Is this a regular toddler/childhood battle or is it just us? I'm usually all for keep regular everyday routines simple and low key (like for pottying it was just a matter of fact, no rewards, nothing special, it's just what we did and worked like a charm!). Toothbrushing, he's just sooo not into which forces me to get creative!

I'll share my tricks if you share yours!
Most of these worked for a week or a month or two but then needed to be changed up, and I'm ALWAYS looking for more!

First and foremost we try to keep it light and fun...sometimes it goes as planned and sometimes it ain't so pretty...

-Go on an animal hunt in their mouth..."let's just see what we can find here, oh! a giraffe, how'd that get in there? woah, did you see that crocodile? let's go get him, etc., etc..."

-Cleaning the grill...DS thoroughly enjoys the movie "cars" sometimes we'll clean his grill in which case he gets a shiny grill, does a lap or two, come back in for a pit stop where tickly change his tires, top up his oil, and of course- clean his grill.

-We have both Little Bear and Spiderman toothpaste to choose from. Just recently it didn't become a one or the other choice, they both hopped on and had a party at DS's house. THey danced to their favourite songs including the spiderman theme song and it woked like a charm for about 4 days...

-Colour tablets (to see what you missed) bombed. THey tasted yucky, dyed half the bathroom, and freaked him out.

Okay, your turn! Any tricks are appreciated!

Those are good ideas! I admit I often left this to my husband to deal with. Alex definitely went through a phase of not liking it. I remember at one point my husband telling Alex that his teeth would fall out if he didn't brush them! Perhaps I shouldn't have left it to my husband after all, eh?? Eeeek But lots of games and silliness got us through. We also go through phases where Alex is just too tired to brush his teeth - oh the drama! (And then once it's done he's doing somersaults and running around the house!) Kids!

I don't know if this will be much help; I guess it depends on the age of your child:
1) we sing "this is the way we brush our teeth . . . " (Raffi's song)
2) our kids (age 4 with special needs and age 18 months) get to brush their own teeth after we do the brushing. They like doing it themselves.
3) when they're doing it themselves, I brush my teeth at the same time: that works for my youngest since she loves copying everything I do!
4) we bought a toothbrush for our son that flashes for a minute - now he will not let us brush without it flashing!!

Hope this is just a phase and your son will make this an easier time of day for you soon!!

Ok...might sound rather boring...but how about the truth of why we brush our teeth? My kids just responded well to knowing that if you don't clean your teeth well you end up with bacteria eating holes in them, which have to be drilled and filled. Sure, this will freak some kids out, whilst others may be delighted by the idea of drilling and filling!

Games we use for toothbrusing time include Raffi's wonderful songful suggestion of waking up at various ungodly hours to clean your teeth.

Playing dentist chair. Child sits on your lap and they press imaginary button that makes the chair lean back and you clean the teeth - great one minute workout on tummy muscles for the adult too!

Cleaning your teeth at the same time...and each checking each other afterwards for 'missed places'

Lions roar for big open mouths for cleaning teeth....mice squeak for teeth together cleaning of the fronts of teeth.

We are lucky that tooth brushing time has never been a battle in our household (will be now though if the Fates have listened to that smug statement)...our battles lie mostly in sleep issues. Thankfully we can try to remember that most 'issues' are phases...some phases only go on for a few years, right?!

LOL, that's the Raffi song I meant. "when you wake up in the morning, it's a quarter to one . . ." You think I'd know it since i sing it often . . . LOL

And, I agree, if your child is the type that would respond to "the truth" that is also an option! I just read a Baby Blues comic recently where young Hammie goes to the dentist for the first time and comes back telling his Mommy why he needs to brush his teeth. She says, "I've told you that many times before" and he replies, "yes, but he's someone who KNOWS these things" (or some such kid-reply)

Thanks for the great ideas.

DS knows the straight up truth about it all and has even had one tooth filled (which he though was "not that bad at all":_b_link__: ). I don't know why he's so put off from brushing. We'll just keep on keeping it fresh. It is getting easier as he gets older, but it's still far from seamless.