How do I get my 18month baby to brush her teeth. I can't hardly open her mouth!?

Answer 1

Make it fun for her. Let her see you having a great time doing it. Walk around the house with the toothbrush in your mouth, singing.
When she wants to give it a try, don't use toothpaste! Most children don't actually like toothpaste, their mouths are very sensitive and it burns them.
Children love to mimick people though.
At 18 months, the point is to let her get used to the toothbrush, not to scrub them clean. She has baby teeth and no matter what you do, they will fall out anyway. So the goal is to get her used to doing it all the time before her adult teeth come in. So remember to make it fun :)

Answer 2

You have to make it fun, sweetie.
Start by letting her play with the brush so that it's not something to fear. Then in the evening, make sure you are RELAXED so that she doesn't pick up on your tension, let her see you brush yours, see if she'll help, and then see if she'll copy you.

If she won't open her mouth for you, is she teething? when my daughter had teeth coming through, she wouldn't let me do anything with her mouth.

Just keep making it fun, and don't force her. She will come around to the activity soon, she will enjoy it too, but relax and let it happen naturally. Keep giving her the tooth brush as a toy, and let her see how much you enjoy brushing your teeth.

Answer 3

Make a game out of it or you can sing a song. I am not sure of all the words but i know its a raffi song something like this is they we brush are teeth brush are this so early in the morning this they we brush are teeth brush are teeth. While you sing you let g her use her little tooth brush and watch you go up and down and side to side with yours hope this helps.

Answer 4

Let her pick out her toothbrush and toothpaste. They have a really neat one with Little Bear on it that tastes good. Give her the toothbrush to just hold. She'll probably put it in her mouth on her own anyways. We had way more luck when the kids got to pick out their own stuff. And when my daughter picked out a toothpaste that was "too old" for her, I fake it and use the Little Bear stuff, but then pretend to put the Princess one on it. Go with the flow, just chewing on a dry brush is ok now.

Answer 5

she's uncomfortable.. it's new and probably feels pretty weird to her...

explain to her that it needs to be done and even mommy does it..

get her to become more comfortable with the idea by getting her favorite doll or teddy bear a tooth brush, let her brush her dolls teeth that way she can think of it as fun..
let her brush your teeth so she can see, mommy does it too!
and let her play a little with her tooth brush..
try the airplane and choo choo..

what we did is, we'd tell my son to copy our face, we'd make a funny, weird face and when he'd copy we'd do just two brush strokes, laugh, say GOOD JOB!!! kiss him on the nose and then make another funny face, when he copied do 2 brush strokes, praise him and he'd get a kiss somewhere else..

the faces were funny, the praises stroked his mini ego, and the kisses kept him guessing.. plus his teeth got brushed.. it was a good 20 minutes but time well worth it...

here are a few sites to help with your brushing issue: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/toddlerquicktips/tooth_brushing.html
http://www.babycenter.com/expert/14178.html
http://toddlerstoday.com/articles/3082.php?wcat=353

hope this gives you a few ideas!

~*good luck*~

Answer 6

make it into a game give her a tooth brush and you have one then do a simon says eg brush up and down brush to the left etc. hope it works out for you. ps put something that tasts nice on her brush.

Answer 7

Maya-Cool hat.

Make it fun. I let my daughter brush my teeth while I brush hers. It can be a bit painful for me (haha!) but it gets the job done. Half the battle of any kid training thing is making it fun & rewarding for them.

Good luck to you! Have fun!

Answer 8

try letting her play with the tooth brush as a toy, show her how to use it and let her watch you brush your teeth daily, then let her play with her toy tooth brush and give her the real deal when it's her turn, This may take a few weeks but My stuborn child now loves brushing her teeth, also try watermelon flavored tooth paist, it works wonders.

Answer 9

Give her the tooth brush (without tooth paste), let her watch you brush your own teeth and pretty soon she will copy you and brush her own. It's easier to let them do it themselves but they need to know how to use it - that's where you come in.

Answer 10

Don't try to force her mouth open,encourage her ,try appealing to her taste buds and use the kiddie flavour toothpastes.You could speak to a dentist or doctor.Or mum.