Trouble Brushing 13-Month-Old's Teeth

There have been some discussion on this before with some great suggestions. I have trouble with my 21month old not wanting to brush her teeth. She has recently been to the dentist and did quite well (saw her brother get examined before her). So we play dentist at home. I shine a little flashlight in her mouth so she opens up and gives me a chance to brush. If she closes her mouth before I'm done, she gets to hold the flashlight and shine it in my mouth, which makes her open her mouth too. It's funny how she mimics me when I open my mouth. Somewhere between the two routines, I get to enough of her teeth brushed. It is helping me to establish a routine that we can work with and expand on as she is starting to get her molers now. Good luck!

Have you tried giving him the toothbrush first and letting him start off brushing. He'll probably just suck on it, but then you can follow-up and really get the cleaning done.

Hey B.,
I hear ya sister, and feel your pain...literally! Went through the same thing with my son. Finally, my Sister-in-law got my son this toothbrush that plays music, but it's muffled until you put it in your mouth. When it touches your teeth, you can hear it in your head! Crazy, but it worked for us and my son is happy to hear the music when he brushes his teeth now. I believe she got it at WalMart.
Best of luck and happy brushing!
S.

Try an electrical toothbrush, with the cartoon characters on it. Let him pick out his own and then when it is time for him to brush his teeth, u brush yours with him. This worked with my son who hated brushing his teeth but now he reminds me its time to brush. Good luck!!!

I used a washcloth on my daughter's teeth until she was about 18 months old. The toothbrush might be hurting his gums. Try a washcloth and see if that helps. At 18 months, when we started using a toothbrush, we told my daughter we were tickling her teeth and she had fun with brushing. She still does really well with brushing. She's 2 now so she brushes on her own and then we finish up by saying it is our turn.

Try the washcloth, I would imagine that would help a lot.

Best of luck!

Good for you for doing it - some parents can't be bothered! Use the small toddler brush, and let him do it himself even if he just mouths it or bites it - he probably wants to do it himself - but take turns so you get a little real brushing in. Just don't force it, because you don't want to hurt im by forcing it.

You can also use toddler non-flouride toothpaste that he will literally suck off the brush, but this is mostly sugar and all you really need is water.

At this point you are trying to train him and yourself in the habit of brushing, so don't get too hung up on the quality of the job. Sometimes you might only get one part of the mouth, but every ittle bit helps. I have a five year old and a 15 month old and started brushing their teeth when they came in at 5 months of age. Cooperation comes in waves. This will not be the last time he resists brushing, but it can change in a few days, so keep at it!

All in all, this is perfectly normal - just make it part of the routine and don't fret the nights tha the won't let you touch his teeth. At this age, he wants to be in control - let him be sometimes and his teeth will e fine, but reinforse the habit and routine of brushing.

I just let my second son (2) watch his older brother... almost 5... and he starts brushing a little bit. Mostly, he sucks the infant paste off the brush, but sometimes he actually brushes, too. I let him do this by himself most of the time, but now and then I say it's mommy's turn. I usually have to hold his head still while I get a (sort-of) good brushing in. I think it's getting him used to the idea of brushing and I just supplement his efforts once in a while. He'll get better with practice, and to me, it's not worth the fight every morning and night.

Good luck. ;)

We started brushing our son's gums at 4 mos just to get him used to it. He didn't get any teeth until 7 mos. We too started with the finger numb, and when he started biting, we switched to the regular brush.

We made it a part of his bedtime routine (we started that at 4 mos as well), so he expects it now and its a "cue" to him...believe me, if we skip it because we're in a rush, he lets us know.

When he's been close to breaking teeth, he doesn't let us do as thorough of a job as we like to, but we still make the effort. After we brush his teeth, we let him play with and chew on the toothbrush while we read his bedtime story.

In the mornings, we give him the toothbrush to chew on while we get ready for work or whatever we have that day.

Just a thought, are you using infant toothpaste? If so, maybe try another flavor. My son definitely prefers certain ones over others!

Definitely keep doing it because its setting up good dental habits in the L. run.

He could be teething. Along the lines of using a washcloth (as another mother mentioned), our pediatrician told us to let both children suck on a washcloth while bathing. It has the same effect. At this point, it's really about getting them acclimated and cleaning away any food debris. Tooth decay is rare.

We use the finger brush, too, but like your child, my son bites down hard as well! But I keep it up, and I've learned to be quick!

Hi B.....have you let him brush his teeth himself? Could be he does not hurt, but wants to do it himself. I notice that boys are special in that way. You can brush your teeth at the same time and he can follow your lead. Ultimately that is the goal anyway. I hope it works so that he can have a happy dental visit in the near future.

I use a spin-brush with my little ones. The helps because you don't have to move the brush around so much and the sound it makes seems to be funny to my kids. It keeps me from accidentally being too hard on their gums (which we all have to admit we sometimes even do to ourselves) and it tickles so the kids have fun laughing while I'm brushing their teeth. I also let them play with their tootbrushes any time they want. I can always get a new one if they wear out this one..etc... This gets them comfortable with the idea of the toothbrush and they see it as more of a fixture in their lives than as something unpleasant they are subjected to every evening.

Also, try letting your little one chew on a frozen washcloth for a few minutes before brushing to numb any teething discomfort he may be experiencing.

Hope this helps.

We had the same problem with our daughter until my husband came up with the idea of using a flashlight...I know sounds strange but my husband has a hands free flashlight,it's a small light on a headband, can be found at walmart. At any rate, the peds dentist said they tell the little ones to brush in order to get all the "sugar bugs" of their teeth. We just took it a step further and used the flash light to locate all the sugar bugs....Now my daughter loves brushing, we always let her start the brushing and then say "lets look and make sure you got all the sugar bugs" and then we'll say "oh you missed one over here, let mommy/daddy get that one" and we just make a game of it until we've gotten every tooth clean. She's almost three now and still loves to look for the sugar bugs with the flashlight. Hope this helps!

B.,

I have a 20 month old, we started by letting him brush his own teeth and then telling him it's momma turn and then giving it back to him at the end - are you using any tooth paste? my little guy seems to like the taste of the baby tooth paste. he didn't like the brushing at first either but now he looks forward to it!

good luck!

A.
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Hi

This is pretty normal & I'm sorry to say but my eldest put up a fight until he was 3 1/2!!! Anyway in the end I gave him a toothbrush and had one myself , I just let him chew away on his and eventually he would let me have a little brush of the teeth with my brush. I also let him brush my teeth so that he could see what it is all about and that I caused no fuss.

Good luck

Hi, B. - Good luck and keep trying! He is probably just testing you. He has to know that teeth brushing is non-negotiable. You don't say if you are using toothpaste or not. If you are, maybe it is the taste of the paste that he objects to. Try brushing without paste until he gets older. The toothpaste is not what's getting his teeth clean, it is the mechanical action of the bristles of the brush. Keep up the good work!

I would wait until the child is older before brushing teeth. Wait until he is close to two. Then he will want to "do it myself" and show you how proud he is to do it. If you continue now, you may create a hatred for anyone coming near his mouth and a bad scene down the road for dentistry. AF