This situation usually lasts until the child goes to kindergarten. Generally speaking, children around the age of 2 can brush their teeth by themselves, but many children need their parents to brush their teeth hand in hand because they don't like to brush their teeth. It even takes more than two people to complete the task of brushing teeth.
Oral and dental care should start at an early age. Although deciduous teeth will fall off one day, if children can't develop good tooth care habits before, it will affect the growth and health of adult teeth.
As soon as the baby's deciduous teeth grow out, they should start brushing their teeth. Children will have self-awareness when they are two years old, so they will be very reluctant to brush their teeth. What parents should do is to make their children realize the importance of brushing their teeth, and then use some tips to let their children brush their teeth actively. Compulsory brushing can not only make children get into the habit of brushing their teeth, but also may be annoying from the heart.
Most parents try to get their children to brush their teeth for two main reasons. One is the hardware problem. For example, toothbrush bristles are too hard, and the taste or taste of toothpaste is not liked by children. This is easy to solve. If the child can express the reasons why he doesn't like it, parents just need to find a toothbrush and toothpaste that the child can accept.
The second is the software problem. After all, there are many kinds of toothpaste and toothbrushes on the market now, and there are always children who can accept and like them. However, if children are emotionally disgusted with brushing their teeth, it will be more troublesome to solve it.
Punishment, such as not brushing your teeth or eating breakfast, or other ways, will never solve the problem. Because punishment can only restrain children from doing nothing, but not let them do nothing. It is even more difficult for children to take the initiative to do it. Punishment may make children hate brushing their teeth even more and affect the intimate relationship between parents and children.
It seems useless to threaten children with the terrible consequences of not brushing their teeth. After all, there is nothing wrong with children's teeth now, and parents will not pay attention to them.
It is not a long-term solution to let children brush their teeth simply by reward. After all, there are thousands of living habits, and relying on rewards to make children insist will make a very ordinary thing very utilitarian.
The reward demand of children will increase with the compromise of parents. Once the reward mechanism is withdrawn, it is likely that children will not continue.
From the perspective of child psychology, where is the secret to help children form good habits? Here are some suggestions on how to make children form good habits:
1. Develop the habit of regular work and rest, and make brushing your teeth a bedtime ritual.
By arranging a reasonable family schedule, let children take brushing as an essential step, and influence their habitual positive behavior by repeatedly asking children to do the same thing.
Fixing brushing as a bedtime ritual is more effective than forcing. This requires children to have regular work and rest. There is a complete process before going to bed every day, and nothing will change it. Brushing your teeth will become a part of the process and cannot be lacking.
It is very important to properly adjust the environment and increase the positive role of all links. For example, if adults insist on running early, one of the biggest obstacles is getting up a few minutes late, which may affect the follow-up, finding clothes, washing, etc., and then give up running in the morning.
Therefore, it is very important to prepare things for the next day in advance every night, and then set the alarm clock. The same is true for children to brush their teeth. Doing fixed things at a fixed time helps children take brushing their teeth as a matter of course, rather than a "process" that can be changed at will.
Every family has a fixed process before their children go to bed, and parents should arrange to brush their teeth. Then stick to this fixed order.
2. The sense of accomplishment of children's independent participation.
In the process of brushing teeth, let the children participate in it independently, rather than being passively brushed by parents. This is a lasting motivation to keep the habit.
It is best to let children make their own decisions at the beginning, such as choosing toothpaste and toothbrush, which is very helpful to improve their enthusiasm for brushing their teeth.
At the same time, every time children try a new behavior, no matter how insignificant it seems to their parents, they should be encouraged and praised, which will increase their inner sense of accomplishment and urge them to continue this behavior next time.
For example, children can only brush their teeth for half a minute at first, and parents should also praise them.
Make brushing your teeth interesting
For adults, brushing your teeth is just a routine habit, which is almost meaningless. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the fun and interest of parent-child communication and make brushing teeth look less boring.
Don't brush your teeth rigidly, and don't indulge. Children like interesting things. To make children like brushing their teeth, it is necessary to make brushing interesting and make them more willing to "play" rather than complete tasks.
Parents should actively open their minds and turn monotonous trivia into interesting games, such as using children's desire to imitate, making children like to brush their teeth, and letting children watch their parents brush their teeth, so that children will unconsciously want to imitate.
Put the toothbrush where the children can reach it, and then parents will act like they like to brush their teeth, or let the children brush their toys and parents while playing games, so that they will be more willing to brush their teeth themselves.
Or when showing children picture books or watching animations, remind them that your favorite XXX brushes his teeth by himself, and then when the child brushes his teeth by himself, parents can say, "You are just like XX, great."
Or make up some short stories about teeth, which are not necessarily the consequences of not brushing your teeth, but fairy tales that children like. Or parents and children play a brushing competition together, and use their competitiveness to make their children brush their teeth consciously.
See who brushes his teeth for a long time, or who spits out the water in his mouth after brushing his teeth, who has more foam in his mouth and so on.
Brushing teeth is only a small step for children to develop good behavior in their daily life, which provides some new ideas for parents and is also applicable to the development of other behaviors.