Teeth Brushing Help

are babies supposed to be brushing at 14 months? that seems awful early, mine can barley feed herself with a spoon yet. Is that bad? Should she be more advanced by now? she is 15 months.

I give my 22 month old a wet toothbrush and just let him chew on it for a while then when he is getting tired of it I take it and just brush a little. You are really trying to just keep the food from sticking in their teeth, tooth paste isn't nessasary.

Hi there my son is also 13 months and we are also working on this. I have let him brush my teeth and also we brush our teeth together. We make a big game out of it. We also go in baby steps just a few seconds first time then a little bit more and little bit more. I definatly do not want this to be something he hates or is afraid of. I use Melaleuca products in my home, they are all natural and great! They have a toothpaste by Koala Pals for that is all natural (you would be shocked to know what is really in our toothpaste - like formaldihide) (spelling ?? haha) and has a great green apple flavor. He loves it and wants more when we are done. I also let him run around with his toothbrush and play with it ( I watch him closly so he does not fall with it and you might want to use an exact replica of her toothbrush for sanitary reasons) He does a pretty good job of getting all his 8 teeth 30 min. later. I hope this helps. Let me know if it does.

P.s. A little about me I am a WAHM. Mother to a 13 month old little boy. Married to a wonderful, hard working husband. And we are working on our #2.

They have these power toothbrushes just for toddlers. I bought one for my son who HATES to brush his teeth and haven't had a problem with him since. He thinks its a treat to brush his teeth now! Good luck!

Good luck!! LOL My 18 mo daughter still wont "let" me brush her teeth. I just do it anyway. Obviously the detailed brushings are out of question when she's throwing a fit, but I do the best I can and eventually she'll realize that this - like many other things- is a part of life and i am not giving in. SHe is already doing much better with it.

I got this new toothpaste that when you flip the top it plays music. When the music is done, we are done. Colgate is the toothpaste. It is quite cool! Try it! Ellen from Chattanooga Tennessee. Please let me know what happens what ever you do. My son hated brushing his teeth at that age too, if I had the musical toothpaste it might have helped!

Hi
I am a Dental Hygienist. I hope these tips will help you.
Children do not have the dexterity to brush their teeth properly until about age 6 or 7. This does not mean they shouldn't be independent. I let my boys brush their own teeth in the morning and I brushed their's at night. If this is met with resistance tell them you need to check their teeth and finish the job. Only use a wet toothbrush.
Toothpaste with fluoride should not be used on a small child.
They do not know how to spit properly and can swallow it.
This could possibly cause fluoride staining on their permanent teeth, which is white or brownish stains.
February is Children's Dental Health month so I will add some tips.
1.Take your child to the dentist by age 3 unless you have a concern.
2. Brush your teeth twice a day with a soft brush.
3. Limit sugary snacks and drinks. 4 ounces of juice is the daily limit.
4. Do not put a baby to bed with a bottle.
5. wear a mouthguard when you play sports and a helmet on bikes.
Good Luck.
B. H.

i got my daughter, finally to brush her teeth by us doing it together. i tried everything.."play brushing" with water, playing games..letting her walk around with the brush all day.
then i set a time before she went to bed to brush our teeth together..wasn't long she would go get her toothbrush when i said it was bedtime..or morning time to brush teeth. she is 20 now...and will soon have her own to teach.

I just went through this same struggle with my 20 month old several months ago. We tried the following with good results:

-Bought several different toothbrushes and let our son choose which one he wanted to use. Wal-Mart sells a great toothbrush called the Fire Fly that you squeeze the bottom and the whole toothbrush flashes red for 60 seconds.

-We rotate turns between him brushing his teeth and my husband and I brushing his teeth along with singing a silly song.

-What really hit the nail on the head is when we bought him his own electric spin toothbrush in the shape of a fire truck. Now he can't wait to use his cool toothbrush. Most drugstores carry several different spin toothbrushes with characters on them.

Good luck.

Well, you may think I'm crazy but here's what I did....

My girls HATED brushing their teeth! I would take the toothbrush and pretend that I was killing little germs in their mouths. I would say..."Oh, I see a green one!....Oh! Now I see a red one!"...and then I would say with a cartoonlike voice..."You got me!!"...acting like the little germ was leaving, killing over or whatever. They would end up laughing almost the entire time. It sounds crazy but it really worked! Now I have a 2 year old niece. When she spends the night, that's what I do and it still works like a charm! Hope this helps! Good luck! :)

Hi J.,
Does your daughter have a favorite cartoon character (ex. Dora)? If so get her a Dora toothbrush.

i had to let my son pick out his own toothpaste and tooth brush you know his favorite character at the time and then i told him that the character wante to see him brush his teeth i would brush mine at the same time so he could see how and he finally caught on now almost seven and he has the prettiest teeth i have ever seen on a child... keep it up the hard work will pay off

We made a game out of it. My son has a tooth brush that has a built in timer. It blinks until 2 minutes are up. He could care less if theres tooth paste on it or not. He likes to watch it blink. Wal Mart has them. Also have you let her watch you brush yours? Let her do it with you.

In the beginning I'd put them up on the bathroom acbinet and put their back against my chest. Get a flashlight and say I was going to shine a light in their mouth. It's interesting enough that they usually let me do it. When I was done brushing I gave them the tooth brush and let them do it for a few minutes while I picked up the bathroom or bedroom. HTH

Hi, I havea 2 1/2 year old. We started him at about the same age brushing his teeth. He refused at first and then we just let hime chew on the toothbrush to get him used to it. As long as you use no flouride toothpaste, let her play with it while you brush yours. She will eventually ask to brush. Mine does now.

My son likes to brush his teeth whenever/wherever I am brushing mine. So we moved his stuff into my bathroom and I try to brush my teeth whenever I really want him to brush his. I let him do it himself with just water and then I go over it with his toothpaste.
I think from your post, you already have done this - but make sure you are using a toothpaste with no fluoride at this age (they are generally labelled as baby, infant or toddler).
Good luck!

I just give my 22mo the tooth brush and let him chew on it. He's been doing that since he was 1 and he ends up getting his teeth clean. I'll try to get in there and brush a little if he'll let me but he does a pretty good job by himself!!

Worse case scenario, you can always use a dry wash cloth and wipe the teeth well to remove build up. I even do that to my teeth sometimes to make sure the surface got really clean.

My daughter is 19 months old. I have this same problem. At first she LOVED the toothbrush but now sometimes she's just not interested. i even got her a light up tooth brush. Most of the time i find that she won't brush her teeth as much as she'll suck on the toothbrush. I figure whatever works. I try and do it for her as much as she'll let me then i just let her play with it. They'll get the hang of it with age. Im sure brushing teeth will always be a morning and bed time battle. GOOD LUCK!

My 19 month-old likes to watch me brush while she brushes too. Sometimes she brushes my teeth while I brush hers.