Brushing 8mos teeth is a nightmare :(

[jenjen25]

My husband and i do it when he's in the bath and we have a t/brush for him and one for us and we make it fun. Sing the "This is the way we brush our teeth" song and lots of "Show Mummy/Daddy how you brush your teeth. Now he's 16months old but we started this very early on. I guess you don't want to make it a chore otherwise they'll never want to do it and associate it with something bad. Goodluck

[onthefly]

My DS is over two and we still only doing it when it's ok with him. What can you do? If yiou force it then she'll just hate it even more and it'll become more of a long-term struggle. That's my reasoning anyway.
Mostly he swishes the brush around his mouth and makes brushing sounds. Sometimes he lets me actually brush his teeth.

[deletedit]

Just to scare you all:

The other day I was sitting next to a little boy with a mouthful of horrid, rotten teeth. Like you'd see in a medieval movie or something - I mean really really rotten. Sure they are just baby teeth but they fall out one at a time over many many years but you can get them all rotten at once.

He was 4. He was sipping on coke the entire time.

Brush those teeth!

[minimatron]

Eeww Rumpled! Thats what I am scared of! DD2 has been a nightmare ever since she cut her canines. Before that we were brushing everyday without an issue. So for the past 2 months its been a struggle, she closes her mouth tightly and moves her head away. I give her the brush, brush with her, sing songs, tell her to watch how her sister does it... make it fun, but that really doesnt do much most of the time!!! Dh and I will lay her down and quickly give a scrub. She hates it but we do this maybe 3 times a week just to get the yellow off them. I know its probably traumatising her but I am scared she will get rotten teeth and I know that even though they are baby teeth they can affect adult teeth when they come through. Hoping its just a phase!

Oh... thankfully I dont give my girls coke.... or loads of junk food!

[deletedit]

My beastie only started getting teeth at 14 months and just got her full set at 2.3 years old. She copies us and her big sister brush, so we kind of get something resembling brushing maybe once a day, sometimes less often. Sometimes she lets me do it, mostly not. She always has a sippy cup of water with her so I'm not that fussed. At least she's not scared of the toothbrush the same way she's scared of the hairbrush - it is virtually impossible to brush (or cut) her hair and her hair is almost waist length when it is wet!

[minimatron]

Am lucky with the hair brush! DD2 has all but her 2 year old molars at 17 months.... so they came around fast! It was definately the painful cutting of the canines that got her. Maybe I should just let her go and see how she goes over time without forcing the issue. She even used to let me pick bits out of her teeth if they were stuck...like apple skin or meat... but not any more. She drinks lots of water too so I think I just need to breath!

[Arcadia]

Is she eating any sugary foods?

Seriously, I wouldn't be brushing an 8 mo teeth. Sure you can introduce her to a toothbrush and sing songs and give her the idea that before bed we brush our teeth, but she is unlikely to need serious brushing.

Dd loves brushing her teeth, and I only bought a toothbrush at 10ish months.

Relax. Brushing and flossing are important but it's more important to set up the idea IMO so they are diligent later.

And fwiw, coke rots anyones teeth. Brushing or not.

[deletedit]

And fwiw, coke rots anyones teeth. Brushing or not.

Someone should have told that to the mother of that poor little boy

[feeb]

DS1 didnt get teeth till 11 months and we started trying to brush them at same time. Wasn't hard when he only had 2, but as he got more it got harder!!!

Now at nearly 2 he wants his toothbrush in morning when I am doing my teeth and he will suck on brush and move it around a little bit but not much, I then brush his teeth but its only a small window of opportunity until he clamps down on brush or runs off.

[Olive]

dental hygiene is really important even for baby teeth, they have some baby teeth until around 12-13 so they need looking after, having said that, i wouldnt push it as it will create bigger problems later, give her the brush to chew on in the bath, at this age its as good as a brush, but pleaaaaaaaaaase remember they need these teeth, loosing baby teeth due to decay at an early age can create huge space and cost issues later on, ive seen stuff in kids that would horrify most of you.
for older kids who wont brush a cheap electric brush that plays music often works wonders!