Since the time we incorporated oral hygiene into her bedtime routine, Hannah has gotten used to the idea of sticking her toothbrush (coated with a tiny amount of sweet toothpaste) into her mouth, to mimicking mommy in brushing her teeth (barely!), and rinsing her mouth.
There was a time when she would stubbornly refuse to let go of her toothbrush to let mommy do a thorough ‘brush-through’. Once again, distraction worked for us (most of the time). I’d let her bring along a toy or an object of some sort for her brushing session and suggest that she ‘play’ with her toy while letting me brush her teeth. Our usual standard procedure: both Hannah and mommy brush our own teeth before the big bathroom mirror -> mommy takes over H’s toothbrush to do a thorough brushing -> H rinses her mouth and washes her cup and hands (and feet – she likes this)
Hannah was taught how to rinse her mouth when she was about 2 years old as I was really bothered by her consuming the toothpaste even though the latter was supposed to be safe when swallowed. I demonstrated to her by taking a mouthful of tap water from a cup, made noises in my mouth during rinsing (and she would laugh at me), and spitting it out into the sink when done. It took her a few attempts to get the idea of spitting the water out instead of swallowing it. And she has been enjoying it since (with much wetting of her clothes until the problem was solved by offering her a bowl to spit into). The downside of learning this new skill is that she would occasionally spit out other fluids meant for drinking! We had to teach her how to differentiate between the two.
Below is a video capture of Hannah doing her oral hygiene routine recently.
Hi
Can I find out how do you teach Hannah to accept brushing teeth as her routine? I have trouble to even brush my girl’s teeth. I am still using water and everytime I try to brush her teeth, she would bite the brush and refuse to let go.
Can you recommend any toothpaste for toddlers as well?
Regards
Hi Theresa,
Brushing teeth for Hannah was incorporated in her morning and bedtime routines. She got used to the idea after a while, say hmm, 1-2 weeks? Have you tried the distraction method when your girl refused not to bite her toothbrush? I gave Hannah a cup / toy in her hands and that allowed me to brush her teeth without putting up a fight. Sometimes I would summarise the events of the day that made her happy or sing her a song or tell her a funny story that involved the toothbrush that was moving in her mouth and that took her attention off the brushing business.
There are some kid-friendly toothpaste available from pharmacies that are safe for swallowing.I remember buying one but didn’t quite like its smell. Then I tried ordering Earth’s Best toothpaste from Singapore Motherhood forum and preferred it as the smell was less artificial. After Hannah has mastered rinsing her mouth from a cup, I bought yet another one by Pigeon. However, the daughter didn’t like it as she kept saying that the toothpaste was ‘spicy’. I think she meant it was too minty. Anyway, I insisted that she should finish the tube before I get a less ‘spicy’ one. :P
Thanks for your sharing! I like what you say about the distraction… perhaps I should let her bring her favorite toy to the bathroom when we try brushing her teeth. Right from the start, we “brush” her teeth during her bath time. But after reading your article, it encourages me to start the morning and night routine of brushing her teeth. She has yet to master the “spitting” part.
Will check out the toothpaste brand you recommend… thanks for your advice!!!
You’re welcomed, Theresa. :)
Oh ya, try to stick to water-resistant ‘toys’. Whenever Hannah steps into the bathroom, one rule which we instil in her is that she cannot bring in toys that will get wet (otherwise more work for us, hee hee). Sometimes, she gets a kick out of playing with any small items already present in the bathroom. Variety helps :)