been doing since 6 months. She was always fine when younger but became worse and worse about it over the months. She will chew on toothbrush if I let her have it. But if myself or dh try and brush, she clamps mouth closed/tries to get away. She doesn't understand to open her mouth yet and such.

When my girls went through that I tried letting them have their own while I brushed with another one, giving a choice of which one to use, offered manual and powered brushes, giving choice of qhich tooth paste to use, took turns(saying 'mama brush for 10secs, dd1 brush for 10secs' then counting out loud and cheering afterwards) but sometimes nothing worked and I just had to pin them down and get it done. Gl

At that age I just gave DD a toothbrush and let her chew on it. While she was chewing I would brush with a second toothbrush - the first kind of acting like a wedge to keep her jaws open (lol).
Now that she is a bit older I have had GREAT luck with a tip I picked up from another parenting forum. I let her "brush" for a minute and then I ask to see "if Elmo did a good job." (He's on the toothbrush). I then gasp and proclaim that Elmo got the monkeys (etc) but "omg he missed a ZEBRA! I have to get the zebra!" With lots of exaggerated gestures and such. She laughs and will open her mouth quite happily!

Brilliant. I'm going to try this with my 19 month old.

Re: Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

Oooh this is a good tip, thank you. We also have battles

Re: Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

Great tip. I'm going to try this. FWIW, our dentist said that when all else fails, it is better to pin them down and get the job done rather than not brush teeth - you will not scar them for life by doing that.

Glad to hear that. Because I *may* have put a sweatshirt on DS with his arms zipped inside (ie not through the armholes, straight jacket style) in order to get his teeth brushed. He is 13 months old and hates it, although he will chew happily on a toothbrush. He actually has tarter buildup on his lower teeth that I nor the dentist could remove :(

Re: Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

We have only had to do the pin-them-down thing a few times before our kids got the drift. ;) We always give them a choice first - "Do you want to open your mouth for me *demonstrate opening mouth*, or are you going to lay on the floor while I brush your teeth?" *pat floor*. DD is 15 months and even if it gets to the point that I have to ask now, she usually chooses to behave nicely while I brush. Also, you don't need to achieve perfect oral hygiene the first week or so - 5 seconds of brushing while baby stays happy and positive is better than 20 seconds of brushing with a cranky baby at the end. Lengthen brushing time by 5 seconds every night, and make sure you give lots of praise afterwards. :)

Re: Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

:rofl2: Oh that is too funny. So adorable! I'm going to have to remember this when my 4 mo requires a little encouragement with tooth brushing!

Re: Brushing baby/toddler teeth
 

this is a great idea!!! :thumbsup: