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"How can you help a toddler to enjoy brushing his teeth, rather than battle the brush every time?" --Steph

My toddler enjoys brushing his teeth with either his electric tooth brush found at babies r us or his singing tooth brush found at target. Both are Thomas the Train, and the singing one sings the thomas song for as long as your supposed to brush. Our tooth paste also has Thomas on it. =) He also does a better job when he can see himself in the mirror while he's brushing. –Mommy2Jacks&Wil

Honestly, I make this an obedience issue.  I floss and brush all my children's teeth including my 18 month old. – EKJourney

It's always a battle to get my toddler to hand over the brush when it's over, lol! Two things I've used for my children. Battery powered toothbrushes with favorite characters on them. Walmart sells a cheap kids toothbrush that has a soft rubber 'button' on the bottom that you press and it makes the whole toothbrush flash for one minute, I believe. I know there are also the kind that play music while you brush, but I think I would tire of hearing the same music every night. --Amy/UtterlyBlessed

*To help a toddler brush his teeth- 

Kids should brush their teeth for 2 minutes and sometimes that is very hard for them to do unless they have a visual to help. A little sand hourglass or egg timer in the bathroom may help them "see" exactly how much time they have left. Also a toothbrush song (that they sing in their heads or you sing for them) may be just the thing to make it more fun...an example would be "this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth, this is the way we brush our teeth, every single day" (or some other fun tune) sapphire921

Let him do it himself  -MegLogan

My 2 year old LOVES to brush her teeth.  She gets to pick out 
her toothbrush AND her toothpaste (fluoride free, of course). 
 Then when it's time to brush, either she brushes first and 
then I do or vice versa.  But I make sure to let her pick if 
she wants to go first or last and make sure she understands 
that I will do it, too.  That will help escape the tantrum she 
will throw if I picked for her. :)  Also something that I 
let her do that she LOVES is let her spit in the sink 
(she needs to learn it anyway right?). When either of us are 
brushing her teeth, we always stop after a few seconds to spit.  
I've never had to fight her to brush her teeth.  Now my 7
 year old on the other hand...

-Becki

"For the tooth brushing thing:  I've never had a little guy yet who didn't like brushing 
when I trained him using monster faces/ sounds,   like growling to bare the front teeth, 
and  yelling  for the inside teeth .   It also doesn't hurt to have it as part of your 
routine with the assumption that "Brushing is something we always do" before bed/ when 
we get up. Also, an easy to see (not from a step stool) mirror works well.  kids like 
making faces while they brush and it keeps them going longer."  --Heather

There are a couple of ways I would recommend for toddler to brush teeth.
 One is to make it fun. Check out a library book from the library to 
read about it. There is a fun lapbook about studying their body, 
including teeth, on homeschoolshare.com Check out this cute worksheet-
teeth. There are also some great videos at the library. Secondly, I 
recommend using a chart for brushing (use stickers or a marker to make 
a star). I love this cute chart HERE.  Third, practice brushing with a 
stuffed animal, or if you have a dog, make it fun to do together, 
brushing the dogs teeth (if you don't know how to do this there is a 
great Youtube video on it)-but, don't use people toothpaste on dogs 
because they swallow. In fact, it is best to get toothpaste from the 
health food store that doesn't have the fluoride because toddler swallow 
(mine get enough fluoride at dentist office once every six months). Also, 
fluoride use to be used to kill rats-amazing we have it in toothpaste. 
There are other options if you wish. -Missy

I started off by showing my toddler how I brush my teeth and then told her it’s her turn now.  I tell her I have to brush first and then she may have a turn. I lay her down on our bed and tell her to open her mouth and then I sing “this is the way we brush our teeth, brush our teeth, brush our teeth…”. I play games with her and we take turns sticking out our tongues at each other. This way she enjoys the routine because it all feels like a game. :)
She has 2 toothbrushes and a variety of toothpastes with which to experiment. I allow her to chew on her toothbrush when she wants to, usually when I’m in the bathroom.  We have a set routine. After supper she jumps off of her chair to fetch the toothbrush and toothpaste and then brings it to me so that I can apply the paste.  It does help that her sister diligently brushes her teeth and that she wants to emulate her.  --Liesel Bakkes