Teeth Brushing - Naperville,IL

Well, I started my daughter around 13/14 months brushing her teeth. I began with giving her the brush to chew/play with in the tub. After 1 or 2x, she lets me brush her teeth no problem every night before bed ( we only use water for now, as I think paste is a bit much for her young age)I brush her teeth 1st then let her play wit hthe brush after I'm done. I'd try to let him play with it on his own, so he won't be so hesitate when the time comes to brush.

A lot of these responses seem to be from mom's with older children (like 3 years). Since your boy is only 14 months, I think he may just be a little scared and unsure of what is going on. We had a lot of success with the fingertip brush at that age. We'd go in there and "tickle his teeth" and he thought it was a game. We'd also rub the inside of his cheeks and "tickle" his tongue. We did have the occasional bite, but we gave him a little flick and told him firmly "no biting" and he stopped. A baby washcloth could achieve the same result. The purpose is to clean the teeth, but also to get them used to the concept and habit of oral care. Remember, our saliva does wonders for cleaning our teeth, that's why God gave it to us! I wouldn't be too concerned with how well your are actually cleaning the teeth right now, just that you are establishing a habit and routine.

My 23 month old son was the same way. What I did was let him brush his own teeth and then I got a turn after he was done. It took a few times, but now he loves brushing his teeth. Let him watch you brush your teeth so he can see what is going on. Good luck

I too fought to brush my sons teeth. Finally I tried reverse psychology on him. I said ok if you don't want to brush your teeth you don't have to but mommy is going to brush hers.Finally after about 3 days my son wanted to brush his teeth and I told him it was only for big boys. I told him that we would need to go buy him a big boy toothbrush so we went to target and bought a big boy "elmo" toothbrush and big boy "elmo" toothpaste. He now brushes himself, not as good as I would like but he is trying.
good luck

Get another person to help you. They sit with him on their lap, face to face. You sit behind your son, knee to knee with the other adult. Then they lie your son back with his head in your lap. they hold his hands, play patty-cake, sing songs, whatever to entertain him while you do the brushing. With his mouth shut, run your finger along his cheek to the back and get your finger between his gums way in the back--this will open the front of his mouth alot. Make sure you clear his back teeth or he will bite and it will HURT. We did this with my drama queen daughter since she was 9 mos and now at 16 months she is cooperative, although we have to sing the ABCs.
even tho' he may want to brush himself, he lacks the dexterity to do a good job until he can tie his own shoes--so you still have to help. any more ???? email me--good luck.

Have you tried "modeling" brushing your teeth? My husband and I both go in to the bathroom with our liitle girl and brush our teeth. Our daughter wanted to be a big girl and brush her teeth she now models mommy and daddy and it is working great! We also took her to the drug store and she picked out her own toothbrush....I think it makes her feel like she is participating ....i guess it's an independece thing! Hope that helps.

Take him to the store and let him pick out his own toothbrush. Let him brush his own teeth before you brush them. My daughter likes the battery operated ones!

Is it a control issue maybe?? Would he play with the toothbrush and warm up to it and then work toward letting you help him brush maybe? Just a thought so it doesn't become such a negative time, but rather positive. I let my kids brush their own teeth sometimes and often they brush and then I have a turn to help them so it keeps the habit and remains a positive thing. Also exciting toothbrushes, like my 3 year old LOVES his racecar hot wheels toothbrush, might help especially as your son gets older. My one year old likes to walk around brushing his teeth for a while. Hope this helps some.

Try getting him a toothbrush of his own, and one for you .... let him play with it a minute or so, then say mommies turn and use the other toothbrush to spend a minute (or how ever long he will let you) and brush his.....we did this and still do - my daughter is 2.

You've probably already tried this, but have you let him pick out his own toothbrush and toothpaste? They have so many character ones now. My 3-year-old son has a Cars toothbrush and Thomas toothpaste. I know they have ones for little guys too, like Winnie-the-Pooh and Elmo.

My biggest thing would be just to take a break. One week with no toothbrushing will do less damage than a lifetime of resisting it!!