does your toddler refuse to brush his/her teeth? how to handle it?

1. Let your toddler pick the supplies. Take your tot to the store and let him choose his own toothbrush and toothpaste. A colorful character on the brush’s handle may not inspire you, but it might make all the difference in coaxing your toddler to brush his teeth. Let him pick the toothpaste too, so that he’s sure to like the flavor. 2. Lower your expectations. Your child probably won’t be cleaning the gum lines or reaching into tiny crevices just yet. Don’t sweat it. These early lessons are as much about instilling the habit as they are about technique. The more practice he gets, the faster he’ll improve. 3. Take turns. If you’re really worried that your toddler’s teeth aren’t getting properly cleaned while he’s learning to take the reins, let him do the morning brushing session, while you handle the evening one. That way, he’ll get practice brushing on his own in the a.m., but he’ll also get a reminder of your technique in the p.m. Nighttime is also a good opportunity for you to get him used to flossing once a day before brushing (unlike brushing, flossing is something you’ll want to do for him at this point). 4. Brush along with him. Get in on the action, and join your toddler while he brushes his teeth. Having a little camaraderie might encourage him to take a little longer and give his teeth a more-thorough cleaning. Try stepping it up a notch by setting up a competition (Who can brush every tooth?). 5. Take a spin. Consider giving your child a battery-powered spin toothbrush. The novelty might coerce your toddler to brush his teeth. Plus, there are some toothbrushes that play a song until it’s time to stop, or signal that two minutes are up by making a noise. 6. Find an ally. Ask the dentist to praise your child for brushing himself. Getting the thumbs-up from an authority in a white jacket will encourage your toddler to soldier on.

My toddler absolutely loves brushing her teeth -- twice a day -- and quite often cleans her tongue too. Guess I've been lucky but she loves to mimic our behavior. "Mom and dad are brushing? Oh wait, how can they do so without me!" Here are some tips that worked for us: 1) Make her look at herself in the mirror while brushing her teeth. Tell her to follow certain strokes and check back in the mirror on how clean and shiny it became after brushing. 2) Take her to the store and let her select a toothbrush and toothpaste for herself -- of course, the ones in the kids' section. Kids have a sense of ownership for things they choose for themselves. Also, you can choose fruity flavors that she'd love for sure. 3) Tell her that her favorite toys also brush and make her brush them too. 4) Reinforce the fact that she feels super-fresh after cleaning her teeth. 5) On occasions, offer to help her out clean the hard-to-reach areas. She won't let you control for more than say 10 seconds but be sure to practice your masterstrokes within 5-10 seconds. It's difficult but who said parenting was easy ;)

The sooner you inculcate the habit of brushing in your baby better it is. Because more time you will give the baby, chances are that he will throw tantrums picking up the routine. You can get nice fancy brush to begin with. Play rhymes and sing till the time he brushes. Tell him if won't brush his teeth, germs will eat all his teeth. Sorry, but you can show her two or three pictures of germs ridden teeth. You can keep choices of toothpastes and make it a game that each day we will pick a new one. You can even keep different toothbrushes for each day.

Make it into a family affair! Brush your teeth with your toddler. Kids tend to emulate their parents after a while and if you and your husband (and if she has an older sibling) all brush teeth together, she is sure to join in. Agree with the other parents, letting your child pick out his or her toothbrush at the store will give him or her a sense of ownership and responsibility. Also, if it's the taste of the toothpaste that's bothering your child, perhaps asking him or her what the best flavour is will help too :) Goodluck!

Sing! "This is the way we brush our teeth, after we eat our dinner" or "The toothbrush in the mouth goes round and round" can be very helpful because singing increases the fun level and reinforces the routine. Maybe most important, it assures the child that the brushing is time limited, because they can count on it ending when the song ends. Which leads us to...

my kids seem.ok . i will brush teeth together with him. i let him put the toothpaste him self even some time it abit messy . but i just close my eye . brush together and also will ask him to count for me how many clean clean tooth I have. and i will also count for him make.him have the mindset that we need to brush our teeth to make it clean and healthy

buy their favourite character toothbrush may work.. brushing with them and have a little counting game while brushing. . praise them after brushing is done.. oh ya for me will also grab those books with little story about about brushing and telling them the scarryy germs hiding in their teeth if they dont brush their teeth

I brush teeth together with him. Get him interested by asking him to count how many teeth does he have. Let him hold his own tooth brush and perhaps get him to chose a tooth brush himself? My boy is currently using a electric tooth brush and he's loving it.

My daughter only brushes her teeth because she watches cartoons on youtube where they brush their teeth and she sings along with them . I also bought her a tooth brush with her fav carttoon on it and we brush our teeth together everyday :)

I taught her by example. Sometimes we do role playing before she takes a bath. I let her brush my teeth while I brush her teeth too. Then I let her try it on her own. :) Be sure to have toothpaste which she/he likes, that would help :)