Brushing Teeth - Celina,TX

My son is 15 months and teeth brushing is an ORDEAL. In the morning, I am only able to get a couple good swipes before he pries his mouth shut. Night time is easier as I do it while he's in the bath. I recently got the toothbrush that plays music when you brush and he seems to be distracted by it long enough to let me get a good brush of his teeth before he shoves my hand and toothbrush away. I also almost lost my finger when attempting the fingertip one as well. ;)
Sometimes, if he watches his Dad brush his teeth at the same time that I brush his teeth, I am able to get a good brushing as well.
Another reason the bath is good is b/c I can also distract him with his waterproof froggie book while I brush his teeth. Unfortunately,its all about the distraction for now. I long for the day when he can brush his teeth himself. :)

At one you should definitely be brushing her teeth.

We went through a rough time getting Ryan to cooperate with doing stuff, what I've found that works is by saying "show daddy how you brush teeth" and he is so busy looking at daddy look at him that he lets me do it. I use "show ______ how you _____" for pretty much everything he doesn't want to do, we show grandma, aunts, our dog, his tiger, whoever is around how we clean up, brush teeth, eat dinner, drink milk etc...... it works well for us.... until he catches on. ;o)

~ t

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. Since my youngest was about 1 yr I was brushing his teeth 2-3 times a day without a hassle and still at age 2 he lets me. I say lets go brush our teeth and he runs to the bathroom, turns on the light and waits for me:) I start brushing, I say open wide, lets get the bottom ones, now the top, now the tongue. He's always been fine with it and drinks his water afterwards. I don't use any special toothbrush or toothpaste just the Oral B toothpaste and toothbrush.

Good Luck to you.

This is what helped my son...it's been a miracle

Our dentist recommended an electric toothbrush. He loves it. I let him brush his teeth first then we do it afterwards. He loves pushing the button and watching it spin.

THEN - there's ELMO! 1-866-ELMO TIPS - it's Elmo telling him that he did a great job brushing his teeth - and then Elmo sings him a song. He loves calling him and telling him goodnight & good morning. It's the best.

Hope this helps!

I actually saw a news report on this from channel 8 a while back. They say to encourage your children to brush their own teeth, but for parents to brush their teeth afterwards until the age of 5 to make sure they are brushing good. They usually don't even have excellent hand coordination to do a thorough job until at least 4, at least for my son. I have my son brush his teeth and then tell him mommy needs to double check and brush afterwards. This way he is getting the practice and I'm making sure his teeth are being properly cleaned.

My daughter is two and what has worked for me is to let her brush her teeth with a little bit of toothpaste, then I tell her I need to check them before she gets more toothpaste. This way when I check them I brush her teeth for her and then when I'm done she gets more toothpaste. At least this way she gets a good brushing from me. I was always scared to get bit using the finger one, she had a mouthful of teeth at one. My only problem was that when I let her brush her teeth she bites on the toothbrush and they don't last very long, so now I have two toothbrushes one that she uses and one that I use to "check" her teeth.

We started brushing my first sons teeth the moment he got that first tooth. Now we let him pick out his own electric tooth brush and tooth paste. He brushes them for the first half then I "check them" and finish the job. It makes it fun for him. He even brushes his tounge now! We havent started brushing my youngest because his first tooth is barely showing yet but its comming! Good Luck :)