Teeth cleaning

I just let my girl do it herself. She’ll kick off if I try. I know she’s not brushing them at all just chewing the brush but just trying to get her in the habit of the routine.

Same, let her do it herself and try to help her if she’ll let me but if she gets upset I stop because then it’ll put her off more. Even them chewing on the toothbrush helps and also the fluoride in the toothpaste will protect the teeth.
I think it also helps massively to let her see me brush my teeth at the same time and let her help brush my teeth. Children like to copy what they see.
Hopefully he will let you help at some point.

Having relayed these exact concerns to my dentist/colleague (same person) she said "don't even worry about it, I used to have to headlock my youngest and he has no trauma surrounding brushing now. As long as you get some fluoride in there and ideally if you can focus on the big biting teeth you're good"

I literally have to pin my little boy down to do it 🙃 I distract him with counting and funny faces and he’s a lot better with it now, he used to proper cry 😢 but he will still happily chew on the toothbrush himself too and asks for ‘teeth’ for his toothbrush and toothpaste so he can’t be that bothered by it 😂
I do this once a day at night then just let him do it himself in the mornings as to be it’s better than nothing!

I pin my LB down. It’s 1 min and worth it for clean teeth. I just sit on the floor with one of his arms under each leg. He is sometimes fine with it, sometimes he screams but soon as it’s done he wants to play with the toothbrush so it’s not causing any trauma or he wouldn’t want the toothbrush. Bad teeth now have the potential to affect their adult teeth too so not a risk I’m willing to take!

I know you don’t want to create stress and trauma but honestly the best way is to just hold him in tight and brush them. if you stay calm, reassure him, put something on the tv that he likes or sing and give hugs while you do it he will learn it’s perfectly safe. My son hated it at first but now he knows in the mornings and before bed it’s time to get them brushed. Sometimes he will still protest but quickly calms down.
Even just start for 30 seconds and if he doesn’t calm down then stop and try again at bed time and gradually increase the time each day if you can up to the 2 minutes. Give him the toothbrush when you’re finished and let him have a shot if he wants and let him watch you brush yours.

I used to get so stressed about it and worry about traumatising him but as soon as I calmed down he was fine. For me, a proper brush twice a day is a non negotiable so agree with Jennifer about the pinning down lol 🫣 xx

I find bribery works over here, my little girl loves a sticker and her reward for brushing her teeth or letting me brush them is getting a sticker!

I say I'm doing it the silly way and flip him upside down over my leg (sitting on the floor) or tickle him and then brush like mad when he opens his mouth to laugh and/or yell at me. Kinda works!

I actually normally use my electric toothbrush and just change the head for him my toddler. It’s quicker than faffin about with a manual toothbrush and cleans better

Thanks everyone! Reassuring that most of you are just going for it so perhaps I will try that. Will also try sticker idea as he loves stickers - can’t believe I didn’t think of that! ♥️