Encouraging kids to brush teeth

worded

Hi,

I was discussing this with a friend.

She was saying its a boring thing for kids and then there is that mind tooth paste that tastes awful.

Whats the best way to encourage kids ...

Typer Monkey

Not sure of your child's age but I had a reluctant tooth brusher who's 4 years old. There's an excellent show on Netflix called Storybots and one of them is called 'why do we brush our teeth' and since she watched it she's reminding me that she needs to brush her teeth!

lawred2

Boring?

Jeez not everything has to be a party for kids. This is just one of those things that falls into the "has to be done" category.

But one thing I tell my eldest (who is 4) is that the Gruffalo never brushed his teeth and look at the state of him..

Dravokivich

I brush my teeth with my son and slag him off when he isn't doing it right. Your milage may vary. :P

daheff

we have one who is reluctant. But a new toothbrush (small kids electric one) or funky toothpaste (strawberry flavour is this months, eh, flavour of the month) seem to help.

worded

A way to convince them is to say when faced with a dentist bill or a new bike etc there will be one thing paid for.

Future loss of a fun item seems to have worked some what ..

Kids will be kids and just looking for novel ideas ..

Stick and/or carrot

shesty

Well whatever about convincing the kids, if that's a mother's attitude it's desperate!There'll be some hefty dental bills in her future...

I have my pair in a routine, teeth, face, hands.It's non-negotiable ( a lot of work to get the littler one to let me do it but she's only a toddler).

mloc123

worded wrote: »

Hi,

I was discussing this with a friend.

She was saying its a boring thing for kids and then there is that mind tooth paste that tastes awful.

Whats the best way to encourage kids ...

My 2 year old doesn't agree... as he usually 'eats' the toothpaste and then brushes his teeth :pac:

Tombo2001

shesty wrote: »

Well whatever about convincing the kids, if that's a mother's attitude it's desperate!There'll be some hefty dental bills in her future...

I have my pair in a routine, teeth, face, hands.It's non-negotiable ( a lot of work to get the littler one to let me do it but she's only a toddler).

Is that really necessary?

(And why is a parent assumed to be a mother?)

mordeith

This is how I encourage my two "Brush your teeth".

pwurple

It's habit I suppose, just something we do every evening and morning, and there is no discussion either way.. I used to show them me brushing my own first, then their turn. They like the grown up thing. 

They were generally ok with it.  When we had some resistance for a babysitter (their auntie) she put on a toothbrushing song on her phone which plays for 2 minutes (About how long they should be brushing for).

I still brush their teeth myself by the way (ages 6 and 3), and will do until they are about 8 or 9. I wouldn't trust them to get all the nooks and crannies themselves yet.

ThisRegard

Might be worth changing the tooth paste. My son is usually great but when I accidentally use his sisters toothpaste he goes mad as to the taste and sensation of it.

The Pheasant2

Show them some close up pictures of the rotten stumps left hanging in the mouths of meth addicts

"Now this is a man who didn't brush his teeth every day and look what happened"

Not the most "honest" method but if it's for the greater good... :pac:

uck51js9zml2yt

We used a Slovak kids toothpaste with no flavour for a long time. We now just use what we normally buy.
I still supervise most of the time to ensure its done properly.
They make sure I smell their breath!

JoeyJJ

Brushing egg timer helps too.

BrianBoru00

Habit - started at about 18 months with just toothbrush and water. Progresses using tiny bits of paste that can hardly be tasted and increased it over 18 months to a pea size amount which is plenty.
Youngest started demanding to get their teeth brushed as well so as not to be left out.

Romantic Rose

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

Show them some close up pictures of the rotten stumps left hanging in the mouths of meth addicts

"Now this is a man who didn't brush his teeth every day and look what happened"

Not the most "honest" method but if it's for the greater good... :pac:

I actually did this and I found it worked for a few weeks at least. I find brushing teeth the most torturous part of parenting.

I kept asking my daughter if she wanted Witches teeth and I eventually showed her pictures off the net of rotten teeth, yuck. It definitely bucked her up a bit for a while.

We had a dental hygienist from the HSE at school a few weeks ago and she recommended an electric toothbrush for that age. I'm going to throw it on the list for Santa this year.

BeardySi

Can't remember when ours started brushing her own teeth. Sometime about 18 months I think.
At first I'd brush mine at the same time and she'd copy me - I she wasn't doing it right I'd help her out.

In our house it's no teeth, no story. No making a fuss over it. If she's refusing I'll just say "OK, let's go to bed so. No stories tonight..."
Teeth have always gotten brushed.

lazygal

Bring them to the dentist for a check. I'm no nonsense about teeth as I've had issues with mine. Parents need to brush first until they're seven or so, so we do that and they they have a go. Life is boring sometimes, you still brush your teeth.