Teeth cleaning is one of our biggest struggles. Miss A is fascinated with watching us clean our teeth and very open to the idea of being able to try use her own toothbrush. However at 14 months old and 11 teeth with more cutting through I believe it is important for her to be cleaning her teeth more successfully. Is that even possible for a 14 month old? Well I have spoken with a number of parents who have babies/toddlers and asked their views on teeth cleaning by answering a few questions.

We have a constant battle fighting the fine line of successful teeth cleaning and just getting SOME type of a clean instead of none. I really try and have a turn at cleaning her teeth, trying all the tricks in the books. Singing, smiling, laughing, cleaning toys teeth, cleaning our teeth with her, watching teeth cleaning songs as we brush, etc. However she gets really upset and chucks a massive tantrum if she doesn’t want us to do it (which is most the time), throws the tooth brush away, throws herself on the floor and gets really cranky. In these cases I have lost the battle and there is NO way of getting her to clean her teeth when she is in this mood. So I believe letting her play around, chew the brush, watch us brush and hope she copies, etc for now is better than not having her do anything at all.

Each day we try a little harder to get a hold of the brush while it is in her mouth but my biggest worry is making her hate the toothbrush and not wanting to brush her teeth in the long run.

As she gets older and can understand a little more and communicate more I hope teeth cleaning will become a little easier.

Here are some answers from some other mothers about their experience of teeth cleaning with their children. We would love to hear from you and how teeth cleaning is done in your house.

From the Mums:

Mea

• How old is your child? 3
• How many teeth do they have? Heaps
• When did you start brushing their teeth? 6 months
• How did you do it (using what?)? Silicone brush
• Did your child like teeth cleaning? Sometimes
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Watching a video (brush brush brush) while doing it.
• My younger daughter loves brushing – no effort

 

Shiona

•  How old is your child? One
• How old were they when they got their first tooth?  7 months
• How many teeth do they have? Four
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Have always cleaned his gums and started with a brush when his first tooth emerged and with a pre-teeth brush before that
• How did you do it (using what?)? Pre- teeth brush no then baby toothbrush
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? He doesn’t like me doing it but loves doing it himself as he sees his big bro doing this
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Still don’t, persist until he lets me because he isn’t getting out of it and he knows that.

 

Lauren

• How old is your child? 15month
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 10 months
• How many teeth do they have? 6
• When did you start brushing their teeth? About June 2016..only got a tooth then
• How did you do it (using what?)? Dentist gave me a children’s tooth brush and just with water. He at first let me brush and then tried himself
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? At first he loved it
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? After he was sick for the first time (needing antibiotics) he refused to have anything in his mouth as he hated the medication, so I gave him a soft toothbrush like mine but he has to use it himself and hates it still

 

Trista

• How old is your child? 14 months
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 7 months
• How many teeth do they have? 6
• When did you start brushing their teeth? As soon as he got the first one
• How did you do it (using what?)? I used a little silicone baby toothbrush that goes on your finger and i just rubbed it on his teeth and gums with water.
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Yes he loves it
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? He always sees us do ours and whinges for his toothbrush and we sing a song that goes “you brush your teeth… chh… chh…. chhh” silly but it works

 

Mikaela

• How old is your child? 2yrs 2months
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 10 months
• How many teeth do they have? 20ish?
• When did you start brushing their teeth? 10ish months
• How did you do it (using what?)? Before 1 year just a toothbrush, after 1 year, kids toothpaste
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Sometimes!
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Using a wiggles toothbrush at first which played wiggles music. Then just a regular one which she picked. I let her brush her teeth first then I finish it off.

 

Penny

• How old is your child? 1,2,4
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? around 6 months
• How many teeth do they have? Almost a full set
• When did you start brushing their teeth? 8 months
• How did you do it (using what?)? baby tooth brush soft to chew on
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? no
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? drama is inevitable

 

Chantal

•  How old is your child? 21 months
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 4 months
• How many teeth do they have? All of their primary teeth (20 teeth)
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Consistently at 18mths
• How did you do it (using what?) initially with a face washer, then with a kids tooth brush and now with a kids electric toothbrush and toothpaste
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Initially, as they were copying something they saw mummy doing- but now trying to get the bottom and top teeth brushed is sometimes a bit challenging.
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? One of my boys likes sitting on my knee and watching in the mirror and holding the toothpaste while I brush. The other boy is more challenging, the electric toothbrush helps a bit- I also say “oh there’s some chicken/blueberries/carrot (aka what ever they had for dinner) in there, we better clean it out. I also “brush” his favourite toy elephant’s teeth in between brushing his which breaks it up a bit!

