Help, my 1 year old won't let me brush her teeth?

Question

My daughter will not let me brush her teeth. She is happy to play with her toothbrush, but will not let mee get near her mouth with a brush or anything.

Do you have any suggestions, I do not want to have her fear gettng her teeth clean, but as we all know this is a necessity.

What are your suggestions?

Answer 1

what worked for me with my two kids is a toothbrush I bought from www.onestepahead.com
its a small rubber kind of brush that has three sides and just chewing on it cleans their teeth
my dentist recommended it & my kids started chewing on it while I brushed my teeth before they had teeth

Answer 2

He is used to the fact that it is a scary and frustrating experience for him and maybe he got even hurt once. Even if it wasn't your fault, he might have felt pain due to the toothing and he connects that to the brushing. I don't think this is about testing you at all. He wouldn't cry and fight if he wasn't scared. You need to make him feel good about toothbrushing. Show him a toy, e.g. a teddybear, a doll or another figure and tell him that those friends need to brush their teeth too. Make it a ritual. You might tell him the bear is scared too, but lets you brush his teeth. (Or let the child brush the bear's teeth.) Then you can say "Ohh look, now the bear says it didn't hurt at all. Look how he's smiling. Awww he's so happy he's got nice clean teeth." Maybe you could bring your son to comfort the scared bear and show him what a brave boy he is. (I'm not sure if the baby is old enough to understand that though.) When your son lets you brush his teeth once, you must praise him and tell him what a good boy he is and how proud you are. Then you can buy him a new toothbrush, which he may choose in the shop, which is "especially for brave children". Something along those lines should work. I think it's important that you don't panic with him, just stay calm and re-assuring. He must take his time to learn that it doesn't hurt and if you are worried, he can sense that and misinterpret it as fear and confirmation that it will be painful. Good luck!

Answer 3

Congrats on trying to brush your toddler's teeth. Dentists these days are starting to see lots of toddlers with cavities and the beginnings of gum disease!

I brush my daughter's teeth twice a day. She loves the routine. We have been doing this since she cut her first tooth around 10 months old (she is now 20 months). When she got to be around a year, she also started whining about having me brush her teeth. My solution:

1. Let her "brush" her own teeth for about a minute. Mine basically chews on it. Sometimes she'll get all excited, go Aaaahhh, and brush vigorously. Whatever works.
2. After her minute is up, I say, "Time for Mama to brush your teeth." Sometimes she protests, sometimes she whines. I have cut down the protests by letting her hold the toothbrush (and I hold it over her hands) and I gently do her teeth. Not only does this allow her to learn the right way, but she feels more in control. If someone was sticking a toothbrush in your mouth, you wouldn't like it either.
3. When #2 doesn't work, I then bust out my toothbrush and let her brush my teeth as I brush hers. This works like a charm though you have to be careful of her gagging you!

I also use the toddler toothpaste which she really likes. I have used both the Orajel and the Oral-B. She likes them both.

I hope that helps!

Answer 4

My younger son did this, and it was frustrating. Our dentist at the time was a very very close family friend, with five children of his own. This was his advice:

Get a fun toothbrush. We use the Firefly ones, that flash a red light for thirty seconds, to let the kids learn how long they're supposed to brush for. Put some of the training toothpaste (flouride-free, because they'll most likely swallow it) on the brush and give it to her. Then brush your teeth right beside her, making big, exaggerated movements showing her how to make circular motions with the brush. Try to get her to mimick you.

Most likely, she'll chew on the toothbrush. The toothpaste helps ensure she'll keep the toothbrush in her mouth, since it does taste good. If all you can do is get her to chew on the toothbrush, encourage her to move it around in her mouth, so at least it's touching most of the teeth, brushing SOMETHING.

If she'll allow you to, you start out brushing her teeth, tell her after you finish, she can play with it. Brush her teeth, reload the toothbrush with the toothpaste, and let her go to town.

Many young kids will flip out, but eventually, she may be willing to use the battery-powered toothbrushes that spin, so that just by touching her teeth with it, she'll be getting the circular motions.

Answer 5

Don't worry about it too much at this age. Just keep her toothbrush with yours, and when you go to brush your teeth invite her to join you. Have a stool handy so she can watch you and herself in the mirror. Don't use toothpaste and don't expect her to rinse her mouth out. Try letting her wet the toothbrush before and after brushing and put the toothbrush away herself (even if you have to hold her up to do so). If she doesn't want to participate very much, don't push her. You can just give her some water to drink before bedtime to help clear out her mouth a bit.

When she gets between two and two and a half, you can let her brush and ask to do a "once-over" after her turn. Then you can start adding a little bit of non-fluoride toothpaste, like Little Bear or another brand that doesn't require rinsing afterwards. Also be sure you work toothbrushing into your morning and bedtime routines.

Then around age three you can switch to fluoride toothpaste but explain that she must not swallow it and must rinse and spit after brushing. Keep a cup handy for rinsing her mouth.

You may want to contact your dentist and see at what age they recommend bringing your daughter in for her first visit. Every dentist is different. Ours doesn't see kids until after their fourth birthday. He said that they usually don't completely understand what's happening until then and it's not worth fighting them or traumatizing them to clean their teeth before then.

You may also want to consider never using fluoride toothpaste at all. Recent studies have suggested that it may not help prevent cavities and can cause other health problems by preventing minerals from being properly absorbed by the body.

Answer 6

Get her excited about brushing by letting her pick out her own toothbrush and toothpaste. Oral B offers an infant toothpaste with very little taste to it, Little Bear is on the tube, and that's what my son always loved. Dentists recommend brushing for two minutes, which is difficult at any age. We have purchased musical toothbrushes that play for two minutes and used a timer to know when we're finished. I've always let my son hold the toothbrush, hold the dental floss, and try it all by himself. Then when I see he's comfortable with it, I ask if I can help out and check all his teeth. After we're done, he gets a sticker to put on his sticker chart. You can find printable charts just about anywhere or make your own with some posterboard!

Answer 7

My daughter also loves playing with her tooth brush, which is her way for "brushing". We let her take the toothbrush first and hold it in her hand and then we take her hand and show her how to brush-this way she feels like she is doing it and her teeth are getting clean. Plus she's catching on and doing a better job when she is "brushing" by herself.

Answer 8

Try letting her brush them. I know she's still young, but if you show her the correct way of doing so maybe she will do it. Or show her it doesn't hurt by brushing your own teeth in front of her. You can also try buying a set of false teeth & let her brush those teeth she'll get the hang of it & then may allow you to brush her teeth. Good luck.

Answer 9

Try the kid toothpaste that taste like fruit. Let her watch you brush your teeth while you let her hold her tooth brush. Ask her to do what your doing. If she gets a taste of the tooth paste she will at least put it in her mouth. Than you can gradually work on getting her to brush like you do. It took my little girl awhile to get the hang of it.

Answer 10

Tell her to do her E's and O's. on the E's brush the front of the teeth, on the O's brush the bottom. I did this with my 2 year old, and she loves it. I also do it with her. And also try useing a tooth paste with a good taste. Good luck.