2.11.2009

Make brushing time fun!


It is a constant struggle to get my 3 year old to brush his teeth. He has even become a little con artist who will try and tell me he brushed when he didn't. He will go through the trouble of running the water and turning on the bathroom light, but not actually brush. If you are going to do all of that - why not just brush? It boggles my mind. The dead giveaway is when he comes downstairs and we smell his breath (which can be far from pleasant) to check for the minty fresh scent. Now he MUST be supervised and he spends the whole time brushing one tooth for one second and then arguing that he is done. They just don't tell you the ridiculous battles you will have daily once becoming a parent.

Dr. Fresh has a toothbrush called the Firefly which actually helps to alleviate my dental struggles. When your child squeezes the toothbrush it lights up & flashes for 60 seconds. This is the recommended time that dentists say is needed to brush one arch. So have your child activate it and brush on top - then activate it and brush on bottom. While the thrill of flashing lights my be short lived, the constant time battle is easily resolved. This is such a simple solution to getting your child to brush long enough. My son understands what must be done and keeps the complaining to a minimum. He really does enjoy squeezing it to make it flash. You dare not do that for him! My new foolproof way to avoid the tooth brushing argument - let him use the firefly in the dark. He gets a light show and I get to save my breath for the bigger battles.

You can get a 2-pack of the Firefly toothbrush for only $1.99 - that is pretty hard to beat! They are available at mass retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, and K-Mart. I have 20 of these double packs to give away! If you would like to WIN one please leave a comment below and share one of your struggles with your children. The deadline to enter is February 28th at midnight EST.

Don't forget to click older post & check out the other giveaways!
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52 comments:

Kaycee said...

Biggest struggle: keeping them interested! I think this could really help! Thanks for the chance!

kayceewilliams at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Our biggest struggle is just getting coats, boots, etc. on - he wants to do it all by himself but also wants to do it on his own time schedule. Leads to many morning battles...

As for toothbrushing, he's happy to take his turn but not so happy to allow mommy her turn to make sure they're cleaned well (he's 2 1/2 and tends to neglect the back teeth when left to his own devices).

I'm a subscriber.

the pearson ANTiCS said...

biggest struggle would be buckling them all in their car seats! one is independent, one is lazy [sorry colin] and one is, well, only 4 months old. :) thanks for this post...teeth brushing isn't easy either!

sp82877@yahoo.com [subscriber]

Xenia said...

My 2-year-old has gotten a little better at letting me brush her teeth because she knows I'll pretty much tackle her and do it anyways. Otherwise, our main struggle is dealing with tantrums over... well, pretty much anything that she doesn't want to do or when she doesn't want to stop doing something fun. Yea for 2!

Thanks!
xpsundell(at)gmail(dot)com

Staci A said...

Our biggest struggle is getting the little one to brush his teeth and not the sink! I've had to throw away so many toothbrushes after being grossed out that they were used to clean the sink!
princess3sah(at)cs(dot)com

Lauren said...

Neat giveaway! Those are cool! we tried an electric one, helped for a day, now she is back to doing the 'brush one tooth for one second' as you put it ;)

our struggle (one of them!) is footwear, she is highly opinionated and often selects inappropriate footwear, like soft-soled 'slippers' for outside, dress shoes to go out in the snow, etc. and there is NO WAY to get a different pair on her feet!

nanja said...

Biggest struggle is learning to put way toys.
nanja[at]comcast[dot]net

clenna said...

One of our sruggles is getting them to say put in the car - buckel and then leave the windows alone.

I need these brushes- my grand sons either 1. don't brush or 2. don't brush long enough.
Help me ----

Angie said...

Biggest struggle is to spend enough time brushing their teeth instead of becoming distracted with everything else!

Thanks!
baileybobby6(at)hotmail.com

Jeff and Mandee said...

My daughter constantly just wants to play in the water while she is supposed to be brushing her teeth.

mandee220(at)aol(dot)com

Kristie said...

My biggest struggle with my daughter is getting her to eat what we are eating. She always says "I can't like that!"

khmorgan_00 [at] yahoo [dot] com

Alexia said...

Brushing teeth and eating healthy food are the two big struggles in our house - anything that helps is welcome! I'd love to win!

chris said...

our biggest struggle is getting the kids to put their shoes away. we are always searching for shoes...they end up in the strangest places. lol

VickieC said...

My biggest problem with the little ones are that they want to suck the toothpaste off the brush,an then brush,but we are working on it,thanks


vlbelk(at)hotmail.com

Corina said...

My biggest struggle is getting my 4 girls to pick up after themselves, let alone each other. Ugh...

Anonymous said...

OUR BIGGEST STRUGGLE BESIDES NOT BITING THE TOOTHBRUSH WHEN BRUSHING, IS GETTING MY 2 YEAR OLD TO SHARE WITH HIS 7 YR OLD BROTHER. HE THINKS EVERYTHING IS HIS AND NO ONE ELSE CAN HAVE A TURN. YIKES!!

Huguette En said...

My biggest struggle is getting his teeth brushed, he doesn't me to do it and doesn't want to do it himself.

