Brushing a 15 month old's teeth

[RadioFanatic]

HELP! I can't seem to win this fight with him. I've tried everything I can think of and what the dentist told me to do - musical brush, wrapping him in a blanket, distracting him - and he HATES it and fights. And for a 15 month old, geez, he's strong. I'm the only one around (dh has crazy work hours) so I have no one to help me. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[TheCharmingLizard]

This is going to sound terrible, but it works. It's how I had to give my kid's eye drops when they have pink eye:

Lay your child down on the ground. Sit above them, so that their head is basically in the v between your legs. Put your legs over his arms, so that they are immobile - you can put the bottom part of your legs over his legs, too, if necessary. Then brush.

Kid's toothpaste doesn't really foam up, so he won't choke... all you'll need to worry about is him clamping his jaw shut.

I have a friend who had to do this with her daughter, too... so I'm not the only evil one.

 

[RadioFanatic]

Great - my dentist said no toothpaste yet so that's not even the issue. I feel like such a horrible mommy, you know? But clamping his jaw is part of the problem - anyway to counteract that?

 

[TheCharmingLizard]

I know.

Too bad they weren't programmed to make our lives eaiser.

Clamping: can you hold and gently squeeze the jaw? Not sure on that end.

 

[squirrlygirl]

When I was having trouble, I would kneel behind DD with my arm in front of one of hers and my hand of the same arm holding her jaw open (there's a spot on the side I learned years ago in a class that causes a person to relax their jaw when pushed on-you can find it if you push on yours on the jaw at the front of the ear)
My arm with the toothbrush goes in front of her other arm to block it..and then I brush quickly.

She gave up the fight after she learned I could win.

Actually, it's at least an inch in front of the ear, but at the level of the bottom of where the ear attaches.

 

[tinker&belle]

I started doing it a short amount of time and singing a song. At first I sang the song and finished the whole mouth, and then when she became tolerant of that I sang the song for the top ones,then the bottoms. Next I started counting to 10 after I sang the song. Now she wants to brush them for awhile by herself after I finish. It does get easier, just keep the routine the same and keep it a happy time.

 

[look1angel]

I worked with many children in the dental office & this can sometimes be a nightmare. I believe the yongest we had in our chair was 3. Have you tried the bubblegum flavored toothpaste? Maybe have him put it on his finger & rub his teeth. (don't forget the tongue) The toothbrush may seem intimadating to him right now or feel weird. 15 months is just so young & that's why I think he may be frightend.

Have him watch you brush your teeth everynight, then ask him if he thinks you did a good job & did you miss any teeth because if you miss any they may fall out. Your best bet is to make a game out of it. If you get too aggressive his future trips to the dentist may not be pleasant.

I told my patients when you don't brush (or floss) your teeth you're more likely to lose your teeth & I would show them where I had a missing tooth (in the back) because I forgot to brush that one. Or for those of us who have the amalgam silver fillings (we didn't do these in our office) I would tell the kids it was a huge cavity, anything to get them to go home & brush at least once a day. Silly I know, but the look on their faces was priceless.

Try not too worry too much, make sure he drinks or washes his mouth with water before he goes to bed so he doesn't have any sugar lying on his teeth & limit is intake on sugary products. Other than forcing it on him you're kinda gonna be at your wits end until he becomes more mature. I wish you lots of luck.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Couple of things that worked for us:::
Let him brush your teeth while you brush his.
Let him brush his teeth and then you get a turn.
Have two toothbrushes and let him choose.
Go back to using the baby washcloth to clean them for a while if that worked better!

If you feel you are not getting it gone well, try at least giving him some plain water after other drinks and food and try to avoid the sticky or surgar filled food for now!

 

[RadioFanatic]

thanks! I know he is young, but he started growing his teeth at 4 months and he has all but one now! thankfully, he truly isn't a sweets person and doesn't like juice so he only drinks milk and water. I don't want to scare him but I don't want yucky teeth either!

 

[muppetmom]

Ugh! Teeth brushing...yuck...this can be a real battle. I would go about this from a couple of different angles. First, take him to the store and let him pick out several different kinds of toothbrushes....you know, the "cars" toothbrush, the mickey toothbrush...whatever he wants. Then, when you are ready to brush your teeth, ask him which toothbrush he wants to use. Sit him up next to you while you brush yours and let him chew on it. Then, tell him you just need to real quick finish up brushing for him. If he pitches a fit at any point in time, sit him on the floor in a time out for 1 minute and try again. Keep repeating the time outs until he will let you. Once, he realizes that you mean business it will get easier. The repeating time outs will be painful and tiring for both of you. of course you milage may vary, but it worked for me....took all of an afternoon....but after that it was easier each time. I let my kids choose different toothbrushes or toothpaste just about every time we went to the store. Choices really help the child feel like they have a little bit of control.

 

[ericalynn1979]

I have an almost 15-month old, so I'm sure we're fighting a lot of the same battles.

Mine likes to be "in control" of every situation. So in the mornings for teeth brushing, I take her into our bathroom and hand her the toothbrush. I then brush my teeth while she chews on her brush a little bit (all the while making such a big deal over the fact that she's brushing her teeth by herself).

After I'm done, I set her up on the counter and ask if I can see her toothbrush (I don't ever take anything from her, as it causes her to go into hysterics and put on a death grip) and start making silly faces at her. She's a good mimic-er, so she'll stick out her tongue, etc. as I do it. Finally I ask if I can see her teeth, and do a quick brush over all the surfaces I can before she bites down. After she bites down, I can usually get the outer surfaces pretty well.