 

Tegan

• How old is your child? M-5 O-3 A-1.5
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 7.5 months, 4 months and 6 months
• How many teeth do they have? M-all of them O-all A- she’s missing 4.
• When did you start brushing their teeth? We would always rub their gums in the bath from birth and when they cut their first tooth we used a brush.
• How did you do it (using what?)? We would rub their gums in the bath from birth with a clean face washer and when they started teething we would use a rubber teething bristled brush. When they cut their teeth we started using the baby tooth brushes and now M and O have electric tooth brushes and A is still using a baby brush.
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? They don’t have a choice!
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? We have just kept it part of the bath routine since birth and now they’re older they have dinner, brush their teeth and then jump into the shower before bed and in the morning they brush them after breakfast with me.

 

Larissa

• How old is your child? 8, 5 & 3
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 4 – 5 months
• How many teeth do they have? All of them
• When did you start brushing their teeth? I started just brushing their gums at the first sign of a tooth coming through
• How did you do it (using what?)? Gentle toothbrush at first introducing toothpaste later on when they got a bit more use to the motion of brushing
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Not a first
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Made it fun by singing

 

Bonnie

• How old is your child? 19 months
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 5 months
• How many teeth do they have? 14
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Before teeth came
• How did you do it (using what?)? Tooth brush with just water
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Yes loves it
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? He sees us cleaning and wants to join in he enjoys it

 

Alex

• How old is your child? 2 years old
• How old were they when they got their first tooth?
• How many teeth do they have? 20 teeth
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Started brushing once she had teeth
• How did you do it (using what?)? Using a toothbrush and baby toothpastes
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? She tries to eat all the tooth paste off the brush
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? 6- We have a sticker chart she gets to put the sticker on the chart once teeth are clean… If we have dramas she doesn’t get a sticker

 

Kylie

• How old is your child? 2yrs 1mth
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 11.5 months
• How many teeth do they have? 12
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Around 18mths
• How did you do it (using what?)? Toothbrush and water to begin with but now kids toothpaste
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Didn’t to begin with but now does
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? The wiggle brushing app!! Lol

 

Sarah 

• How old is your child? 4 years old
• How many teeth do they have? A full set.
• When did you start brushing their teeth? From the time they had them all. Maybe 1 1/2 yr old
• How did you do it (using what?)? Bought a set of different toothbrushes for different ages/stages from the chemist.
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? Never had any issues, only one being who can do it I.e. Mummy or daddy.
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Add in to daily routine I.e. After eaten breakfast and then after dinner/before bed

 

Miriam 

• How old is your child? 3.5yo and 9.5mo
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 6 months 
• How many teeth do they have? 20 and 4.5!
• When did you start brushing their teeth? Around 9-10 months for son and haven’t started for baby girl yet!
• How did you do it (using what?)? silicone finger toothbrush
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? hmm sonny liked it at first as he was chewing on the brush…didn’t like it when he was a baby later, now he’s kind of ok…
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Well I’m not sure! Aren’t dramas part of life with a child lol

 

Sami 

•  How old is your child? 7 months
• How old were they when they got their first tooth? 5 months
• How many teeth do they have? 4 (well 2 with two more currently broken through)
• When did you start brushing their teeth? About a week after they came through fully
• How did you do it (using what?)? Using a baby toothbrush from the supermarket
• Did you child like teeth cleaning?  She thinks it’s hilarious, sucks the water off the brush and plays with the brush with her tongue.
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? Izzy was always interesting in watching me do mine so she liked being able to do hers too, to be like Mummy. Just sang the “brush your teeth song”

 

Cassy

• How old is your child? 14 months
• How many teeth do they have? 9
• When did you start brushing their teeth? She started playing with a tooth brush from 1 year
• How did you do it (using what?)? Bamboo toothbrush
• Did you child like teeth cleaning? She loves it!
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama? No problems here but I brush my teeth with Loni so maybe role modelling helps

 

As you can see from all the different answers, there is no right answer how to get your child to clean their teeth, not all babies like cleaning their teeth while others love it. Teeth cleaning is VERY important and something we all need to stick at and try and make it work.

How do you get your child to clean their teeth?

We would love to hear your answers just copy and paste the questions and answer them in the comments below or on our Facebook page HERE 

• How old is your child?
• How old were they when they got their first tooth?
• How many teeth do they have?
• When did you start brushing their teeth?
• How did you do it (using what?)?
• Did you child like teeth cleaning?
• How did you get them to clean their teeth without it causing a drama?

 

By Clare at Relaxed Parenting, with the help of many other mothers 

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