Question about Children's Toothpaste

madwoman85

My son is 15 months old and has 8 teeth but he will not let me or anyone else brush his teeth!

When he was a lot younger he never seemed to bother but since he was about 10 months he screams blue murder if I go anywhere near his mouth with a toothbrush!

I have tried different brushes, distracting him while I try and do it but nothing seems to work!

I am worried now that if I can't him into the habit of cleaning his teeth he is going to end up with terible dental hygiene and he is going to lose his teeth (He has shocking breath sometimes too!)

Now I am wondering if it is the taste of mint which he finds so offensive and if there is any other flavours of toothpaste available that I could try?!

Sorry for the long winded post! I hope someone can help!

Mad

Apricot

What happens if you give him the toothbrush?

madwoman85

He just throws it back at me! I have tried us both having one but he is not interested at all!

galvanizersbaby

madwoman85 wrote: »

He just throws it back at me! I have tried us both having one but he is not interested at all!

I didn't have any problems brushing my 2's teeth when they were younger but I did make up a little story about 'germy' and 'molar' who were naughty and hiding in their mouths and had to be brushed away each day!
I probably sounded insane but my kids seemed to be interested until they got to an age where they realised that I was in fact stark raving bonkers and there were no such characters

Re toothpaste - most supermarkets stock different flavours.
I know Tesco have strawberry, banana etc..

Bibilicious

madwoman85 wrote: »

He just throws it back at me! I have tried us both having one but he is not interested at all!

My son used to bite my finger hard :rotfl:whenever we tried to put teething gel on his gums so to stop the pain we tried using a baby toothbrush with the teething gel.

Do you put Bongela on your sons gums when he is teething? Because you could try and see if he doesn't mind the toothbrush with something he is familiar with?

osian

What about showing him some shows/ cartoons where someone is brushing their teeth? Maybe do a search on you tube. I think the Tombliboos on In the Night Garden (CBeebies) have a tooth brushing scene and song.

I always find that if my daughter has seen someone else do something first - she is more likely to co-operate.

For example, a little while back she had her hair cut for the first time - I was worried about how she would react - but because she had seen it on Mr. Tumble/ Something Special she knew what was involved. She sat down perfectly and was really proud of her hair afterwards.

osian

Or perhaps a book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Brushing-My-Teeth-First-Steps/dp/1405320842/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1295878908&sr=8-15

onlyroz

My son used to scream when I brushed his teeth, and to be honest I just let him scream and did it anyway - restraining him if necessary. He eventually grew out of it...

jcr16

my older children have always been fine with cleaning there teeth, but my youngest just not interested. I've bought every sort of tooth paste and he hates any of the childrens ones ie glittery ones, strawberry ones. he like to have the same as us. ( only a tiny bit of course) whenever we clean our teeth we always encourage him to join us. he has his own brush, he puts his own toothpaste on, he might only suck the water off sometimes, other times he will scrub away. i don't let it stress me. he is learning and will get there in his own time. i would never clean his teeth with him screaming, as with my son it would only have adverese effect and make him even more unwanting to do it. he is getting loads better now. when he has his wash in the morning he is picking up his brush of own accord now to clean his teeth.

Bloomin_Freezing2

you could buy eg strawberry toothpaste, but he won't be having that flavour into adulthood so just keep on with the mint, he will get used to it. Are you using too much toothpaste? Children his age only need a smear of toothpaste on the brush, they can't spit it out so swallow what's in their mouth and too much is not good for them to swallow.

If he's being a pain,do what I had to do when mine were similar age, lie him on the floor, straddle him with his arms by his sides, your knees holding them down, hold his face with one hand and brush with the other. he has to have his teeth cleaned, so just get on with doing it, the sooner you start the sooner its over.

amandada

sit child on your knee (facing away from you)
hold child's hands and arms down with your left elbow
child will fling head about and protest-that's when you get the brush in!!!