How do you deal with cleaning your baby's teeth? My little one hates having their teeth brushed, screams and hollers and kicks the whole time. I hate putting her through it but I don't want to risk her dental health either.

Suggestions would be appreciated.

At least she has her mouth wide open! :D
Seriously, what works for me is not using a tooth brush. Clean her teeth with a soft cloth wrapped around your finger. Don't use toothpaste right at first, a lot of kids don't like the strong flavor. Make a game of it and eventually you can work up to the toothbrush.

I hope this helps, it worked for me!

Great idea T.J.'s Mom, I have seen 'infant' tooth brushes...they don't have actual bristles, that might help. What I did with our children, was let them ''play'' with it first, and I'd grab it every once in a while and brush, then let them continue...Worked well for us. If 'they' thought 'they' were getting to do it, it stopped the fighting at my house! good luck!

We have tried just a wash cloth in the past already and she still screams. We have tried flashing brushes, musical brushes, electric brushes. We have tried making it a game and 'tickling' her teeth.

She still screams. Like Tj'sMom said, the only good thing is that whilst her mouth is so wide, I can get her teeth cleaned.

Do you get anxious before trying now and try and hold her down or squish her to prevent squirming? If you make a big deal out of it she might be taking a hint from you and acting out more than she needs to. Starting out quiet and slowly might help. If she still struggles go slowly and make sure to brush and then do something she likes afterwards. Maybe a story or a cuddle or playing.

We use gauze around our fingers for our puppy. They make the finger cover with nubs but its about the same thing. He doesn't like it much either, but he's progressed alot.

I have seen the rubber made things that slip over the finger, to help keep babies gums clean when they are just starting out on solid foods. I have seen parents use these until the little one is old enough to do the deed with a real tooth brush, I think its a life saver having used it on my niece that I sit for from time to time. Most I think start with a normal brush about the age of three, I could be wrong though.

I've tried giving her warning that we were about to clean her teeth in five minutes, two minutes, one minute, then doing it. I have tried just taking her into the bedroom and doing it on the bed without warning, just whipping out the cloth or brush. I have tried, talking to her, playing games with it, letting her chew it first.

Nothing helps. Sure she might be feeling me tense up. I try not to, but if she is acting out because of that there is nothing I can do. Yes I have ended up restraining her to do her teeth-I cannot allow her teeth to not be brushed, this is too important.

I remember when I was little, maybe 7 years old then. My mother would buy a toothpaste that has a fruity flavor. She would buy 3 flavors of these toothpastes so that I could choose what kind of toothpaste I would place on my brush. She would join me in brushing. The taste of the toothpaste is really nice that I would sometimes tell her to have my toothbrush because of the toothpaste.

But this might not apply to your baby, how young is your baby anyway?

When I saw your thread I remember my last episode cleaning my son's teeth. He has about 10 now, I first give him the toothbrush with a little paste on it for a minute. Then I take it and brush as much as I can, then I use a soft cloth to wipe the top and bottom teeth which I couldn't reach while brushing. It's task though.

My kids always love to brush their teeth. Sometimes they are the ones reminding me that they haven't brush their teeth yet. Maybe the reason why they love brushing their teeth is that I gave them fruity flavored toothpaste.