Children often find it hard to understand why brushing teeth is so important –particularly if they’ve yet to experience the discomfort of a filling! But if we manage to make brushing a fun, rather than a dull activity, they are likely to adopt this task  with more enthusiasm!

Here is a sample of some of our easy and effective tools for solving this issue

This works really well:

GIVE A CHOICE:

• Allowing our children to decide between two options (both of which suit us) allows them to feel some control over their lives.
• Eg. “Would you like to brush your teeth before or after the bath”? or “now or in 5 minutes” or if your child is young; “Would you like me to brush your teeth or would you like to do it for yourself?
• Steering your child to make choices encourages them to learn important decision making skills.

Here is another suggestion:

“I” STATEMENT:

• Being aware of what you can control versus what you would like to control, make a statement that you can actually enforce.
• Your statement needs to start with “I” or “my” (and if speaking for the family or couple, it starts with “we” or “our).
• Eg. “ I read a story to children who have finished their bath and brushed their teeth”
• Try not to include more than two “conditions”.

And here is another suggestion:

POSITIVE REDIRECTION:

• Positive Redirection, offered as a question, allows children to feel empowered into making a decision to do something.
• Eg “Shall we try and make it easier for you to hold the toothbrush?”
• It also encourages them to learn to ask “what could I do to improve this situation?” questions to themselves.

 

These are just a few examples of our Best of Parenting Tools. You can find more ideas and solutions to typical parenting challenges in our book ‘Kids Don’t Come With a Manual – The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life‘.