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We are at a point when Little J has started resisting having his teeth brushed.  Not because he doesn’t like it, he does, but because he wants to do it himself.  He has always been my independent fella.  But, at three years old, he’s not really equipped to brush his teeth sufficiently yet.  We’re also trying to transition him from the training toothpaste to some with fluoride and he was having a hard time giving up his Thomas toothpaste.  Because he is still apt to swallow more than he spits out, I want something that is natural and not chock full of chemicals and dyes.  Tom’s of Maine Children’s Silly Strawberry toothpaste is full of natural goodness and my little guy loves it too!

HOW TO KEEP NATURAL
GOODNESS IN KID’S ORAL CARE

TRANSITIONING TO BIG KID TOOTHPASTE

I knew it was going to be a challenge to swap out the Thomas training (fluoride-free) toothpaste because, well… Thomas.  He’s a big deal at our house and trading him out was not in my toddler’s plans.  Thomas toothpaste is sweet and delicious right out of the tube (Little J can vouch for that); it’s a good incentive for my wiggly worm to let me stick a long fuzzy object in his mouth and rub in around on his teeth for far longer than he wants me to.  But, he’s getting to the point where it’s beneficial to switch to a fluoride toothpaste that will help protect his teeth.  So, I knew I was going to have to make a big deal out of his new toothbrush and paste.  I decided to do it in gift-giving manner.  What kid doesn’t like presents?!

Materials:
– Tom’s of Maine Children’s Silly Strawberry Toothpaste
– Awesome new Spider-Man toothbrush (or Hello Kitty, Dora, Ironman, Thomas, or whoever the hero is for your little one)
– Rinse cup (this used to be a Ninja Turtle rinse cup that came as part of a toothbrushing kit Little J got for his birthday, but Spider-Man scores more points than Ninja Turtles around here, so I upcycled it).  Any small cup would work.
– Black Vinyl
– Xact-O Knife and Spider-Man Logo template (or a craft cutter)
– FREE Printable Teeth Brushing Tracker Chart

Directions:
– Print the Teeth Brushing Tracker from the link or click the image above.  You’ll need to download, save it to your computer and then print.  You can laminate it too if you want to re-use it.  Little J wanted to earn stickers, so I just printed them double-sided and use a new one each week.  I had a whole month tracker that we used for about three days.  It was too overwhelming for my 3 year old.  There was always so many empty boxes that he lost motivation and it turned into a fight by bedtime to get him to brush his teeth.  I switched to a weekly tracker and it’s much easier.  The chart fills up faster, especially since he can get two stickers each day, and is motivational instead of detrimental.

– I traced the Spider-Man logo onto an index card and then taped that over the top of my vinyl.  Then I used an Xact-O knife and carefully cut out the logo in vinyl.  I had planned on using my craft cutter but it wasn’t playing nice, so I went old school.  It can be done.  I stuck the vinyl logo on the red rinse cup and pressed it down firmly with my fingernails.
– The toothbrush came in a superhero 4-pack, so I opened it and put the Spider-Man brush with the Tom’s of Maine toothpaste, the rinse cup, the teeth brush tracker and some Spider-Man stickers.
– I wrapped them all up in a paper bag (yep, I’m fancy like that) and decorated it up a bit with a sharpie spider web and a freehanded spider logo and it was set to go.

I gave him the bag when we brushed his teeth one morning after Big J went to school so there wasn’t any complaining or “why don’t I get a present?!” and he was excited and I could give him my full focus.  The Thomas toothpaste disappeared the night before and it wasn’t even missed until bedtime toothbrushing, when I just reminded Little J about his big boy strawberry toothpaste and new Spider-Man loot.  He was so focused on getting a Spider-Man sticker that Thomas was soon forgotten.  We’ve been using Tom’s of Maine toothpaste for about four days now.  Little J likes the taste of his new toothpaste.  I’m still working with him on spitting it out, but at least I don’t have to worry about all the other dyes and chemicals he could be swallowing.  Big J has even requested his own tube of strawberry toothpaste.  It’s a hit with my kids.

Tom’s of Maine gets even better though.  They had grown-up toothpaste too!  I used the children’s toothpaste once, to try it out.  It wasn’t bad, but I just expect there to be minty fresh breath when I get done brushing my teeth.  With Tom’s of Maine Whole Care fluoride toothpaste in spearmint, I get that minty fresh breath I want.  You can also find it in peppermint and there’s an antiplaque & whitening formula too, which is fluoride free.  I let Big J try this one, he liked it at first because it taste like a candy cane, but he thought it was a little strong after a while.  I really like it.  It looks a little odd at first, especially when you’re used to chemically dyed pastes, but there’s nothing but natural goodness in these pastes.  Tom’s of Maine doesn’t just care about your teeth and the way your breath smells.  They’ve got other smells covered too with their long-lasting deodorant!  I was a bit skeptical, because I’ve tried other natural deodorants and been left less than impressed with the sticky feeling.  This one didn’t feel that way.  The apricot smell is neutral enough that Mr Napping said he’d consider wearing it.  He wasn’t super thrilled with the idea, but he didn’t vehemently refuse.  Smelling like apricots would be better than smelly B.O.  I like the smell and I like that it doesn’t have any aluminum in it.

I found the Tom’s of Maine products at Wal-Mart, in the health and beauty department.  I love that these natural products are easy to find.  Right now, you can get $1.00 off any Tom’s of Maine product purchase at Walmart.  What Tom’s of Maine product will you try?