how do you get your toddlers to brush their teeth?

[overjoyed]

hi girls
my daughter is 2 on the 21st of july and all she want to do is chew the toothbrush. if i trty and brush she goes nuts. shes still teething too. any tips/help would be great x

[caz2107]

About the only successful thing we've found it to let DS brush our teeth first (altho you have to be prepared for a lot of being poked in the throat and teeth being smacked  ) then mummy gets a turn to do his, even now we have to be ready and get a few good quick scrubs in before he bites down and won't give it back up 

[anna*]

I get mine to ROAR like a lion and squeak like a mouse - take turns - stickers for his chart - sing songs - ask him what he wants me to count 'one helicopter, two helicopters' etc

[Shiv52]

I let her brush first and then we talk about how the dentist says mummy needs to check them and then I sing a silly song about brushing the top ones and now the bottom and we make a big deal about stopping to spit out the toothpaste which she thinks is hilarious and then keep going.  Distraction and daft songs work well here!  I actually heard her today brushing her teeth and singing so something must be sinking in. 

[RachelC]

More info here:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=167651.0

There are quite a lot of threads on this board and the discipline board.

[Rebecca247]

we bought all our kids an electric toothbrush in their fave character, the older kids are so used to brushing their teeth now so max uses his electric toothbrush too and loves it, we of course do it properly after he has finished having his go!

[brenda2]

if she's teething maybe just give it a rest for now...let her do it herself but if she refuses to let you do it it may be too painful for her.

[*Becky*]

I agree with pp. I would not want my teeth brushed if I had toothache! My lo is a rascal for teeth cleaning but it has improved since we made a big deal out of getting him a new toothbrush and sitting on his special seat. He is much better for daddy than me!

[katie80]

I second Anna's counting technique.  We went through this too and I had posted a message and then read through one of the other threads.  One mom's (momtonb&ab) tip was to count things, so I tried it.  It was the only thing that worked, and now we do singing or other things as well, but mostly we count things. 

We count 10 'whatevers' on the top and 10 on the bottom.  I let DD pick; tonight it was 10 'muffins' on top and 10 'cousins' on the bottom.  The first few times, I gave her a couple choices of what to count and she looked at me with no clue what I was talking about so I just chose something she liked (dogs), and after a couple days it stuck.  Now, I ask her what she wants to count, she blurts something out, and opens her mouth.  No problems! 

I am a bit softer when she's teething (currently getting canines), but I don't take breaks otherwise it would be harder to get her to start again.  If it's really painful, I agree with Brenda, and I just let her do it herself for a couple days.

[*Jo*]

we sing our toothbrushing song, to the tune of "the wheels on teh bus go round and round" we say "the brush on the teeth go up and down in Calebs mouth," or "round and round" or "back and forth.... in Calebs mouth" and on the last brushing round we say "now all the teeth are nice and clean... in Calebs mouth" he seems to like that one!

[overjoyed]

ladie syouve been brilliant, cant wait to try some of theseout. shes still teething so ill take it easy. thank you all so so much xx