The hell of brushing teeth

The hell of brushing teeth

As soon as your little one starts teething,

it's time for a new milestone... You guessed it - the time to brush those new additions! Personally, I thought it would be a lovely and adorable moment. Romanticising about brushing his teeth, I stocked up on mini toothbrushes and toddler toothpaste for the - at the time - baby. He found it interesting for the first few days. Such a brightly coloured brush with a crazy substance. The start of this milestone was characterised by different phases. From having fun with the toothbrush to lips pressed together and using the toothbrush as a teething toy to mummy and daddy forgetting it again. Well, at least he had been introduced to the phenomenon of brushing his teeth.

We thought it was time to get serious about brushing a while back. I have no idea what the toddler thought of that, but we planned to introduce a new, steady evening ritual. We would eat together, brush his teeth, read a book, and go to bed. In the end, we managed to end every dinner with a brush. (The struggle with creating a rhythm, by the way, was more down to our own willpower than that of the toddler). Until the moment when all hell broke loose as soon as the toothbrush came into view. Yes, and that was just before the two-is-no phase. It was absolutely not the intention to put the toothbrush in his mouth. Even brushing his lips was out of the question. What was supposed to be a lovely evening bedtime routine resulted in a kind of wrestling match at the dinner table, lots of grumbling, and even more tears. Meanwhile, my heart was breaking into hundreds of pieces. I did not want to see the toddler so upset. Especially not about something like brushing his teeth. But then again, we didn't want bad oral hygiene on our conscience. #parentlife

Well, one thing is clear. You really do make things up as a parent. Anything to make brushing teeth more fun. We have pulled out all the stops. Singing songs, his bear, who also needed to brush his teeth, and a round of applause as soon as we actually managed to touch a tooth. Well, he liked the applause. Now he says 'brushing teeth' himself after dinner and starts clapping as soon as we pick up the toothbrush. Mission accomplished.

Ha, everything - really! - is a phase. As you see, before you know it, they will be asking themselves when they can brush their teeth.


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