Stickers!

Exactly same scenario as you - we offer a toothbrush every night in the bath. If they won't brush we don't make a fuss and just try again the following night. Our view is that, at 2yrs 3mths, they are too young to bribe with charts to award good behaviour but once they are old enough to grasp that concept we will try harder.

I am interested in ideas others may have though...

offer a big bar of chocolate if they let you 🙂

Sweets? 😉

My 2.5 yr old is currently being bribed with stickers for his eating habits, which is kind of working.

My 15 month old hates having his teeth cleaned, but I'm putting this down to teething. I've found that being as gentle as possible, stopping if he wants me to stop, and being persistent helps. Or pinning him down and scrubbing like mad if all else fails.

None of the really helps does it, except to say you're not on your own and we all feel your pain. 🙂

Our view is that, at 2yrs 3mths, they are too young to bribe

That is the conclusion that I had come to. The art of negotiation is presently wasted on her.

Our 18 month old does some times and doesnt others. Again we try not to make too much of it. We do some times mimic brushing our own which he finds hugely amusing and then does his own or lets us do it. (lets face it an 18 month old isnt going to do a great job)

yeh, bit young maybe but telling them they can only have sweets etc if they brush their teeth properly* made a difference to ours

*"properly" is a highly subjective term, apparently 😕

electric tooth brush! my nephew would have tantrums about cleaning his teeth until he stopped at ours for the weekend and I brushed his teeth with a 'lectric toofbrush' and so bought him a cheap one and he now loves cleaning his teef.

One thing that does work occasionally with our two - letting them use grown-up brushes. They enjoy copying (as do all kids) and are more likely to brush if we give them our brushes if the mood takes them.

"telling them they can only have sweets etc if they brush their teeth properly"

Now theres logic for you 😯

brushing with them; "who can make the most foam?" "are you going to be a grown up boy/girl and brush your teeth like Daddy is?" etc

you don't need to be too worried about how effect they are at it - it's the habit you're trying to instil.

oh, and some kiddy type flavoured tooth paste - ours hated mint.

Carrot and stick innit - the argument is that they are not allowed to eat sweets if they don't brush their teeth at the end of the day.

Try putting a mirror in front of them so they can see what they're doing. Made a big difference for us. Also try brushing your teeth at the same time, using the old like mummy/daddy talk.

Show them my dad's teeth 😯
Worked on my children.

What worked for me is having something they like follow brushing teeth (Story Time). No story if they dont do it. And then you have to be relentless with it. If they dont its naughty step and then bed. If they do its story then bed. After a couple nights they get it and if it starts to slip you have to keep going with it.

Despite the fact that we give much thought to child rearing and have tried really hard to imbue our children of 7 and 6 with self respect, respect for others, an appreciation of their relatively privileged position in the global world order, a sense of fun, and an interest in science, music and the arts etc...

... we've never really bothered about getting them to brush their teeth.

However, I don't feel too bad about this because:

1) They drink water not squash/coke etc. and they only have sweets once or twice a week.
2) They seem to have picked up info re' teeth cleaning somewhere along the way (school + a dentist came into talk to them at Brownies)
3) They are only just getting their adult teeth.
4) Their mum went to the dentist after not bothering for 10 years and was told that everything was fine.

Having said all that, now that they are getting their adult teeth, we're trying a bit more to remind them to do it.

Does this make me a bad parent?

We put her in front of a mirror and make aaaahhh & eeeee sounds which works some of the time, the rest of the time she just wants to suck the toothpaste off the toothbrush 😕 Don't make a big deal of it, just give them a really good scrub when they will let you.

When ours decided they didnt want their teeth cleaning we took them to boots and let them choose what toothpaste they wanted. Both being girls we now have Hello Kitty and Disney Princess paste in the bathroom. We found letting them choose something else thats pink rather than forcing our choices on them has helped when it comes to getting them to clean their teeth.

Wharfedale - Member

Try putting a mirror in front of them so they can see what they're doing. Made a big difference for us. Also try brushing your teeth at the same time, using the old like mummy/daddy talk.

That worked for our little one too

Our view is that, at 2yrs 3mths, they are too young to bribe

That is the conclusion that I had come to. The art of negotiation is presently wasted on her.

you 2 are so wrong. ours (now 2 3/4) has been negotiating with us for as long as i can remember.

bribery works. no treats unless they brush their teeth. 2 days of watching mummy/daddy eat cake/biscuits/chocolate without sharing will break any 2yr old. They might go mental at you but thats the point.

Our daughter is similar ( a little older at 2.5), In the evening at least I read her a bedtime story while she has some milk and then brush her teath before reading another story. If she won't let me then she doesn't get the second story. She gets it completely and most of the time is happy to let me brush them so she can have another story.

