This post is all about how to get your toddler to brush their teeth!
Game-Changing Tips On How To Get Your Toddler to brush their teeth!
If you have a toddler, you’re no stranger to the tooth brushing battle! In our household that was in the top 5 list of things that made me want to pull my hair out with frustration! I knew I needed to figure out how to get my toddler to brush their teeth without such a huge fight…my sanity depended on it.
RELATED: TODDLER DAILY LEARNING CALENDAR – INSPIRED BY PRESCHOOL CLASSROOMS!
We tried every tip and hack under the sun, and finally found some options that not only helped, but completely eliminated the battle. Hallelujah!
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Here are 10 Tips For How To Get Your Toddler To brush their teeth…without the fight!
#1: Give Choices
Letting your toddler think they have some level of control over a situation will often immediately shift their attitude. Little do they know…both choices are exactly what you need them to do. So it’s a win-win for all. You can have two different tooth brushes, or two different tooth pastes. Then ask them “which toothbrush” or “which toothpaste” they want to use that day. You could even give them the choice of which bathroom they want to brush their teeth in that day. Keep it simple and limit it to two choices. Option A or B.
#2: Make It A Routine
As with most things for toddlers, and people in general…routines are super helpful. Routines give a sense of security, safety and comfort. So stick to your routine of when they brush their teeth. Whether it be before breakfast, or after. Then incorporate it in their bedtime routine in the evening. It’ll get to a point where you don’t even need to tell them, because they’ll just know “now it’s time to brush my teeth!”.
#3: Make It A Family Affair
Monkey see, monkey do. Our little shadows love to mimic our behaviors and actions. So brush your teeth together! If mommy and/or daddy is doing it, they’ll likely want to do it too.
#4: Get A Fun Tooth Brush
This is one of the tips that worked the best for my toddler. We get her fun electric toothbrushes. Fun for her, but also it helps to ensure her teeth are getting a better cleaning. Here are some of the tooth brushes that have worked the best for us over the years:
Brusheez Kids Electric Toothbrush Set
This Brusheez Electric Toothbrush Set is awesome because it comes with extra toothbrush head, a sand timer, and a rinse cup. Toddler’s love having their own set up with all these accessories. It really helps to take the tooth brushing experience up a notch!
Oral-B Kids Electric Toothbrush
The Oral-B Kids Electric Toothbrush is also a great option. Kids love anything that has their favorite characters on it. This toothbrush comes in Frozen, Spiderman and Moana.
AutoBrush Pro: Kids U Shaped Toothbrush
GAME-CHANGER!!!! The AutoBrush Pro Kids U-Shaped Toothbrush is definitely more pricey, but if it’s in your budget, it’s totally worth it! I feel like it does such a good job at scrubbing all the teeth, and helps to ensure a more complete clean. It brushes all the teeth at once, which is a dream come true. It’s engineered to ensure the bristles hit your little one’s teeth at a 45° angle with up to 30,000 pulses per minute to effectively fight plaque! The fun design also makes it a more fun experience. My kiddo absolutely loves this one. It comes in 5 different animal options. Highly, highly recommend.
#5: Get A Toothbrush For Their Baby Dolls/Stuffed Animals
When I first started looking for tips on how to get your toddler to brush their teeth, I was shocked I didn’t think of this one on my own! It seemed so obvious! It works like a charm for helping my toddler brush their teeth without a fight, but it also helps with other things too! (Taking medicine, putting ointment on a booboo/rash, etc.)
There’s different methods you can use with this trick. (Or any combination of the methods)
(1) Let your toddler brush the doll’s teeth while you brush theirs
(2) Tell your toddler that the doll is scared to brush their teeth and they “need you to show them how to be brave”. I always play it up, and set the doll up where she’s watching and talk to the doll like “It’s okay baby! *Child’s Name* will show you that it’s not scary!” Works like a charm with my little one.
(3) Brush the dolls teeth either before or after your toddler’s teeth
#6: Books!
As with every step of our child’s lives, books can be a big help! It’s a great way to familiarize your child with a topic. Plus it’s helpful to see the character in the books doing the activities.
Here are some of Mom-Thoughts favorites!
#7: Sing a Tooth Brushing Song
Make up your own, or you can find great ones on YouTube too. My mom used to make up a lot of songs to the tune of “row, row, row your boat”. (Brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush them everyday, merrily merrily merrily merrily, brush them every day!)
Here’s a good one one YouTube.
#8: Team: Team Work Makes The Dream Work
Help them! This tip for toddler tooth brushing is also important because we need to make sure their teeth are brushed thoroughly, which they likely can’t quite do on their own. So make sure you get in there and help them brush. Let them brush on their own some, but then go in either before or after and get a good cleaning in.
#9: Incentives
Incentives like sticker charts, or an extra book at bedtime work great for a lot of kids! They are always super helpful in my house. My daughter LOVES stickers, so she has a lot of fun with the charts.
#10: Teach Them About The Tooth Fairy
Most of us are guilty of using Santa Clause as ammo in the winter. The Tooth Fairy can be used as, let’s call it, “encouragement” too!
Tell your little one that they have to take REALLY good care of their teeth and keep them nice and clean because when it’s time to trade them in for their big kid teeth, the Tooth Fairy will give them money for their baby teeth! But remember…the Tooth Fairy ONLY wants clean, shiny white teeth!
CHECK OUT THESE 11 MAGICAL TOOTH FAIRY IDEAS ALL KIDS WILL LOVE
Have you seen our preschool daily calendar?
Perfect addition to your toddler or preschooler’s daily routine! It’s amazing watching them become experts on days of the week, months, seasons and weather! This is a very common tool used in Preschools around the country!
