How to Make Children Like Brushing Their Teeth

Setting up a regular schedule for caring for your child's teeth should begin when the first teeth come in. At this stage, parents can brush with a gentle toothpaste made for babies, but later, during the toddler years, other tactics will need to be employed to get children to brush their own teeth. The key to making your kids enjoy brushing their teeth is to maintain consistency and keep it fun.

Instructions

• 1

  Incorporate teeth care into your child's routine early on. This can help make it a natural part of your child's daily life rather than something forced upon your child suddenly. Let your child help pick out the supplies for brushing teeth. There are all kinds of flavorful and fun products to make brushing teeth attractive to kids. Take your child to the store and browse the colorful, cartoon character toothpaste products and toothbrushes. Let your child select the products and put them in the cart. This sets up the idea in your child's mind that teeth cleaning is something special and not a chore.

• 2

  Brush your teeth with your child. Make this special time spent together. Go into the bathroom and set your toddler on the counter or on a stool. Look in the mirror with your child and ask your child to try and mimic your actions. This is an effective way to teach proper brushing habits and to engage in quality time with your child.

• 3

  Allow your child to brush your teeth. This can get the activity started for your child in a way that your child may enjoy. This can be used to promote initial interest in brushing teeth that can lead to your children wanting to brush their own teeth.

• 4

  Read your child fun stories that incorporate funny characters, such as talking toothpaste and toothbrushes, in the storyline. Dentists often have printed material of this type. These stories can be fun for kids to hear on their own and help reinforce the importance of brushing teeth in a way that kids can have a good time with.