This may be my first blog post with absolutely 0 makeup on in some photos… ever!! I wanted to be really transparent and real in these photos, and show you all what life as a momma looks like – which usually means getting Hudson up and dressed and fed before I even take one second to get to my own appearance. haha! I am sure you other momma’s out there know what I mean. Our day usually begins at 7-7:30AM when Hudson says “Want to get out!!!” and I hear him rustling around in his crib. I’ll go change his diaper, get him dressed (this was a school day, which is why his shoes are already on! haha!) and then we will head into my room where we “put lotion on” and brush our teeth. He actually loves brushing his teeth in the morning, because we do it together every day, but at night time he doesn’t love it, since it means bed time is coming soon!
Here’s a few tips I’ve found that work on getting him to enjoy brushing:
1 – Make it something that you do TOGETHER: Anything that is baked into our routine that we do together, Hudson instantly loves way more. He knows that every morning we grab our toothbrushes and toothpaste, and we brush at the same time, which is a nice and predictable part of his day. Don’t make it something “they do” make it something that everybody does as a family!
2 – Pick up toothpaste that tastes good, but is still good for them. I was so excited when I heard that Burt’s Bees launched a new toothpaste – for both adults and kids – so now our entire family uses this new line of toothpaste! Hudson uses the tasty fruit fusion flavor that is made just for kids, and Matt and I use the Purely White formula. I like that there are fluoride and fluoride-free options, so you can choose what’s best for you and your family. Another plus for me is that these pastes are made WITHOUT things like artificial flavors & sweeteners, preservatives and plastic microbeads – all the yucky stuff you probably want to avoid for yourself and your kids! He constantly asks for more toothpaste, which is simultaneously cute, but sort of ridiculous haha! You can pick up Burt’s Bees Toothpaste at Target now for 10% off. (Check your 3/31 Sunday papers for an additional $1-off or $0.50-off coupon on the adult and kids paste.)
3 – Pick up an Oral-B toothbrush with one of their favorite characters on it: We were using an electric toothbrush for a bit, but once Hudson got more into Disney, we decided to grab a toothbrush from Cars with Lightning McQueen on it, and now he always gets really excited for his car toothbrush! It gets him even more excited for brushing every day and night!
4 – Sing a toothbrushing song: We actually just made up a song, but anything that comes with a song gets Hudson much more amped to perform any task!
5 – Count down while you brush: This one is more for your child’s mental preparation, but Hudson is more likely to do a task if he knows when it ends, especially if it isn’t something super exciting. We usually count down from 10 while he brushes (you’ve probably seen on my stories that he tries to sneak a 1 in there and skip 5 seconds of brushing haha!) It makes it much easier to get him to brush, especially at night when he is less excited for it.
After we brush our teeth and get dressed, around 8AM, we head downstairs for some breakfast. Hudson’s favorite is french toast, but he will settle for some yogurt and fruit or a granola bar on days where we are in more of a hurry! Then we head out to daycare (on Monday – Thursday) or for something fun in the morning on days we’re off together!
I hope you enjoyed a little peek into our morning, and please let me know in the comments if you have any other tips for getting a toddler to brush their teeth!
*Thanks to Burts Bees for sponsoring this post, as always all opinions are my own!