Also an episode of Peppa Pig where they go to the Dentist helped to get her used to brushing as it is her life ambition to be like Peppa.

Lightning McQueen toothpaste worked for my truculent 2 year old

Have you already tried telling her that you can see a bit of food in her mouth and you need to get it out?

"Ooh, there's a bit of carrot - and a bit of potato. Hold on, there's a bit of pea at the back"

Taht sort of thing works well for my daughter.

you 2 are so wrong. ours (now 2 3/4) has been negotiating with us for as long as i can remember.

bribery works. no treats unless they brush their teeth. 2 days of watching mummy/daddy eat cake/biscuits/chocolate without sharing will break any 2yr old. They might go mental at you but thats the point.

EDIT: I like bigsurfer's and cha****ng's advice though 🙂

Make it a game, have them copy you brushing yours. Seems to work with my boy

>and an easy task at each end of the day?<

And the good news is that you'll quite probably be badgering her to do her teeth every night for the next 10 years 😉

Had a few battles (2x2 year old girls) but as above:

- Mirror
- Copying adult mummy/daddy
- Turn taking works well for us - give them the toothbrush first then "daddy's turn..." "then _______ turn"

Not easy when they are teething...

Just tell them spiders will grow from their teeth if they don't clean them, it will either work or they'll never fall asleep again.

4) Their mum went to the dentist after not bothering for 10 years and was told that everything was fine.

Not bothered brushing her teeth for 10 years?

Our view is that, at 2yrs 3mths, they are too young to bribe with charts to award good behaviour

Gently pinch them on the nose. When they open their mouths [b]GET THE BRUSH IN[/b]

It works on my two.

With my youngest (now 2 1/2) brute force was all that would work for a while. He now holds the tooth brush and I direct it, he is now much more enthusiastic about brushing his teeth.

OMG! is this for real? if you honestly can't manage to clean your nearly 2yr olds teeth you are in for years of self inflicted missery at her hands.

Not bothered brushing her teeth for 10 years?

No, genetically strong teeth and low sugar diet.

Fair point though.

How important is it, given that they lose their milk teeth anyway? Is it more about establishing a good habit for when they're older?

(I ask as a new dad, who has all this to come...)

OMG! is this for real? if you honestly can't manage to clean your nearly 2yr olds teeth you are in for years of self inflicted missery at her hands.

If they are feeling that way out, I can't get my 2yr olds' nappies and clothes on...

EDIT: One day I did end up pretty much in tears after trying for about 10 minutes to get a nappy on...

How important is it, given that they lose their milk teeth anyway?

Still need healthy gums.

Try this.

When lifting out of the bath, wrap child in a towel, so arms and legs are pinned. Sit child on your lap facing away from you. Place child head in your armpit to stop thrashing around. Hold nose until they are forced to open mouth. Insert brush and brush away.*

*method does work when you are tired, frustrated and unreasonable. Not recommended for regular use / good parenting

JnrP shews on one of these twice a day and at least once a week we make her cry with a proper brush. Peppa Pig and there is a Nightgarden when the Tombleboos (sp??) brush their teeth for ages too which make it easier.[img] [/img]

You don't have children do you?

If they are feeling that way out, I can't get my 2yr olds' nappies and clothes on...

EDIT: One day I did end up pretty much in tears after trying for about 10 minutes to get a nappy on...

FFS! get a grip! How the **** do you get through your life if you're letting 2yr olds dictate how/when they do the most basic tasks?

And, yes, of course I have children (and not just twins 😉 )

1) strawberry toothpaste
2) force

Force works surprisingly well for us actually. After the first few times she found it a fun game and now lets me brush her teeth properly, but makes me work for it first 🙂

my youngest son is 2yrs and i let him have one toothbrush with toothpaste on, he brushes with that. then i use another toothbrush (still a childs one) at the same time to brush his teeth properly.
so long as he has his own brush aswell, then he is cool 😀

Thanks for the advice. I think some more tasty toothpaste may be required as a starting point. I always brush with her but my brush is leccy so may let her try that too with a softer head.

those of you having trouble, did you not clean their teeth from when they (the teeth) first appeared?

A lot of kids can't handle the burning of minty toothpaste.

GW - yes, we did. But she never liked it.

Yes

Just like I have changed their nappies since the day the were born but they still kick up a fuss sometimes.

Yes, we have. She used to have them brushed when she was standing in her cot prior to getting dressed or before bed but now the sides are off the bed and she has concluded that this gives more freedom, ie no teeth brushing and the afternoon nap has gone for a burden too.

Tell them about shitworms.

Invisible little worms that crawl up from your bum and bore into your teeth and poop there which gives you toothache. Toothpaste kills them.

Worked for my 4. Got them washing their hands too.

Maybe a bit unPC for these days. 🙂

You could always show them the Shaun the Sheep episode where Blitzer has toothache.