22Month Old Daughter Refuses to Let Us Brush Her Teeth.

I got a tooth tunes tooth brush and now tia is brushing her teeth everyday because she thinks it is fun!

I have a 2.5 yr that won't let me get the back teeth. I can get the front ones with out at a fight. After I get the front ones, I tried to get the back and she would fight and cry. I don't want to scare her so I don't fight her on it. For the parents that hold their kids down, not good. It is making it worse for them. I put a little paste on it. She picked her own brush, Dora and I let her try the front again, and if she tries to get the back great. But it will take some time in about a year she will either let you do it or she will. I understand about the start of the cavities. My husband at the age of 33 had to have all his teeth removed because of a genetic defect. His teeth didn't keep the enamel. No matter what he did and brushed 3 times a day, he still couldn't save his teeth. It was bad. His mother had the same problems, and I have two of 4 kids that are starting to show the same issues. You won't be able to stop genetics but just keep trying.

I think most kids go through this. Hold firm. When their teeth come in they should be brushed. It is a good habit to get into. Some kids will have genetically porous teeth that are prone to cavities. Some have great teeth and hard as rocks that seem to repel cavities. But you won't know about your kids until they age and you don't want it to be too late.

When our kids' teeth started coming in we used the finger brush or the little baby tooth brush. At that time we just brushed a few seconds for each tooth. As more teeth came in we added a little more time. Even with starting young, ours still wanted to challenge us on it.

There is a tooth brush out there that lights up for 1 minute. I think it is called the firefly toothbrush. Little kids may not need the full minute but they need to start the routine. We used this and it worked for a long time.

For the littlest one, I would sign Old Mac Donald and she would pick which animal. What did Old Mac Donald have? Pig. So I would sing and brush and do this for 3 animals. Daddy wasn't as tolerant and he'd just brush them.

Sometimes I would have to change my tactic. Sometimes they would brush first and then we would.

Whatever way you find, just make sure not to give it up. Your teeth are very important. You might also want to look into Xylitol. It can repair holes in the enamel. Trident now uses it but I've heard about it for awhile. Even my dentist said they are learning about it at their national conventions.

Good Luck!

My 27 month old started refusing about 1 month ago. We got her an electric toothbrush, and she loved it! My rule is that I get to brush her teeth first, and she can brush them second. She always lets me brush them, so that she gets to brush them too.

Hi L.,
It could just be sensitivity issue. Try different tooth polishes. I had a family that was not able to find a tooth polish till she her 7 year old used our and now she brushes. If you want more info contact me, but just keep trying different ones. Also how soft is the brush?
Best of luck,
S.
Mamasource business listed.

Hi L.,

I totally feel your pain, I had a 2 year old that HATED to have his teeth brushed. It was the dreaded duty that my husband and I took turns doing so we didn't get mentally drained. We too have tried absolutely everything to ease the tooth brushing experience, from picking out special toothbrushes and toothpaste, to taking turns brushing teeth, timing it, etc. As horrible as it may sound my husband and I know the importance of brushing and resorted to holding him down to brush his teeth. We were as gentle as we could be, and he quickly learned that not brushing teeth was not an option. No matter how much he cried we were going to brush his teeth. Now at 3 he is much better, no more holding him down, it took a few months for him to decide it was easier to just get his teeth brushed so we could be done sooner! As uncomfortable as it was to see my son upset, I knew it was for his own good.

Good Luck!

Hi L.,

I went through the same issue as you and this is what worked for me. I've always gotten the baby no flouride toothgel from Oral B that comes with the matching finger toothbrush. I used this brush since she was a baby and was trying to switch when she started biting down on my finger!

However, she wouldn't let me brush her teeth with the 1-2 year old toothbrush I picked out. I found that letting her brush her teeth with the toothbrush and some of the gel on her own, then quickly doing my job with the finger toothbrush to work. I let her know that she can't bite momma or it's back to the regular toothbrush so that I don't suffer, and I finish it off by stroking her tongue several times. Then I let her brush as long as she wants to.

I also stressed the importance of letting mommy brush her teeth so she is able to keep them. So maybe explaining to your daughter now and again after she's had the work done the importance of dental hygiene would help. I was also told by my doctor that I only had to spend a couple of seconds with brushing her teeth instead of the minute or 2 I was doing in the begining so the fact that I'm in and out so quickly has helped with her compliance.

She is 2 years old now and loves teeth brusing time. She will say, "teeth, teeth", climb on to her chair, and gets excited. Afterwards I let her wash her hands for more water/hygiene fun! Good luck!

Angie

Have you let her try brushing her own? Consult your dentist about those little dye pills that when they chew them, it shows where they missed brushing and maybe make a fun game out of that. You maybe right about the sensitivity issue; ask your dentist if there is something that can be done about that.

