Advice needed on how to brush a 1+yr olds teeth

ScottStorm

Hi,

As stated above myself and the wife are pulling our hair out trying to brush the young lads teeth.

He has almost all his teeth but won't allow us to brush them, he'll happily play with the brush, bite it, even walk around with it in his mouth but brushing them is off limits.

Has anybody got any tips?

monflat

It will come in time.
He's v young yet so I wouldn't push it as he has limited understanding as to why he needs to wash his teeth.
I'd let him become comfortable with brush and eventually he will let you.
Each child is different and it's a weird sensation for them.

Just give it more time and sing songs or similar doin teeth washin to make it more amusing for him.

If theres more teeth to come down he will be v tender and he's dead right not to let you near him as he probably in pain.

bp

Let him brush yours while you brush his....works in this house. Ps you will get stabbed in the mouth but it gets them used to it

theLuggage

Plus one on letting them brush yours. We also said ahhh and say eeee for opening mouth to brush. We would make the noise and open our mouths the way we wanted them to. Keep it like a game as monflat says. They get used to it in the end!

pwurple

We all brush teeth at the same time, then they want to have a go too.

Also, my sis in law showed us the Nurdle Brush Time song on YouTube, and I think there is an app. They love that thing and are distracted enough for you to get a brush in there.

ScottStorm

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give them a try.

bp

Oh and emerging teeth make gums sore so be gentle around them

Neyite

Try a finger toothbrush OP. We had total refusal on a regular brush but he allowed us to use this for a while, then when he was used to getting teeth brushed we swapped over easily to an ordinary brush.

moving_home

What age did you all start brushing teeth? My lo has teeth for months and I only recently started brushing.

nikpmup

I started with a finger brush fairly soon after the bottom two popped up, just a gentle rub. It was more to get him used to it really. He nearly 2 now and gets them done twice a day; I give him a spare brush to copy me (to keep him distracted!) Sorta works. I must try that Nurdle brush time!

jester77

You just need to distract him somehow. I stand him in front of the mirror to look at himself, let him play with the water coming out of the tap, give him a spare brush and let him brush one of his toys teeth, toothbrush can be an airplane flying in and out of his mouth, etc.

pwurple

moving_home wrote: »

What age did you all start brushing teeth? My lo has teeth for months and I only recently started brushing.

We started when the teeth were grown enough to brush. Different for each child, as their teeth started to come in at different ages.