What is it with toddlers and teeth brushing? I don’t know about you but I love the feeling of brushing my teeth and having them squeaky clean. The toddler? Well he loves his toothbrush so that’s a start. And the taste of toothpaste when sucked off the toothbrush. But for so long I was having to pin him down to the bed to brush his teeth to keep them pearly white while he screamed blue murder.
In the last few months however we seem to be getting somewhere with this. Slowly but surely. So I thought I’d let you know what I was up to in case it helps any of you.
We still do teeth after bathtime, snuggled up on our bed and the conversation, once I’ve got him to stop running naked round the room, goes a little something like this:
Me; “Open your mouth”
Toddler; “Mummy sing, ahhhhhhhhh”
Toddler; “Mummy sing, ahhhhhhhhh”
And then I do 2 renditions of the following song, to the tune of row, row, row your boat, one for the bottom set of teeth and one for the top set.
Brush, brush, brush your teeth,
Gently too and fro,
Brushing, brushing is such fun,
It’s still Mummys go
Bottom set complete…. more commands to open your mouth mummy needs to do the top.
Brush, brush, brush your teeth,
Gently too and fro,
Brushing, brushing is such fun,
Now its toddlers go…..
Then I hand the toothbrush over and then I’m subjected to a bit of tooth brushing myself
“Mummy open the mouth”
Yuk.
And more singing from me…..
Still if it works!
Look at those lovely pearly whites!