Teethbrushing has been a major ordeal in this house since about 15 months. It hit a point once when I had to literally hold them down so I could brush their teeth. It has gotten better, but it still ends in screaming and trying to get the toothpaste out of their mouth. I try suggesting rinsing and showing them this but by this time its meltdown mode, and this happens every day twice a day. I have started handing them the toothbrush but they usually barely put it in their mouth move it around a bit and hand it back to me and then I brush their teeth. They never rinse, I have stopped trying to show them this. So no one was more surprised last night than me when Andrew pointed to the toothbrush and said toothbrush. So I put paste on the toothbrush, and then he actually stood on the stool, moved the toothbrush back and forth properly (he has never done that before), spit, rinsed his mouth and spit again, rinsed the toothbrush and put it back and then dried his hands and face. My mouth dropped open. He must have learned this at school. I am so thrilled!
I'm so happy for you, Linda! You brought back memories for me of Eric when he was 2 to 4 years old. He clenched his teeth so tightly and tried to bite my fingers if I tried to pry his upper and lower jaw open. He ended up with several cavities on his baby teeth. The thing that made him want to brush and rinse was the Stuart Little Movie (the first one). There is a scene after Stuart was adopted by the Little family, where he gets out of his tiny bed and climbs up to his tiny sink with vanity mirror to brush his teeth. He does an extremely thorough job brushing his teeth with a very big toothbrush, gargling and rinsing, then spitting and admiring his pearly whites. Eric imitated all his moves and learned to enjoy brushing his teeth - but I continued to let him do the first round, then he would let me do a second round ( up till age 9, I think).
Way to go Andrew! This is a big deal! It is a very important self help skill.