This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Orajel Kids.
Getting kids to brush their teeth can be a battle…. been there, done that! Once it turns in to a fight to get your children to brush their teeth, you’ve lost. Brushing their teeth and paying attention to oral care is now a chore and something to be avoided. It’s no fun! I’m that mom that says, “turn that frown upside down!” and even if it’s annoying, it makes them smile 😉 So here are my 5 tips to help kids brush their teeth!
- Monkey see, monkey do. Kids like to copy what they see, right? My kids put on my shoes, attempt to wear my makeup, use the same words I use, and model my behavior… why would oral care be any different? We like to brush as a family. That may seem odd, but it works! Our kids are 4 and 2 and they love to brush their teeth with us! And as long we my husband or I are still brushing? Or are they. Sometimes it’s even a race on who can brush LONGEST!
- Make it FUN. I’m always humming a song while brushing because it gives the kids something to focus on. Before they even know it, they’re done brushing! My younger still needs help so I’ll sing a song when I’m not brushing my own teeth… “this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth…” or how about some Raffi, “you brush your teeth, ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch!”
- Keep a routine. The kids will quickly learn that taking care of their teeth comes at specific times of day and it won’t be a surprise (or a fight). Do it in the morning to start the day and add it to the bedtime routine at night: brush teeth, get on pajamas, read a book, go to bed!
- Let the kids help. Even if they can’t properly brush, let them at it first (and you help finish them up). Let them rinse the brush under the faucet, squeeze out some toothpaste, and experiment with it. Kids grab on to and love that responsibility! The small fluoride-free tubes of toothpaste are great for little ones, like our 2-year-old, and we use the bigger ones for our 4-year-old. Find them at Orajel.
- Personalize it. This adds to the fun and the idea that your kids have their OWN products in the bathroom. We have two kids so we have two tubes of toothpaste. They help pick them out at the store and with the fun characters on the toothbrushes and toothpaste, it’s always exciting! Rebecca has Sesame Street (Baby Orajel Tooth & Gum Cleanser) and Ryan has Bubble Guppies (Anticavity Toothpaste & Toothbrush)!
We love the whole line of Orajel Kids products because they help us accomplish all of the above. Whether your child is teething, training, or brushing on their own, Orajel has you covered. They make teeth brushing and oral care easy and fun! I like the fluoride-free options for Rebecca. Ryan is proud because of his “big boy” toothpaste. And we always say, “Let’s go brush with Elmo!” or whatever character is on their toothpaste or toothbrush 🙂
Who doesn’t want to win a trip for 4 to a Beaches Resort?! YES, PLEASE. Head over to the contest page on Facebook to enter for your chance to win! It’s super easy—just upload a “Smilestones” photo of your little one (because we only take about a million a day, right?), add a caption, and submit! Good luck!
How do you make brushing fun? What are your tips for getting your kids to brush their teeth?
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Orajel Kids.
I have to be honest with you, my boys are 6 & 9 now and they still give me a hassle about brushing sometimes. Letting them each pick out their own toothpaste is a big one for them.
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 28th, 2014 at 6:07 pm
My son can be picky about the flavor of toothpaste so it definitely helps to have him pick it out!
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I don’t have any kiddo’s but these are great tips! I know a lot of parents struggle with it so I am sure this will help them out!
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My first 4 are rock stars its my youngest, our 5th that I am horrible at helping….I need to do better. These tips will help. Thanks.
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 28th, 2014 at 6:08 pm
What’s your secret for your first 4 rockstars?! Even with my tips, we have our moments over here 😉
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Making it fun definitely helps,my kids love to set the hour glass timer when they brush their teeth!
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 28th, 2014 at 6:09 pm
Nice! We don’t have a timer, but it would help! Since I’m usually with them while they’re brushing, my singing or humming is our timer, haha. Song over is times up!
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Great tips! Very helpful. Awesome photo contest with a great prize!
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Those are all some great tips on helping to get your kids into brushing their teeth! Especially the making it fun one-adding dancing, music, or games would make anyone WANT to brush their teeth 🙂
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 28th, 2014 at 6:14 pm
Yea, maybe the singing is for myself 😉 Haha
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Great tips on getting kids to brush their teeth. My older kids brush theirs pretty easily because they know I’ll do it if they don’t. My 1yo is learning to tolerate it.
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These are great tips! I like how it’s made to be fun and enjoyable!
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earning proper oral hygiene at a young age is so important for life. Great idea to make brushing fun and enjoyable and not a chore!
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Nothing worked with my kids until i started making it fun. Great tips, you could really save some parents some stress with these!
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Our kids have their own tooth paste and love choosing it for themselves. Well, at least the twins older sister pick for them. And guess what, she always chooses Orajel.
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My 3 kiddos live to brush their teeth! They remind me every night when it is time to pull their brushes out!
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 28th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Wow, that’s great!
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Wow, this is another thing I never think about since I don’t have kids!! I can imagine that it can be a challenge. You have some great tips here and it looks like they are having fun!
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Great tips! We sometimes have to poke and prod our boys to make sure they brush their teeth, so we’ll have to implement some of your ideas. Thanks for sharing!
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Making it fun is ALWAYS the key with kids!
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Another brushing essential is to TIME it, they say kids don’t brush long enough.
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Your kiddos definitely look like they enjoy brushing. When I taught preschool we had a toothbrushing song.
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While I was super against it at first we made brushing their teeth on of the chores that they have to check off on their list. I don’t really think of it as a chore but by doing that we are laying the foundation to make it a daily routine.
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 30th, 2014 at 9:35 am
Definitely! Kids like routine and if we keep things the same, my 4yo will help me “check things off” – eat breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth! He keeps me in line 😉 lol
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I think making it a part of the routine helped the most with my kids. But sadly when something shakes up the routine…it is a bit of a struggle to get the brushing teeth back into a habit.
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Yep, that’s exactly what I did with my kids. They started and I finished up to make sure they were really clean.
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whatever it takes to get the kids to brush. we’ve done silly, we’ve done songs, as long as the teeth are clean at the end…
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Willow only likes the training tooth pasta so I try to keep that for her.
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Those are great tips… it is so hard to get kids to actually do it and not rush it 🙂
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These are great tips! It has to be fun or the kids won’t want to.
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My son likes the gimmicky brushes… the light up, singing kind!
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Emily Dickey Reply:
May 30th, 2014 at 9:33 am
Haha – my son hasn’t seen those yet so he doesn’t know they exist 😉 Or I’m sure we’d HAVE to have them lol.
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We would do the monkey see monkey do technique and character brushes!
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