children’s health

How To Get Toddler To Brush Teeth Without A Struggle

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Read time: 6 minutes
how to get toddler to brush teeth without struggle

Are you wondering, How to get your toddler to brush teeth without a struggle?

What if I told you its possible. Yes, you heard me right!

I talk a lot about Gentle Parenting on this blog and its social media pages. But sometimes everyday tasks like brushing toddler teeth are a challenge no matter what parenting strategy you use. Many of you have asked me in the past, how do you brush your toddler’s teeth without using force or pinning him down.

Well, today I am going to share with you our toddler teeth brushing tips and tricks. These are simple things we do in our home that make brushing teeth easier.

GET THE TOOTH BRUSHING ESSENTIALS RIGHT

Make sure to buy a brush with soft bristles. For babies, you may want to start out with a baby finger brush and then move to a brush with soft bristles as the baby grows more teeth.

I usually go with the recommended age on the toothbrush package since I find that the manufacturers have done their research right and make age-appropriate toothbrushes that are easy for toddlers to hold.

Our favorite toothbrushes

Mee Mee Baby Finger Brush

Dr. Browns Infant To Toddler Toothbrush

Chicco Baby Toothbrush

Children’s toothpaste

Chicco Toothpaste (Strawberry flavor)

how to get toddler to brush without a struggle

TIPS ON TODDLER TEETH BRUSHING: HOW TO BRUSH A TODDLERS TEETH WITHOUT A STRUGGLE

  1. Introduce the concept of tooth brushing

Start talking about brushing teeth as early as possible, don’t wait to talk about brushing and its importance until when they are older. An easy way to introduce the concept of brushing teeth is through children’s books and nursery rhymes.

Children quickly pick up catchy rhymes like, “this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth”.

I also noticed my son will do a daily task better when he reads about it in a book. When he sees the characters in the book performing these daily tasks he is more inclined to try for himself.

Books on tooth brushing for children

Tiger’s toothbrush – Ladybird series

Monkey Bandit and the funny toothbrush – Maria Ellis

  1. Let the child have a go at it

Children love to copy adults. Hand your toddler a brush and let him copy you as you brush your teeth. Brush together in the morning’s so that a routine is set.

Do not expect children under 6-7 years of age to be able to brush their teeth clean. At best most of them are just chewing on the bristles and cleaning a tooth or two. But this act of showing confidence in them when they are doing it themselves helps maintain the motivation to do it every day.

  1. Help him finish the routine

I always let my toddler have a go first and then follow up with the real teeth cleaning process.

For this part, I like to use a little bit of storytelling. Read the next point to know more about how we incorporate storytelling and make tooth brushing fun for the toddler.

  1. Makeup stories with the child’s favorite characters

Between the ages, 1-2 our son was learning about different animals so we made stories using animals as characters. First I would hand him the toothbrush and tell him how all the jungle animals are having a grand party in his mouth. He needs to get them out of there so his teeth can also go night-night (go to sleep)

He would brush his teeth, while I cheered him on saying, “oh look, I just saw you catch a little bear in your brush”. This would excite him and he would continue brushing his teeth.

Once I felt that he is done trying on his own I would say, “give me the toothbrush, let me have a look and see if you caught them all” this is when I would start the actual brushing process.

When brushing I use a steady and gentle hand making sure not to brush too hard.

In between the brushing teeth process, I always add in a line or two more to my story so that he will sit through the process longer. I will exclaim loudly and say; “Hey! a giraffe was hiding here, wait let me get him out” This way both of us would be laughing and giggling while we brushed his teeth.

Now that he is older ( 2 and a half years plus) and obsessed with cars I have changed the storyline to that including cars.

Recently I also introduced the concept of “germs” and what they do to our teeth if they are not removed each night and we pretend that the toothbrush is his favorite vehicle who goes in each night to kill all the germs from his teeth.

So, one night we have a ‘big digger’ in action getting rid of germs from his mouth and another night there is a ‘police car’ doing the cleanup work. I make all the sounds these vehicles each night, trying my best to add a little fun to our daily routine.

More toddler life-related blog posts:

How To Ease Your Toddler’s Fears

How To Get Your Toddler To Listen Without Yelling

5 Simple Toddler Sleep Tips To Help Them Sleep Fast

Practical Potty Training Tips By An Experienced Mom

  1. Praise their efforts and reinforce the good habits

This is a very important point that most of us forget in the rush of our daily routines. Do not forget to praise your child’s efforts. It’s not easy for a 1-2-year-old to have someone bring in a foreign object that’s rubbing at their teeth and tender gums. You wouldn’t enjoy anyone else poking around your mouth either. So praise them when they try on their own and when they allow you to have a good go at cleaning their teeth.

Even with all these efforts, there may be days or nights when the toddler won’t comply. We really can’t tell, he may be having a bad swelling on some teeth going through the teething phase.

When my toddler is having a particularly bad day like this I let it go and request him to gargle his teeth and get the germs out. This helps him relax and also reinforces the concept that we must clean our teeth before we start the day and before bed. It also shows him that I trust him and I am understanding of any discomfort he may be feeling in his gums or teeth that moment.

Believe me, it’s not often that we skip brushing teeth. Once set into such a routine the child enjoys brushing his teeth, its more fun than a routine.

As he grows I will modify the story or my approach altogether to suit his developmental needs. Whatever new method I use, it will be one that will gain his cooperation over forceful compliance.