Both my daughter's had the same issue and I ask her if she wants to do it the hard way or easy way. The hard way is I lay her back on my lap and restrain her arms and if she doesn't open her mouth I push the toothbrush in there. It has to get brushed in my opinion so bad habits don't start and my first daughter learned that it was far easier to do it the easy way. Whenever she'd act up I'd tell her the choices and she would cooperate with me. It takes some learning about the methods though. I'm sure there are far easier ways. This just worked with our first and we're still working on our second.

hmmm L. very interesting, i was told not to brush your kids teeth cause you can brush off the enamel? so i dont know, usually eating fruits and things can help teeth especially very young teeth, my kids did not brush their teeth till they could do it themselves, but i dont know, im not a dentist, just seems too, that brushing such new teeth, could also be harmful? dont know sorry , D. s

We did all the "tricks of the trade" for both of my kids
(3 1/2 years and 23 months) and they worked for a bit but eventually we had to force them. Dad would hold down their arms and while they cried I brushed. While brushing Dad and I would say things like "Oh look your teeth are getting so clean." When done we would clap and cheer. After only two or three times of this they would cooperate. We always let them brush their own teeth before we go in and "finish the job." My oldest makes an attempt to brush but the youngest just sucks of the toothpaste (non-flouride toothpaste). Good luck!

Hi L.,
I have a 2 1/2 yr. old daughter who went through the same thing awhile ago.. Probably right around your daughter's age;-) She still fights us on it at times.. A few things worked for us.. We would tell her that we want to tickle her teeth and that worked for awhile. The thing that works now is we tell her that if they don't get brushed she'll have troll teeth and that if we brush she'll have princess teeth. She is big into Princesses so this usually works VERY well. When she doesn't open wide enough I tell her to roar like a lion and when I want to get the front of her teeth good she says "cheese". She also loves her Princess toothbrush. She's always getting new, fun character toothbrushes which seems to help. Anyway, these little things work for us.. They are worth a try! Good luck!

Melissa

Have you tried letting her pick out her toothbrush/paste from a store?

My son loves his pacifiers. The rule is he has to brush his teeth before he gets his bedtime pacifiers. Reminding him that he won't get his pacifiers really helps end any struggles about brushing. Does your daughter have a "lovie" with her in bed?

I also used to brush his teeth while he was in the bathtub - good distraction.

I've done a few things with my 3 year old daughter. She's better now, but here are some ideas: Count her teeth as you brush and get her to play the game too, let her brush her own teeth first and tell her you will check them when she's done. Using brushing them again your way of checking to see how good she did. I also let my daughter brush my teeth after I brushed hers. (my own tooth brush of course) She loved it.

Good luck

I have also a 23 month old that finally lets me brush his teeth. He was also very stubborn but this is how i am getting him finally to let me brush his teeth. I am sitting him on the potty so he is distracted from me trying to brush and himself trying to go potty it worked, he is now letting me brush his teeth thank god, i was getting worried that he was gonna grow up with decayed teeth. so if that helps try that....J.

If she used that horrable deviced called a pacifer like my grand baby did she may have dental,jaw,bone,mouth etc damage.

Use a soft cloth just for her like a unfuzzy baby cloth and wash them this way.

You can get a special baby tooth wash for babys first teeth and for babies with out teeth.

Take her to a bone specialist-dental doc and see if she has jaw or mouth or ingrown teeth or Issues.

My sons expectly had early teeth ...full sets by 1-2 years old... but one cut5-12 at once and had 3-4 teeth in one spot.
Most children loss their first teeth really bone before birth but some can not... who knew...I heard this from a top doc of babies.

Yes your baby is in pain,,, sounds like it may be in the jaw.

Oh there is cool battery operated brushes for infants that are soft put the rag is best.

D.

You might try brushing with Activated (aka 'medical grade') Charcoal powder (www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com). It will turn her mouth "black" while she's brushing, it is odorless and tasteless (and supposed to be excellent for cleaning teeth), but it is somewhat 'chalky' so you could mix it with a little ordinary toothpaste... You could turn it into a game. Activated charcoal is an anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal.

You might also try letting her pick out an electric toothbrush (with soft bristles), it might just be enough to get her to brush on her own. If she doesn't like the vibration feeling at first, tell her it just 'tickles' until she gets used to it. Getting yourself an electric toothbrush to brush with her might also be helpful.

We started brushing my 22 month old son's teeth by having him watch us brush our teeth first. Then he would want to do what we were doing. We'd give him the toothbrush and at first he would just put it in his mouth. Then we'd ask if we could help him. Now he does a good job himself and lets us help too.

Mine brush their own. They always have and they think it is fun. They don't do the greatest job ever, but their dentist appointments have always been just fine. But, our dentist did not need them to come in until they were 3 years old. So I don't get why she even has this going on yet. You should have only water in her cup if she carries it around everywhere with her like my kids do as both juice and milk all day in a sippy cup can cause decay. As long as they do not eat all sugar all the time they really should not need you to worry about scrubbing their teeth for them. Just hand her the brush and let her do it. It's just like feeding themselves. They have to learn how sometime, and why not let them get good practice while they still have baby teeth, and then worry about double checking their work when their adult teeth come in. My ten year old still needs to be told to go back in a brush somemore when he tries to hurry up and get back to playing or reading or tv, buthe has never had a bad check up either. I would look into other dentists too. Seems like they want your business, not what might be best for your daughter.

I didn't read responses, but my son is the same way, so I took previous advice on here and bought an electric kids toothbrush. I tell him I'm going to tickle his teeth. I still have to lay him on his changing table and sometimes still have to hold his arms down, but this way I can see what's going on, and hold him still at the same time. He's big into taking turns, so I have him hold a stuffed animal and I say, "OK, it's bunny's turn...now Cole's turn!" It helps....good luck!