Brushing teeth

[Batman]

It's getting difficult to brush my toddler(about 18 months old)'s teeth. I switched to use the small, soft tooth brush (instead of finger brush) a few months ago. She keeps biting on the tooth brush and "tasting" the edible toothpaste (which does not contain fluoride) while brushing. anyone can share their experience of how to get brushing a bit easier (at least I can "clean" the teeth) ? And, any idea of how to teach them to spit out after rinsing ? I guess it's almost time to use fluoride toothpaste (or not?).

[fee]

Hi Batman

My son did exactly the same until we saw a dentist when he was 2! Since then he has obliged when asked to open his mouth really big. There was no magic answer - just a bit of extra time and effort at teeth cleaning time. One thing that did help is giving him another tooth brush and brushing around it while he was biting on his one..... He still (at 3yr 4mths) doesn't spit out so I can't offer any advice on that!

[loupou]

Spitting?

Practice with plain water for a while. You demonstrate and show him. I think he'll like it.

What we did first was "swish swish swish" and then spit. That way, even if baby cannot project much w/ spitting, most of it has been rinsed off in the "swish" stage.

Problems later emerge when Little Darling then likes to swish milk, water, and juice at table....

[pragya]

hi, my daughter is now 22 months old now and once (when she was just 17 months old) my sis-in-law came home whose daughter is 10 months older than her. My daughter saw her doing all the stuff like cleaning her teeth (with opening her mouth and doing aaaa - oooo sound), peeing-poo poo etc. The very next day she also did without hesitation and reg. rinsing...i told her to drink little and take out....and amazingly she followed that.

i hope this helps.
pragya

[Batman]

Thanks all for sharing your experience. I just wonder if you have already switched to toothpaste with fluoride.. even ifyou baby does not spit out ?

[yeungss]

Please put a little bit toothpaste with fluoride under the fruity taste baby toothpaste. He will feel a little bit strange but can accept it gradually.