When I was a kid, I hated brushing my teeth. I knew how important it was, but I didn’t like it. I remember finding sneaky ways to get away with not brushing. I’d run the toothbrush under water. I’d use toothpaste on my finger and just rub the two front teeth. I got caught each time. My dad was onto me. So it’s no surprise that my son hates brushing his teeth too. I think it’s karma for what I put my father through. Today I’m sharing five crazy ways to get your kids to brush their teeth.
5 Crazy Ways To Get Your Kids To Brush Their Teeth
My son has a reasoning as to why he doesn’t “need” to brush his teeth. Here’re 2 of his most used reasons:
- I cleaned my teeth yesterday!
- I’m going to eat, and it’s going to get dirty again.
Here’re how I get him to brush:
Lie
Yes, lying is wrong! All the time. Except in this case. I tell my son that if he doesn’t brush is teeth; then he will get worms. Not a complete lie, but not an absolute truth either. Thanks to YouTube I was able to back my lies up. Don’t watch the videos if you have a weak stomach. If you are curious though type “worm in teeth” in the search bar of YouTube.
Threats
My son’s favorite thing to do in the WHOLE wide world is play Halo. So, when he’s refusing to brush, I threaten to take away is Halo. It works. Every. Time.
Bargain
The Little Man LOVES to negotiate. But when it comes to brushing his teeth, I don’t play that. What I use is a bit similar to a threat “You brush your teeth, and I won’t take away Halo”. Also, works every time.
Do it for them
When all fails, I brush his teeth for him. He hates that. He complains the whole time that I ‘m “hurting him.” I don’t, but he likes to be extra dramatic about it.
Be an example
Kids like to mimic what you do. It’s the truth! My child had the nerve to say to me “I don’t see you brushing!” It is true. He’s usually at school when I clean my teeth in the morning or sleeping when I brush at night. So I try to make a big show out of it when I’m brushing. I announce it to him and reminds him to do it too.
**Bonus: Get them a fun electric toothbrush*. I’ve looked pretty much everywhere for a Halo electrical toothbrush but no luck.
Do you struggle to get your kids to brush their teeth? What other tips has worked for you? Please share in the comments.
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*Disclosure: Threating to take away his favorite game to get him to brush is not child abuse. Just wanted to throw that out there. Do what works for you.
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Great tips! I’ve bribed a few times. Hey. You gotta do what you gotta do to get the kids to keep those chompers clean.
Totally right! What ever works! heheh
These are great tips. When my son was little we would brush our teeth together.
Hahahaha, worms! I tell my little one that he will get cavities and since his big brother had one last summer, he knows exactly what that means.
My daughter’s too young to have a reason, but she still hates having her teeth cleaned. My mum got her some strawberry flavoured toothpaste recently which has made a big difference though. x
Jess Powell (Babi a Fi) recently posted…NCC Home Learning
Sometimes getting them to brush their teeth is so hard, this tips might help a lot!!
My kids are just so used to doing it that it has become second nature. They never fight me. Guess I’m lucky!
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You gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes! Teeth brushmportant.
I still struggle getting my pre-teens to brush! The electric toothbrushes really do help a lot. Not a perfect cure – but it helps!
Dental hygiene is a huge YES in our home because our daughter has had so many problems. We thankfully have never had to full-on fib to her but we have used bargaining and bribes to get her in the bathroom to brush her pearly whites. We are parents, we love our kids and we want them to be healthy … we do what we have to do!
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Those are great tips for such a difficult job. I will try it.
Being an example is the best way to get them to do it and also make it fun for them
Adriana Lopez-Martin recently posted…Strawberry Jalapeno Turkey Burger
my daughter loves brushing her teeth and love to visit the dentist. she lost 2teeth alrdy baby ones, last yr and after that she dont wanna lose anymore so she does it everytime automatically wakingup, lunch and dinner love ur tips!
