How do you teach them to not swallow??

[Fishie Kisses]

So my boys both LOVE brushing their teeth (YAY!). I had them both on the baby toothpaste, but DS1 has some KILLER breath and really needs the real thing. The problem is that he still swallows it! He knows how to spit, but he always swallows and THEN spits. How do I teach him to do it right?

[lj2blessed]

Subbing - my DD sucks all the trainer toothpaste off the brush THEN "brushes" her teeth

[MinkaK]

I just made a BIG deal out of putting water in your mouth and spitting. He thought it was hilarious and copied. Sometimes he gets a bit enthusiastic and spits over the sink but is pretty good about. Dd is 19m and we are working on spitting but even just brushing teeth is still an ordeal with her.

[sh0rtchica]

I always swallowed up till a fairly old age because I thought spitting in general was gross, lol. No idea how to communicate that to kids, I'd probably just go with flouride-free toothpaste until he figures it out.

[junejay4life]

I tell my kids to spit the sugar bugs out. I show them first and you know how they love to copy

[tallanvor]

I don't teach my kids to spit. We use flouride-free toothpaste so it doesn't matter if they spit or not. The older two spit just fine. The 4 yr old is still a bit iffy on the spitting, but like I said, our toothpaste is flouride-free, so I'm not concerned.

[issybissy]

my son learned to spit it out at age 4....always swallowed before then .

[OneFishTwoFish]

Yeah, we're working on the spitting thing too. He will swallow the toothpaste no matter how many times I remind him to spit. But he's got the rinsing thing down pat.