Advice appreciated - getting kids to brush their teeth!


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benruane

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Sep 2, 2009
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Wondering if anyone here has any nuggets of wisdom on how to get young kids to brush their teeth? My youngest son is 3 yrs old and just about every day it's a monumental battle to get his teeth cleaned! Scolding doesn't work. Smacking his butt doesn't work. Bribery (ok, incentivising!) works sometimes but has undesirable consequences. New toothbrush and sweet fruity toothpaste don't work. Appealing to his otherwise reasonably sound sense of hygiene doesn't work. Other than this, it's not like he's a very naughty boy. And his brother (coming to 5 yrs) brushes his teeth with no problems.

While the main issue is, of course, making sure his teeth are clean, it would also be great for me to not have to start every day with a battlefield mentality!

Advice and experiences would be most welcome :)

Cheers, Ben
 

i had similar issue with my son before. Smack his but, scold him or even keep him alone in the toilet but didn’t work.
i realize later that there is a problem with his teeth that make him uncomfortable when brushing his teeth.
i brought him to see dentist and not an issue anymore. The dentist is good in encouraging my son to do daily tooth brush.
Believe it or not, my son now goes to toilet and brush his teeth without my order.. 


Wondering if anyone here has any nuggets of wisdom on how to get young kids to brush their teeth? My youngest son is 3 yrs old and just about every day it's a monumental battle to get his teeth cleaned! Scolding doesn't work. Smacking his butt doesn't work. Bribery (ok, incentivising!) works sometimes but has undesirable consequences. New toothbrush and sweet fruity toothpaste don't work. Appealing to his otherwise reasonably sound sense of hygiene doesn't work. Other than this, it's not like he's a very naughty boy. And his brother (coming to 5 yrs) brushes his teeth with no problems.

While the main issue is, of course, making sure his teeth are clean, it would also be great for me to not have to start every day with a battlefield mentality!

Advice and experiences would be most welcome :)

Cheers, Ben
 

My colleague had the same problem with his 3-year old... He brought his kid to Grandpa, and ask Grandpa to open his (almost toothless) mouth. After one peek, little boy brushes his teeth everyday on his own.
 

Maybe his gums hurt when he brushes his teeth or he has sensitive teeth, try asking him that.

../azul123
 

Maybe his gums hurt when he brushes his teeth or he has sensitive teeth, try asking him that.

../azul123

The problem is kids dun not where pain. You ask them her pain there pain there away say YES.

What i did When my girl at 1+ years old i will ask her brush teeth (even she have 4 only). Normally she will said 'NO' to me. So I said 'OK' and walk to the washroom and brush my teeth. She will follow and see what i doing. After i am done i will tell her why i need to brush teeth. I repeated for 2+ month till he said 'YES'. Now she is 2yrs 3mths old...will brush on her own...but i will do the proper one after that.
 

Wondering if anyone here has any nuggets of wisdom on how to get young kids to brush their teeth? My youngest son is 3 yrs old and just about every day it's a monumental battle to get his teeth cleaned! Scolding doesn't work. Smacking his butt doesn't work. Bribery (ok, incentivising!) works sometimes but has undesirable consequences. New toothbrush and sweet fruity toothpaste don't work. Appealing to his otherwise reasonably sound sense of hygiene doesn't work. Other than this, it's not like he's a very naughty boy. And his brother (coming to 5 yrs) brushes his teeth with no problems.

While the main issue is, of course, making sure his teeth are clean, it would also be great for me to not have to start every day with a battlefield mentality!

Advice and experiences would be most welcome :)

Cheers, Ben

this used to work on me. when we were kids, the school would give us this sweet that left a red dye on our teeth.

after chewing it, it would give count dracula a run for his money. the challenge was to brush the stains off and it showed us if we were doing it correctly or spots we have not missed out from the patches of stains left on the teeth.

it was fun and we always looked forward to it.
 

I shall subscribe to this thread when my son is 3. That will be in 2 years time... LOL!
 

Wondering if anyone here has any nuggets of wisdom on how to get young kids to brush their teeth? My youngest son is 3 yrs old and just about every day it's a monumental battle to get his teeth cleaned! Scolding doesn't work. Smacking his butt doesn't work. Bribery (ok, incentivising!) works sometimes but has undesirable consequences. New toothbrush and sweet fruity toothpaste don't work. Appealing to his otherwise reasonably sound sense of hygiene doesn't work. Other than this, it's not like he's a very naughty boy. And his brother (coming to 5 yrs) brushes his teeth with no problems.

hi, maybe you can show him pictures of tooth decay. :bsmilie::bsmilie:
 

I rent a DVD ( King Kong ) and watch the movie with her. see..see..see... King Kong doesn't brush his teeth, that's why his teeth are so ugly..
 

Thanks on and all for the tips. Some new ones to try out there!
Wish me luck :)
And happy new year to those celebrating it!
 

I personally shower my little girl when she was still a baby and build the bond and trust that have helped me introduce brushing of teeth since she was three. I would brush her teeth and sing along some fun kids song. This made the whole experience a fun one. This lasted until she was able to brush her teeth on her own at kinder. Where twice a week I will personally do a check and patch any "miss" spots. Now she is 7 and her dental hygiene is above average with the habbit that she have build since 4.
My advice is don't beat the child.
 

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