How/Do you brush your baby’s teeth?

Question

I’m looking for tips because my daughter won’t let me brush her teeth. She watches me brush mine and I give her the toothbrush to play with/try to brush her teeth with while she watches me, but all she wants to do is suck on the wet toothbrush or the toothpaste I put on it. When I try to take the toothbrush and brush her teeth for her, she clamps her mouth shut and shakes her head and ends up screeching at me 😩 I do try to wipe her teeth as best I can with a wet washcloth during bath time, but I dunno, that’s not as good as brushing, right?

Answer

My son is terrible... some days I have to pin him down to do it!

Answer

I actually just let him bite and suck on the toothbrush. He enjoys it. He doesn’t really let me do it for him...he wants to. It definitely isn’t as effective as a “true” brushing, but I think it’s better than not doing it at all.

Answer

oh my gosh, I dont know. my 15 m.o likes having her teeth brushed but she closes her mouth on the toothbrush so it's so hard to brush them! I try to teach her to open but she doesn't get it. I feel like at this point the point is more to get her into a routine than ensure a good brushing (although a good brushing would be nice!)  but I think it might take some time for her to learn how to be cooperative. maybe some other people have good strategies!

Answer

I let our daughter watch me and then she lets me brush a LITTLE then I give her the toothbrush and she does whatever. She’s got about 14 teeth.

Answer

I started very early with my daughter (around 10 months) I gave her a baby toothbrush while I brushed my teeth and sang a song “this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth ..... early in the morning” and she was able to associate the song and actions. So now I don’t need to brush my teeth with her, I can give her her toothbrush at bedtime bath, sing the song and she knows what to do. 
She did loose interest for a few weeks but then I started to add a tiny spot children’s toothpaste to her brush and she’s now back to brushing.

Answer

It can be difficult! I say "ahhhh" really loud and try to get her to copy me. I do as much as I can while she will cooperate and leave it at that 🤷🏼‍♀️ I find her dad and the Nana's to be the worst, if they have let her chew/suck on the brush instead of actually brushing, I end up with an epic battle on my hands!

Answer

Honestly my daughter was good at first but recently started throwing her head back and freaking out whenever we tried to brush her teeth basically just making it impossible so we started laying her down on the changing table and brushing them that way so she can't throw her head back while we brush she doesn't suck on it as much when we do it this way either. It helps to mimic the ahhhing while I brush her teeth too and just positive reinforcement.

Answer

Our daughter is normally pretty good but if she's fussing about it we always count out loud to ten for her and she'll let us brush for ten and then we stop. It also works if she wants to be picked up and we can't right at that moment. I think it helps her because she knows that it'll be over soon. If she really won't let us we just let her do it herself because we figure it's not worth traumatising her over because it'll just create a negative association.

Answer

My daughter only lets me brush her bottom teeth. When I try to do the top teeth, she bites down. Sounds crazy but instead of going side to side, I go forward and back like I’m getting the roof of her mouth. She’s still not a fan but will tolerate it. Other than that, she needs to be holding the brush and she just chews on it.

Answer

My son is stubborn and prefers to do it himself... sooooo... I START with a silicone finger brush, and do a quick scrub.  Then I TRY using the regular brush.  If he refuses and insists he do it himself, I give it to him and brush my teeth.  I will then use HIS hand holding the brush to brush his teeth.  It is hard in the beginning, but he has adjusted nicely and usually lets me brush now.

How/Do you brush your baby’s teeth?

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