Figlia is pretty busy at home these days. So much so that it is possible for me to leave her on the floor with a sprinkling of her toys and manage to do my own work too, even with 852 interruptions in a five minute width. But it is possible for me to hold something in my hand and do two bits with it before she comes by pull it off.
There is some voodoo on the table in our living area because every object on it begs Figlia to be slammed to the floor, and she dutifully obeys.
My challengetticus is currently in the dental cleaning department. It's a kamikaze mission to rub her teeth with a finger, or a soft cloth wrapped on the finger. (I must have eaten razors during my pregnancy). So, I brought the modern advancement which is a toothbrush, but she does not understand what the thing is about.
At the sight of the approaching toothbrush, she clenches shut her mouth, and refuses to part her lips.
All she remembers from her GI Jane training is that toothbrushes are meant to be soaked in bath water or for rubbing the inside or outside of the bath tub or cleaning the bathroom floor.
I had this brilliant brainwave to use my toothbrush on my teeth concurrent to handing over her equipment to her. She giggled and grabbed my toothbrush, and proceeded to soak both of them in her bath water.
If she does not learn this in six months time, I am totally calling the cops on her. Amen.
Lol. She probably used yours to clean the floor, right? Kids know intuitively how to gross things up for us.
ReplyDeleteWe sing a song to them for their tooth brushing. Wichever song we choose gets repeated twice (once for top, once for bottom). It helps for some reason. Currently, the top ten hits include, the ABC Song and Fun's "We Are Young" (one verse/chorus plus another verse/chorus) depending on the kid. :)
At that age the best thing for us was silicone baby toothbrushes (there is one shaped like a banana and another from the same company shaped like a shark that were their very favorites, and trust me I tried every one on the market -- hopefully you can find something similar where you are). They would gnaw on the toothbrush as a teething toy and in the process get the teeth clean on their own.
ReplyDeletePlus, they do not look at all like toothbrushes so she may not make the connection with the hated GI Jane kind.
We started toothbrushing around 9 months? 10 months? I don't really remember now, it was sometime last fall. We were lucky, she took to it immediately, loved having the brush in her mouth and chewing on it, and lets me manipulate it in her mouth enough for me to feel it does some good. She's actually pretty good at doing actual brushing motions if I'm brushing my teeth at the same time and she can copy me.
ReplyDeleteThe next hurdle is to introduce toothpaste, which we'll have to do soon, since her new daycare wants both toothbrush and toothpaste sent along with the child.
Yes, we also started early - around 9 months or so, and at the Time Timothy didn't know any better - and now he's used to it.
DeleteI am sure if you gently persist, she will give in. Just like Timothy started drinking water, after resisting it for a few weeks.
Haha! Mine loves his little toothbrush... I usually brush his teeth as the final thing before he goes to bed (and I often forget). Maybe it helps if you put some baby toothpaste on it...?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I started brushing my girl's teeth until I started letting her eat candy...which was after she had all of her teeth. She never really cared for it, and sometimes I would have to sit on her to get it done. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen my nephew used to play drop the item and watch it bounce on the floor, my sister would say "Oh look! He's learning about spatial relations!" I would laugh and say "Nope. He's testing how long he can get you to pick it back up!"
I still (at two and a half) have problems with toothbrushing. If I let her brush, she will mostly suck the toothbrush (we do have slight progress lately, though. slight). So it's mostly me brushing her teeth, as much as she will let me (hint: not enough).
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