cannot get my kid to brush her teeth

she is 2.5 (3 in july) and i feel like i have tried everything to get her to brush her teeth from bribery to force to buying her a special spinning my little pony toothbrush. most days she will put the toothbrush in her mouth herself and swirl it around a little and suck off the toothpaste, but she never really brushes. she fights and flails around when i try to forcibly brush her teeth for her. she has an older sister whose teeth i brush with no problem, she watches, but will not let me do it for her. i am at my wits end with her stubbornness and i am feeling so scared that her teeth are becoming unhealthy. even at the densit a few months ago she kicked up such a fuss that they could barely get a look inside her mouth.

has anyone else experienced this? any tips on what works? i never had this issue with m older DD

cannot get my kid to brush her teeth

I used to have to wrangle Dd,and hold her down while she was kicking and screaming to brush her teeth. Then one day she just stopped fighting it. She's 3.5 and still not able to brush properly herself, she mostly just chews the brush. So I still brush for her, but she cooperates now. We let her pick out her own toothbrushes, toothpaste, and kids mouthwash at the store, and I think that helped to get her excited about brushing.

Re: cannot get my kid to brush her teeth

There is a pink Strawberry toothpaste, maybe Colgate? Worth a shot!

My 3 and 4 year old actually brush very well on their own for the past 6 months after months of pinning them down to brush, which was horrible.

They actually like spitting it out into the sink and that kind of got them more interested!

No other advice, my ped told me to hold them down and make sure to get one good brush a day.

Message edited 4/4/2016 7:55:22 AM.

Re: cannot get my kid to brush her teeth

My daughter is 22 months and DH has to hold her while I brush as she kicks and bats the toothbrush away. She hates it, too

Re: cannot get my kid to brush her teeth

You know what worked for me? I gave my little guy a toothbrush to hold while I brushed his teeth with another one. I kept saying WOW you're such a big boy you have a toothbrush---he bought it. Poor thing was all proud of himself lol