Michelle said...

My nephew screams and cries when we brush his teeth. Sometimes if you brush your own with him he's more into it. We already got the kiddie flavored toothpaste didn't help that much, but enough I guess.
mpelosi@partners.org

rubynreba said...

The biggest struggle is getting her to brush all over and long enough!

Lisa said...

We struggle with maptime. My little guy NEEDS a nap, but it's a huge battle to get him to take one.

liza-lu said...

My biggest struggle with my 3 year old is getting her to stay quiet at baby's naptime!

Anonymous said...

What a neat way to get kids intersted in brushing their teeth! I love this idea! It would be great for all 9 of my grandkids.

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea. My daughter 5, brushes for 20-30 seconds and figures she's finished because the toothbrush has touched each tooth (not brushed it effectively -- but touched it!). My son 2,is virtually uninterested in brushing at all, but slowly coming around! Thanks for the giveaway. mybabyappleseed(at)yahoo(dot)ca

Anonymous said...

I'm a subscriber! mybabyappleseed(at)yahoo(dot)ca

susan said...

Right now our biggest struggle is wiping his nose clean ~ he never wants us to touch it!

Stephanie said...

tooth brushing and nappy changing. Not sure which takes longer. Oh yeah - doesn't want to go to bed either.
tvollowitz at aol dot com

Anonymous said...

My current struggle, apart from brushing my three year old son´s teeth, is brushing his older (6) sister´s hair. I´m inches from lopping it all off to a cute little bob and avoiding the struggle of her long tangled locks.

laikilu@yahoo.com

Liza767 said...

oh my my struggle my 8 yr old says brushing is boring and never wants to bush

Jackie said...

Biggest struggle was getting my daughter to brush. She would find every excuse not to.

Jackie said...

I subscribe

Kara said...

The biggest struggle is bedtime!
millkara [at] gmail.com

Anonymous said...

My biggest struggle with the 2 oldest(11 and 14) is getting them to wear their coats outside.My 8 yr old is definately homework-he takes over an hour to do a 10 minute assignment and has every excuse not to and with my two youngest (18 mos and 4) it is getting them to eat food that isnt junk.
buttmonkee8@rochester.rr.com
Im a subscriber :-)

~ Doreen said...

The biggest struggle right now is getting my 4 year old to try food. He automatically says he doesn't like something without trying it, and has a limited amount that he currently likes to eat. My 2 year old, though, eats everything in her path, so I can't complain too much!

An Apel a Day said...

Our biggest struggle is our 3 year old dressing himself. He knows how to do it, but is slow because he's jumping around. He's full of energy!

DEBIJOT said...

My biggest struggle is getting them to brush on their own without me having to remind them.

Unknown said...

My granddaughter always says that she has already brushed too. At first she couldn't figure out how I knew if she did or didn't but then she saw me go in the bathroom and check her toothbrush so now she even goes to the trouble to run the water and get it wet...but still has to be told to go back and actually brush!
Thanks for the chance to win!
proudyaya04 {at} yahoo {dot} com

katy said...

Our biggest struggle is keeping Rylee in her crib for the entire night. She wakes up and crys to be in bed with Mommy and Daddy.

Aaren said...

sounds helpful! My three and a half year old is in a hurry to do everything--including toothbrushing! Maybe I wouldn't have to nag him to take his time and brush all his teeth with this toothbrush. Reasonable price!

phxbne said...

My struggle is sleeping through the night....and she is almost 4...

Maggie said...

Our biggest struggle is getting my son to stay on track. He'll take 20 minutes to find his shoes, because he keeps getting distracted by other things. Thanks for the giveaway!

Unknown said...

My kids are not excited about flossing - so that's a bit of a struggle.

Tia said...

This happens to be one of my biggest struggles as well. My son will tell me he brushed his teeth when in real time, it took about 3 seconds, no exaggeration. I would love for him to brush longer independently.

nhmummab@comcast.net

Anonymous said...

My biggest struggle is trying to get my son to stay in bed!!!! Grrr he is up right now again and its after 10pm grrr lol


Tara
cloudspassby78 (at) yahoo (dot) com
www.weightingforperfection.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Biggest struggle is getting hands washed after we get in and take our shoes off.

Anonymous said...

I subscribe

Anonymous said...

I subscribe.

Anonymous said...

I find the biggest struggle is my lo loves to suck all the toothpaste first then brush.... not a good habit for sure but tough to break.

Anonymous said...

My 16 month old sweet'um loves to eat his books, and it can be a struggle reminding him that eating books is not the healthiest thing to do! : ))) Of course, the trick is getting him interested in a new toy or object and that usually works! : )))

Thanks so much for this fabulous give~away! : )))

leahita[at]gmail[dot]com

Anonymous said...

I also subscribe! : )))

leahita[at]gmail[dot]com

Anonymous said...

She eats the toothpaste and that's all she does. I'm a subscriber.

Anonymous said...

My daughter doesn't want to open her mouth. . .it's a battle every day. I have tried these, they are great!

Anonymous said...

YAY I WON! THANKS SO MUCH!

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