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Kriston, how does one sing while brushing teeth? I've never been able to figure that out

"Ahh, baah, cahh, dahh..."



Seriously! It actually leads to laughing and longer brushing. All good!

When they were young and I was still brushing teeth for them, I did the singing. Maybe that makes a bit more sense...

a motor toothbrush can be useful, too - one with a timer?

except, of course, our dh was mesmerized by the movement of the brush and then took to using it in other ways ...

We have a simple rule for brushing. Either they let me brush their teeth (they are 4 and 6) or there are no sweets, juices and such next day. Of course, they still have to eat, but they are not allowed anything with sugar in it. I make sure they understand it's not a punishment but a consequence. Since the bacterias feed on sugar and if they don't want to clean their teeth it's better to stay away from all sugar to keep their teeth healthy

I don't recall the last time I had problem with their teeth brushing

This is what we do too - it works great!

Toothbrushing thoughts: DS hated mint and all the strong flavors or normal toothpaste. Once we found Tom's of Maine Silly strawberry, things got better. Do you know how hard it is to find a non-mint toothpaste?

DS has sensory issues and the only thing he hated more than brushing was going to the dentist. I finally told him that the natural consequence of not brushing was going to the dentist more for professional cleanings. Then I let him choose. And he chose to brush!

I think if there is an area that you have completely locked horns on, I would probably actually just take a break, give up on it since the ongoing battles tend to entrench people deeper in their positions. Once things have calmed down (after a few days) go over the situation. One of my favorite phrases with DS is "if you were the mom and I was the kid and I wouldn't brush my teeth, what would you do?" That puts their considerable brain power to work on your side!

And remember, he probably will start brushing his teeth eventually, at least by the time he has a girlfriend

We have that rule, too, but it hasn't helped. Not even when he knows he is going to the baseball game with Dad and won't be able to have ice cream. I've also tried the threat of the professional cleaning once a month. He doesn't mind the dentist doing it one bit.

I hadn't thought about sensory issues. But, if he doesn't mind the cleaning at the dentist, I wonder. We tried the SoniCare brush with the timer but it just made a mess because he couldn't hold all that in his mouth and the dentist told him not to swallow flouride toothpaste. We've also tried the stuff that turns your teeth red, or whatever color. He did let me brush them this morning but it took a long time and I had to stop after each section (we do quarters of the mouth) and let him spit and rinse. It worked okay so maybe we'll try that again.

[quote=acs]

I think if there is an area that you have completely locked horns on, I would probably actually just take a break, give up on it since the ongoing battles tend to entrench people deeper in their positions. Once things have calmed down (after a few days) go over the situation. One of my favorite phrases with DS is "if you were the mom and I was the kid and I wouldn't brush my teeth, what would you do?" That puts their considerable brain power to work on your side!

[quote]

Good idea about the being entrenched, I'll have to give it some real thought, acs.

Keep the ideas coming as long as you want, I'm listening and hopefully learning.

The electric toothbrushes clean much better than manual ones. If he's not doing a good job, I would switch him to one. I wouldn't have him hold it all in his mouth. Just have him spit/rinse as needed. My Braun one goes for 2min and vibrates to let you know when time is up.

My DS8 had issues w/ the toothpaste. We went through 3 brands/flavors before I found one he could tolerate. It's still a batter to get him to brush long enough. What toothpaste turns red?

If only they were all like my 5yr old. He's been solo brushing since 4yrs old and always has 5star reports from the dentist. They could never believe that I don't brush his teeth for him. he is the only one where i actually have to replace the toothbrush on schedule. i don't need to replace DS8's nearly as often as DS5s and he's the one the dentist talks to about brushing longer etc.

FOr my DS, I finally had to stand in the doorway while he brushed his teeth. And if he doesn't brush long enough, he has to go back and do it again. It's been a long battle.

I have to admit the awful truth... I still brush DS8's teeth. He has enough plague buildup over 6 months on the back of his front bottom teeth that the dentist has to use a special tool to get them clean (I don't know if it uses sound waves or water pressure, but it blasts the tartar off in record time.) So DS usually has his nose buried deep in a book when I brush them. I know that he has to do it himself eventually, but it is just not a battle that we can fight right now. His teeth are clean, no cavities, and when he gets tired of his mom doing it for him, he will one day just decide to do it himself.

We tried an electric toothbrush, but the noise from the motor was way too much for our sensitive ears. If they could make a whisper quiet one, then that would be the way to go.


See, this is us exactly to a tee. Only child with lots of one-on-one attention. He is constantly hugging us (deep, pressure-filled hugs) and clinging to us, whereas I am extremely sensitive to touch, enough that even gentle hugs can be painful. (and I wonder where he gets his sensitivity issues from???) We don't set an alarm clock in the mornings because he wakes us up by flying out of his room at a high rate of speed and pouncing on us in a way that would make Tigger proud! I've also noticed last year that he needed to constantly be in contact with his friends at school, and the gentle hugs and arms around shoulders were not appreciated by the other boys. I look forward to reading the above book suggestion in order to understand this particular issue.

The only other thing that I can add about discipline is that we finally found DS's weakness. He is very into earning money these days by doing chores. He volunteered without prompting this weekend to mop the kitchen floor for me in order to earn some money. We don't give him very much money, which he is starting to realize by having discussions with other kids about allowances, but we give him a quarter here or there for a chore. So when we get tired of a particular behavior, we inform him that the next time he does it, it will cost him a quarter. We have been battling with him for quite a long while about... hummm, how should I put this delicately... leaving Lake Erie on the bathroom floor due to aiming issues. Finally, I told him that the next time I had to clean the bathroom floor, it would cost him a quarter. He never missed again. I also made a habit, when DS was about 5, of charging him a quarter anytime he was disrespectful, i.e. calling me a poopy-head, or other such name. That phase vanished instantly. It is equivalent to the change jar that people used to use for breaking the habit of saying a four-letter word. I still have to remind him that snarky behavior will cost him every once in a while, but generally he knows that it is just not worth it. It is one way to use these kids great math skills to our advantage. DS could calculate how fast his piggybank would go down if a particular behavior continued.

Math skills => Discipline => Happy Mom! What could be better?

But really it is about finding the one bit of leverage that your particular child will respond to.