What is the tooth brushing routine in your home? Do you use storytelling as a way to gain your toddler’s cooperation? Leave me a comment below.

How I Get My Child To Eat Healthy Every Day

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Read time: 6 minutes
How I get my child to eat healthy everyday

India is celebrating National Nutrition Week from 1st to 7th September. The theme this year is Optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding Practices: Better Child Health.

Family health and good nutrition have always been topics that I have deep interest in. Most of my adult life I have strived to maintain a healthy balance between good food and junk food. Since becoming a mother my passion for this subject has only increased. I have spent the first year of my baby’s life researching on what to feed him, how to offer nutrient dense foods and how to implement a system at home where an environment of healthy eating thrives. As a mother to a 18 month old I have found a few systems and tricks to keeping good healthy food available at home and outside regardless of how busy I get. Today I want to share my tips on building a healthy eating envirnoment for your child, and getting your children to eat healthy always.

  • Start with meal planning and abundance of fresh food. This is a no brainer. If you want to inculcate healthy eating you first have to stock up your house with fresh fruits and vegetables. There has to be abundance in order to eat healthy. The more good food there is the lesser the chance of opening packets. Find a weekly home grocery delivery service in your area, it will get you organized as a busy mom. It’s best when you make a meal plan for the week and prep on the weekends. Though I personally can’t stick to meal plans, I am quite creative at coming up with dishes that are healthy with whatever I have in the fridge. If you struggle with meal ideas its best to plan a weekly menu for family, write down a few meal ideas and stick it to your fridge so you know what you are going to prepare during the week.
  • Stock up the house with your child’s favorite staples. These need to be replenished every-time they run out. These are go-to meals you know your child will love. Better homemade food than take-out. My toddler loves : Pastas, quinoa, coconut meat, peas, eggs and avocados. These are all easy meal staples that can be thrown together to make quick combinations of meals. Eg. avocado and peas quinoa bowl, pesto pasta or tomato pasta, etc.

How I Get My Child To Eat Healthy Everyday

  • Vegetables are a must for your kids, they contain many vitamins and minerals that are essential during development. Don’t be afraid to use them in meals. In my experience, I have seen many mothers have a mental block in using vegetables in dishes for fear of rejection and food wastage. Pack vegetables into every dish you can think of. Its ok if they don’t eat it once, consistency helps when it comes to vegetables. Get innovative with the dishes you prepare. Don’t give up easy.
    Eg. Add peas and carrots in upma, pohe, leftover vegetables can be made into a vegetarian patty and served as a snack, buy vegetable pastas, there are many options in the supermarket now – beetroot pasta, spinach pasta. Kids love the colours and get excited about eating them.
  • Every once in a while make new dishes for the family. This keeps the kids interested in meal times. I try to make new recipes once every weekend as a change.
  • Make friends with simple meal ideas or one pot meals for the weekdays. This makes it easy for you as a busy mom. My go-to weeknight recipes are one pot meals like hearty soups, stir fried rice, pots of vegetarian curries served with rice. All these recipes are easy to make, don’t require much cooking skills and are packed with vegetables to up the nutrition content.
  • Always stock the house with super foods like avocados, berries, coconuts, ragi flour, barley grass powder, flaxseed powder, nuts and seeds, sprouted wheat (dalia). Kids benefit from eating these on regular basis. You can incorporate them in a variety of ways in your meals and be assured that your child gets great nutrition from the food too. Here are some easy recipes using these super foods as snacks. I make these when I am running out of ingredients in the house, this way I am still managing to serve healthy options to my little one. That is why its so important to always keep the house stocked with some of these ingredients.

healthy pancake recipe for children
healthy pancake recipe for children
healthy pancake recipe for children

  • Lentils come in many varieties like masoor dal, tur dal, moong dal and are high in protein and fiber. Lentils are an excellent natural source of folate and manganese. If your child is like mine and doesn’t like dal as a dish you can add these lentils to soups or in finger food forms. They enjoy the novelty of these dishes.
  • Healthy fats are important for growing kids. If you are a largely plant based family include avocados, sesame paste, nut butters, nut powders, coconut meat and almond meal in food preparations.
  • Mothers tend to worry about adequate iron content in their children’s diet and rightfully so. Children with insufficient iron may suffer from cognitive and behavioral development deficits and delays. You can add iron rich foods like meats, legumes, lentils, green leafy vegetables to your child’s everyday diet. Serve iron-rich foods alongside foods containing vitamin C (such as tomatoes, broccoli, oranges, and strawberries). Vitamin C improves the way the body absorbs iron. Eg.
    • Oats porridge with berries or mangoes
    • Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamin C – have them along with lentils and quinoa to increase absorption of iron,
    • Squeeze lemon over quinoa salad, rajma (kidney beans) sabzi,
    • Beans cooked in a tomato base or with tomato salsa etc.
  • Be mindful about the sugar consumption of your kids. Even honey and jaggery are considered added sugars. The AHA reccomends limiting the amount of added sugars in the diets of children 2-18 years of age to about 6 teaspoons a day.
    To know more about the effects of exessive sugar consumption in kids read my post on sugar and our children here. Ripened banana and cooked apple sauce are great substitutes for added sugars in dishes like smoothies and pancakes.
  • Model good eating to your children. Eat meals together as a family. Give them more information on how to eat healthy. About the vegetables and fruits they are eating. Get them excited about food.

I hope my tips on serving healthy food to children helps you too. How do you plan and prepare meals for your kids? Do you have some tips for me?