A local Athens, GA Mama wonders:

Anyone have tips on how to successfully brush your toddlers teeth? My son

absolutely refuses to open his mouth and would rather do it himself. Mostly he

just sucks the toothpaste off and swallows it. I really don’t want to make this

a painful experience, so I thought I’d ask if anyone has had success and could

share their ideas.

Here are some of the great tips other local Athens families shared-

• We have started using a timer with a bell at our house… two minutes until
  they’re done.  Ours is a penguin timer, so it’s cute and appeals to them.
  Perhaps you could compromise and say that you get to do it for 20 seconds (as
  slow of a 20 seconds as you see fit) and they get to do it the rest until the
  bell goes off.   Also, singing or laughing or acting silly is usually a good
  distraction.

• He doesn’t really like Daddy to help brush his teeth, but he doesn’t mind when
  I do it.  Perhaps Daddy could help?

• We also tell him he can brush his own teeth, only after mom or dad have
  brushed them first. Also he loves for me to floss his teeth, so I tell him his
  teeth have to be really clean first

• We let him brush his own teeth while I am brushing mine (no toothpaste). Then,
  it’s my turn to brush his teeth. As a ‘treat’ he gets a Flintstone – type
  Vitamin. We do this every morning and night together and he really appreciates
  the ritual (altough the Vitamin is only for morning time). Often, he won’t want
  to brush his teeth, but he does want a Vitamin. So, it’s a good motivator.

• This was something that we struggled with and the solution was embarrassingly
  simple.  We counted to 20 (it was a slow 20 and if he started to fight, we would
  start counting in a really silly voice or singing, sometimes saying the wrong
  numbers so he would correct us and we could add precious seconds of brushing
  that way.

• A fun electric toothbrush works wonders!

• In our house we sing songs and sign along with our Baby Signs! Kids love to sing and dance, so this works for all different types of chores.  Keep the tunes simple (like Row, Row, Row Your Boat)… in the Sign, Say & Play series one of the signs is ‘toothbrush’ and the verse is:

Brush, Brush, Brush Your Teeth

Brush Your Teeth I Say

Higglety Pigglety Bobbledy Boop

It’s Fun To Sign and Play!

Do you have some fun tips to add?