These are such great tips! Brushing teeth is such a hard thing for my kiddos to remember for some reason. Thanks for the help 🙂
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This reminds me of the time when the kids weren’t brushing regularly. I would show them photos of people with bad teeth and tell them that it’s possible that it would happen to them too, it worked! I explained why that happens to people too, to convince them more.
Great tips, So glad that my son would always love do toothbrush three times a day.
Brushing their teeth is the most important thing they could do to keep their teeth healthy. My eldest was great at it, but my youngest not so much. Must try these.
It really is important to get them to brush. I laughed at the worms, I shouldn’t have, but I did. I’ve told my kids the park was closed before, ha!
These are awesome tips for my boys. they always hate tootbrush
It’s funny how easy brushing your teeth can be but how much kids can resist it! These are great tips for gettng kids to brush more!
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I don’t know what it is with kids and brushing their teeth or taking a bath. They just seem to hate being clean, lol! These are very good tips, it’s good to make the interested and to make it fun as well.
Oh the lies our parents told us haha! I was told a tree would grow in my stomach if I swallowed seeds. Ah well. Whatever works 🙂 Making it a fun activity might work too.
Thats a good ideah, my sons always play their Xbox but they hate brushing their teeth
These are great! My mom used to do it with me at the same time. So I love that example!
I think my favorite suggestion is to Be An Example. You’re right, if kids don’t see adults doing this task than they are going to battle against doing it too.
I would try this to my son. Thank you for this wonderful idea it can make us bond even more.
These are great tips. My son is horrible about brushing his teeth on a regular basis.
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Threats are the best! Doing by an example seems not working nowadays. I’m lucky my son loves to brush his teeth.
When I am brushing my teeth, my son always asking me his toothbrush. It is nice to be an example.
Oral care is such so much important as it relates to other health issues as well & we need to make sure our kids brush their teeth properly & regularly. Setting an example always helps a lot than any other trick & thanks for these crazy ideas!
Ha ha, love these tips. Instead of worms though we called them “sugar bugs”
I’m always going back and forth with my boys about the importance of brushing their teeth properly. It’s so hard to get them to put the time in to care for their oral hygiene.
My nephew is like that…he tries the running water trick. My brother gets him all of the time. He started recording him on the iPad as proof…can’t get around that.
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Lol, I have to lie and threaten my son all the time. He tries to be sneaky but I catch him all the time he tries to jump in bed without brushing his teeth.
These are all great ideas for those that have troubles with their kids brushing their teeth. I’m lucky that my girls brush there teeth. They don’t mind it and sometimes like to brush their teeth too.
These are some great tips!!! My daughter is an odd one. She loves to brush her teeth lol…. I have to fight with her about brushing too much lol
LOL Can I have her??? She is so cute!
LOL….sigh..unfortunately we have all been down this road if we have kids. What’s with them and brushing teeth….hahahahahahahaha
Aw, I remember answering that way to my mom before. It was silly but I don’t remember how she got me getting to brush my teeth 2-3 times a day. Having a very cute kid up there aside, I like the simple tips here. A “family threat” isn’t necessarily bad!
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Awesome! Making sure your kids take care of their teeth early on is really important, but it can be tricky sometimes. Tips like this definitely are a big help! Thanks so much for the pointers!
You do need to explain why it is important to brush your teeth. However, I think it is important to try and make it fun to ensure that your kids want to brush their teeth. Whether you let them pick out their own toothbrush, toothpaste, have a reward chart and once they’re done with brushing their teeth they can pick out a sticker, or read a fun kids book about brushing their teeth or visiting the dentist. Great tips, thanks for sharing!
Really great tips! My favorite is the worm lie, it definitely works well and thanks to youtube there isn’t a shortage of videos. Thanks so much for sharing these really awesome tricks to get kids to brush their teeth!
Bribing them or threatening them can work for a while but if you don’t follow through then they eventually will not listen. The best thing you can do is lead by example!