Help getting child to brush his teeth...

[BrissyMumma]

Hi guys.

Just after some tips on how to get child interested in brushing his teeth.
He has no interest whatsoever. He Has all his Upper & Lower central and lateral incisors (8 teeth in total). As soon as the first one came in i was fanatic about cleaning them and while he was little it was easy to clean them for him.
He started refusing to let me clean them or do them himself. My mum suggested just handing over the tooth brush and letting him figure it out for himself, she said even him chewing on it wont hurt. But not mr Riley he preffers to throw the toothbrush.
Any help? He's 17 months old if that helps any further

 

[xox.ilu.xox]

Some people get their kids electric toothbrushes of their favorite cartoon character. for me I just had to persuade her, sometimes hold her hands and brush quickly. I only had to hold her hands for a few days, then she finally gave up realizing it really wasnt that bad. She's great at it now. I dunno if that helps, but I try lol

 

[BrissyMumma]

Thanks, we've tried just a plain character one -- not interested and the electric ones seemed to freak him out even more but i found a toothbrush that lights up, Might give that a go. I just so sick of the fight to brush his bloody teeth lol

 

[Xero]

I had the same problem with my son - then I discovered light up tooth brushes!! lol They worked like a CHARM! My son LOVES to use them, he will let me brush them and brush them himself, he knows how to turn the light on and everything.

Firefly Toothbrush, Kids toothbrush, Timer toothbrush, Childrens toothbrush, Flashing toothbrush, Light up toothbrush

 

[BrissyMumma]

thanks Xero looking into it now, lets hope it helps

 

[Xero]

I hope it does too! Don't know if every kid will love it, but mine sure does lol.

 

[stjohnjulie]

My son liked the light up toothbrushes too. We also used a timer, different timers when he would lose interest. A sand timer, a kitchen timer, a watch... He would do a little, and when he would get tired of it, I would do a little, then hand it back over. I sat with him while he brushed his teeth until he as 5 or so. I would talk, he would brush, and we would have a few minutes of quality time together. The dentist recommended that I still brush his teeth once a week for him. Make sure they are getting done right, check out the teeth while I'm there. Now that he is 9 1/2, I do it every few weeks or so, just to keep an eye on things.

 

[bssage]

I think brushing is kinda like poopin (have'nt had a poopin refference for awhile) Neither one is ever likely going to be a favorite thing to do. Its more a matter of sticking to your gun's and reinforcing how important it is. I spend as much time having them lick their teeth and talk about how good if feels to have them clean ect. The results are still pending but I hope they will get to the point that it will bother them when there teeth aren't clean.

The light up brushes also worked for awhile with us.

I think its always going to be something parents struggle with getting their kids to do.

One thing I believe for parents of very young children is that leaving milk on their teeth is very bad for them. This is what I have been told. At the least they should rinse with water after milk.

 

[arjunrc]

Get him to watch one of the cartoon shows of kids and show him an episode where the character brushes his/her teeth. They usually associate with such things (maybe Caillou or something more appropriate for his age)

 

[emergencydentis]

Eat healthy food which is rich in calcium to have strong teeth. </SIZE>[/FONT]

 

[superman]

^ lol wtf. james likes that stuff that turns the tartar blue...i think for ur younger kid it would make it easier to see where the area is that needs to be really brushed...if hes just wanting to get it over with. i donno, james never liked doin it when he way younger either,like bssage said its just something u have to keep enforcing again and agian

 

[emergencydentis]

kids really are different..kiddy toothbrushes may or may not work, but its' worth the try..it's always wonderful to see your kids learn new things at a time..and brushing their teeth is one of them..it would be fun to be brushing together with ur little ones

 

[tajin]

I totally agree! Just turn it into a fun game.

 

[muscaria10]

I bring them in front of the mirror so they enjoy brushing their teeth watching their own reflection.

 

[kathywhite]

I let my little boy brush my teeth and then I brush his. I've used a doll to brush the teeth of. I speak of the tooth fairy and how she really loves clean teeth to come and take away. And egg timer helps to get enough time on it.

 

[vickyy]

My girl loves brushing teeth, it's her favourite thing in the evenings :goofy:

 

[dcad]

My buy used to hate getting his teeth brushed, but then we let him brush his own teeth first, and we would do it afterwards. This works out like a charm, and there's no problem anymore

 

[catholicmommy]

I agree with the favorite cartoon character and light up toothbrush ideas. Also, my son loves stickers and I made a chart where we would put a sticker on it for every time he brushed his teeth. That worked for me as my son went through a phase where he didn't want to brush his teeth.

 

[Antoinette]

Felix tries to get out of it every night but i have taken to bribery. if he can brush his teeth then let mummy check he gets to stay up an extra 5 minutes lol. it works for me haha

 

[sd321]

I always find it helps to make a reference to one of their heroes (fictional or not) and say that they do it and if you want to be like them you should do it too. For example, did you know that Batman brushes his teeth twice a day!