I figure between her work and mine, we've got most of the bases covered!

 

[Disneychix]

I too have a 'no brusher'. He has 3 different toothbrushes and 2 different toothpastes. Between all that I usually get a good teeth brushing about every other day!
I sing the ABCs very slowly. He won't open his mouth so I usually have to gently push the backside of the brush against his mouth to get it open a little. Once it's in he usually lets me. He does do the clenching bit every once in awhile. I just keep trying to pull it out and usually he'll let go.
It's funny though. He'll go and get the toothbrush and help put the paste on but it's just then that he realizes I'm really going to brush his teeth!

Good luck.

 

[koima]

I "search" for things in ds's mouth, like dinosaurs. "Is that a T-Rex in your mouth? Open up let me see! How did he get back there? Oh my gosh, did you eat an apatosaurus?"

Another one that is working lately is colored sprinkles from a sundae he ate two weeks ago. "Oh goodness, I can't believe there are STILL sprinkles in your mouth! Were you sneaking sprinkles? Let me see the colors! I see red, oh there's a blue one by that big tooth!"

Making it a silly game is working for us. When he went to the dentist they told him what a nice job he did keeping the sugar bugs off of his teeth by brushing them and I use that, too. "Look at all those sugar bugs! I have to brush brush brush them away!"

On less cooperative nights, we've had to hold him down. He had a "swirly" toothbrush (electric) and kids toothpaste that he picked.

 

[seashoreCM]

Do not brush too hard.
1. Actually wears the tooth enamel.
2. Makes the child more afraid of toothbrushing when it hurts.
It will take longer to get the sprinkles and sugar bugs off when brushing more gently.

If you draw blood then you did something wrong.

Health hints: http://www.cockam.com/health.htm

Dental floss should not slam down on the gums between the teeth. If you pull the floss back and forth enough times while guiding it down, it will land gently at the bottom.

Ph.D. in math needed: The floss is correctly held when it would be straight when it passes between the two teeth in question not quite touching any part of the gums if pulled tight. The floss is incorrectly held if it would want to go right through the gums or jaw if pulled straight.

Ph.D. in music needed: The gums should not behave as a bridge when the floss is pulled tight as to mimic a string on a violin or guitar.

 

[tinkerlisa]

Great - my dentist said no toothpaste yet so that's not even the issue. I feel like such a horrible mommy, you know? But clamping his jaw is part of the problem - anyway to counteract that?

NO TOOTHPASTE?! Even the kind that orajel makes with Little Bear on it?! It doesn't have flouride in it. That's what I have been using on my 2 year old for a year now. I also used it with my older son. I don't start using flouride toothpaste until they are older than 3 and understand the rinse and spit drill.

As for the actual brushing, I let him "brush"(more like chewing on it) his teeth while we are getting ready for bed or for the day. and once I get him into a fresh diaper and clothes, I take over and make sure he did a good job. Sometimes he fights me on it but thats when i make silly noises while I am brushing. then he copies the noises i make the next time he "brushes".

 

[tartemis]

Couple of things that worked for us:::
Let him brush your teeth while you brush his.
Let him brush his teeth and then you get a turn.
Have two toothbrushes and let him choose.
Go back to using the baby washcloth to clean them for a while if that worked better!

If you feel you are not getting it gone well, try at least giving him some plain water after other drinks and food and try to avoid the sticky or surgar filled food for now!

This is excellent advice.

To add to it -- I would also try to back off for a few weeks and not worry about it so much. He may be sensing your stress and reacting accordingly. I was told that by our pediatrician (and my dentist) that brushing now is really more about trying to set them up for good habits later on than is about getting the teath "clean." As long as your son isn't eating cake everynight before bed he should be fine.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hubby's family has awful teeth. Hubby's baby teeth crumbled a bit, as did FIL's. FIL was in full dentures by 50. DS started teething at 4 months...the bicuspids on the top came in yellow, and as they grew bigger they turned brown, then they started to disintegrate. Despite everything we did. We were searching for his first dentist before he was 1. Good dentists are HARD to find.

Anyway, on top of all this, as we tried to keep those teeth OK until we could find a decent dentist and tried to keep it from happening with the others, he *had to* have his teeth brushed. And he HATED it. And he's always been long and strong, and can easily physically overwhelm me and even hurt me.

We are very Gentle Discipline oriented, but not with toothbrushing. We did what we had to do. One toothbrush between teeth on the left side while we brushed the right. And switch. That would work for awhile. Then we had to switch it up. etc. It wasn't pretty, it wasn't fun. It was awful, especially given how gentle we try to be with him in all other aspects of his life.

Good luck.

 

[cuppycake]

The best thing for you both is to relax about the situation. Kids will work off of our stresses.

I totally agree with the other suggestions to let him do it himself first, and then help him finish. This has worked for us with our girls and soooo many of our friends. Kids at that age like to think that they are in control of *something* in situations and generally will respond more favorably than if you are trying to make them do something they think they don't want to do.

Make it fun. I've always said that parenting young children is a mental game...always trying to "trick" them into wanting to do the things that *you* want them to do. It's exhausting, but sooooo rewarding!

Good luck.

 

[squirrlygirl]

Wow, I must be a big meanie! Brushing teeth falls under basic, necessary care for me. It's amazing what kids will adapt to when they know there's no room for negotiation. DD can choose her clothes, her snack, and what Elmo episode to watch; she cannot choose whether to let me brush her teeth. She tried; she lost. Now there is no problems