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wont let me brush teeth!

my 2 yr old wont let me brush teeth, he wants to hold and bite it, usually wrong end! and wont openhis mouth at all if i try to brush them, he usually ends up crying and i then do it quickly but feel awful as i dont want him to dread it!

Replies

  • have you tried taking him out to chemist and buying him a new toothbrush? Getting him to choose the one he wants (novelty ones usually do the trick) I did this with my ds when he went through this phase and I took him out to buy his own buzz lightyear electric toothbrush adn he loves brushing his teeth now. He also has a novelty egg timer which is also a toothbrush holder and he has to brush his teeth until the egg timer stops



    also is he into dinosaurs, dragons anything like that?? I use the "You must brush your dinosaur teeth, so open wide like a big dinosaur and say roooarr" and he thinks this is great fun



    hope that helps and good luck with the teeth brushing x
  • i dont think he would understand, he doesnt talk yet.

    i tried making him laugh, that diodnt work
  • Have you tried having a brush each, then you can "tickle his teeth" with yours while he eats his brush?! This worked a treat with my DD. I also use the roar like a lion trick with both mine (nearly 3 and 5) and they love trying to scare mummy lol! You can also buy toothpastes that are coloured and sparkly which might entice him to let you into his mouth. Don't know what they're like in terms of fluoride content though.

    Xx
  • He might not be talking yet but i'm sure he will understand what you're saying? Can he respond to a task if you ask him something, like go get teddy?? I'm thinking if you pretend to brush one of his favourite teds teeth he might respond better to having his brushed



    Also has he been to dentist yet? I took ds with me when he was around 2 and they had a peek and he got some stickers and she showed us how to brush his teeth properly



    another idea thats just popped into my head is teething!!! Has he got all his teeth yet as he's about the age to get his big back ones and they can hurt so he might not want you putting the brush in his mouth because of that.



    Hope you resolve the problem soon x
  • no he wont understand, he doesnt undertand all tasks i ask him. somethings he does,like if i tell him i am going to get him a bottle, or night nights he knows what i mean.

    i will try brushing mine while doing his, my mum suggested but im not confident it will work. i tried brushing his teeth while he chews another one and he just closes mouth right away. im pretty sure if i took him to dentsit he will screm blue murder! ashe hates anytghing being put in mouth anyway, meds ect.

    he has all teeth except molars.
  • no he wont understand, he doesnt undertand all tasks i ask him. somethings he does,like if i tell him i am going to get him a bottle, or night nights he knows what i mean.

    i will try brushing mine while doing his, my mum suggested but im not confident it will work. i tried brushing his teeth while he chews another one and he just closes mouth right away. im pretty sure if i took him to dentsit he will screm blue murder! ashe hates anytghing being put in mouth anyway, meds ect.

    he has all teeth except molars.
  • he is at the right age (2years) to get his molars so they might be coming through!! Has this anti teeth brushing been for a while or recently started? Just wondering if its linked to his molars



    also I've heard you can buy musical tooth brushes if you think that might work on him??
  • erm no i havent heard of those, where could i get one? yes he is 2 on 23rd. i must admit i think it may be my fault as he wasnt to bad in past and i wasnt very religious baout it, now im doing each day he doesnt like it! its prob because i wasnt religious baout it from early enough age! also i caught his face with bristloes wheere he wiggled alot and think that put him off. not sure how to assure him it doesnt hurt.
  • I think you've got to be strict with it so he knows that it's part of his daily routine.

    When I'm brushing my teeth in the morning I will give Riley his and he'll do it himself, although not very good he mainly just sucks the toothpaste off! But I try to show him by moving my hand to brush and he tries to copy, it will show him that it's nothing to be frightened off as well.

    Then at night just before we go to bed I say we have to brush our teeth now and I'll do it this time. Sometimes he does put up a fight but I say we have to do it so I'll do it as best I can and try to make him laugh at the same time. x
  • yes thats what he used to be like, but now its mouth shut as soon as i go near him!
  • We had some problems like this a few months back with our just two year old, the clamping shut of the mouth, totally refusing the tooth brush etc, and by happy coincidence around that time he was given a peppa pig book which talks about them going to see Dr Elephant the dentist to get teeth checked.



    Once he'd read the book quite a bit and knew the story, I started telling him that mummy was going to give Dr Elephant a call to tell him how he'd done at cleaning his teeth, and hey presto, his mouth was open!!



    Since then, when I mention Dr Elephant its been much better, apart from when a new tooth is coming through. Over Christmas, I also had to promise to let Father Christmas, and all the reindeer know how clean his teeth are.



    Just wondering if something like taht would work for your little one, can he follow a story like that? Or does he have a fave book / tv character that you could use to talk about how they brush their teeth?



    Good luck, its a nightmare when they wont open their mouth!! xx
  • I also had this problem too a couple of months back. What happens now is that lo sits on dh's lap in the bathroom (and if necessary holds lo's arms down), while I worm my way in with a tooth brush. We gave lots of praise if I could get the toothbrush in. Lo did struggle for a while but it is kinder than hearing them cry as a result of what happens at the dentist. This lasted a couple of days and once she saw she got praise, she let us in no problem to brush her teeth
  • yesterday he was watching cbeebies and when he smiled i gently oput brush in and did my thing as quick and as well as could and praied him loads, he ulled away and took toothbrush off me after!
  • have you tried a fruit flavoured toothpaste?? my lo hates the taste of mint and it got to the stage where i was pinning her to her bed. spoke to one of the specialist children's dentist at work and he said as long as there's 1000 parts fluoride (will tell you on the tube) it doesn't matter what flavour it is, lots of dentists will tell you to use a adult mint one but it has to be adult strength ( 1000 parts fluoride) doesn't matter about the flavour and he should know he wrote the guidance for the government . pippa loves having her teeth brushed now and always tells me if i forget. worth a try if nothing else xx
  • maybe i try a fruity one then too.
  • just thought i'd share a funny story about teeth...



    JJ got a new toothbrush for xmas with a panda on it and he LOVES it so much that he gets upset if we use it because it's wet and i won't let him take it to bed lol!



    anyway, the other night we brushed his teeth and had the usual "i want to take teddy to bed" conversation and me saying "no you can't, he's wet" to which he looked at me like i was stupid and said "put it in a boat then" :lol:
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