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Mon 20 Sep, 2004 09:40 am
I used to struggle and fight with my 2 1/2 year old to get his teeth brushed. I read in Parenting magazing to make it a game and they made a few suggestions, which I can't think of off the top of my head. One night, I took a suggestion a step further. I sat my son down on the counter beside the sink and we went looking for animals in his mouth. Big ones, little ones, all different kinds. I talked about what they were doing in there. How I couldn't believe that such a big elephant could fit in his mouth. I would move his head up and down when I found the kangaroos and bunnies and frogs. I make animal sounds like a ventriloquist, too. He gets a big giggle out of it all and we no longer struggle AT ALL. I hope this helps anyone who has the same trouble. . .I wish someone would've suggested it to me, oh, a year and a half ago!!!
Hi Brookeann!
Great ideas. Yep, games are a good way to do it. This was an early favorite rhyme (from "Babybug" magazine):
"We brush, brush, brush our teeth
We brush them left to right
We brush them up and down
To keep them clean and white!"
That's funny brookeann, I do the same with my little one, but I use Sesame Street characters. I will say, I think I see Elmo in your mouth, open up, we need to get him out. The big problem I have is my daughter wants to do this herselfÂ…"I do it." So I alternate and say, "Mommy do it first and then you do it." I also give her a little "reward" once we finish brushing. Believe it or not my daughter loves to wash her hands and asks all the time to "wash hands." So I tell her she brushes her teeth first and then we wash our hands.
It's simple. You just use positive reinforcement. After you get him to brush you reward him with candy. No wait! Ohhhh! Forget it!
We made a big game out of it at first. He got a sticker on the calendar every day after he dry-brushed his teeth (followed by me brushing again with a spot of toothpaste.) When he got all seven stickers each week, we would go to the dentist's office and they'd "carefully check" the calendar and give him a helium balloon...his choice of color. (Our pediatric dentist's office is close to our house.) They suggested this, and it was a big hit with him for several months. Eventually he didn't care about the balloons anymore, but by then we'd established the habit.
He's 10-1/2 now, and still no cavities!
I tell him that he has bugs on his teeth and we need to brush them off or they will eat his teeth and they will start hurting. Maybe I am scaring him But it works. we have never had a problem brushing. He tells me before bed, I need to get the bugs off my teeth:)
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