Betty Vasquez: Parenting Hack: The Secret to Getting Your Kids to Love Brushing Their Teeth

*This post is sponsored by Colgate, all opinions are 100% our own.

Isn’t bedtime the craziest part of a day as a parent?

I think one of the things that makes it such a challenge is that there are so many parts of bedtime, from baths to pjs, teeth brushing to tucking in your child (possibly 7 times).

There are some things you can skip at bedtime or re-arrange to make it easier and faster. Baths don’t have to be every single night and you could read to your children over breakfast instead of trying to cram it in to the hour before bed.

But some parts of the bedtime routine aren’t really negotiable.

Number one is oral care.

My dad is a dentist so I grew up understanding how important good oral care was and I definitely don’t want all of his grandchildren to have cavity-ridden mouths, so I’m never going to skip tooth-brushing and mouthwash before bed.

It’s so important to get all that plaque cleaned off before a good night’s sleep begins!

Of course, tooth-brushing comes with its own challenges, namely that my children are old enough to insist they are capable of brushing their own teeth.

Theoretically, I was all for letting them do it, since I don’t want to be brushing their teeth for them when they’re in high school.

But letting them do it themselves often meant they gave their teeth a quick swipe and called it good. And trying to do a follow-up brushing only resulted in tears. Sometimes theirs, sometimes mine.

Clearly, I needed some professional help. Two things made a huge difference for our family.

The first was the Colgate Minions Kids Powered Toothbrushes that was sent to me as part of my partnership with Colgate

I switched over to an electric toothbrush last year and my children have been enthralled by it, so getting them their own powered toothbrushes was very exciting.

I love that a powered toothbrush cleans off plaque both on the surface and between the gums better than a manual toothbrush, and doesn’t require so much scrubbing.

I also appreciated that the bristles are extra-soft so they don’t damage my children’s tooth enamel.

And, of course, minions – a long-time favorite in our house – didn’t hurt either.

But a powered toothbrush was only the first part of the solution. The rest of the solution was the Colgate Minions brushing experience on the Blippar app.

A quick download of this free app lets you use your phone’s camera to scan your Colgate Minions products..

My children got a HUGE kick out of scanning their toothpaste and seeing little Minions start appearing on the screen. Then you can choose from an interactive brush timer or different brushing and flossing activities that help your kids learn healthy oral care habits.

Now, every night, I scan the Colgate Minions toothpaste or mouthwash and just hit the brush timer on the Blippar app. My children know how long to brush and do so while being them entertained!

The augmented reality experience also tells them which section of their mouth to brush (so they’re not spending two minutes brushing just the front four teeth) while little animations follow their face to keep it fun –think little squeezes of toothpaste and animated rainbow bubbles, plus lots more.

At the end, it reminds you to brush your tongue and ta-da! Teeth cleaned.

It also has a little calendar at the end so you can see how many days in a row you’ve brushed your teeth correctly.

And just like that, bedtime tooth-brushing stopped being a battle and started being a fun, light-hearted part of our evening routine.

My children love it and I don’t have to stress about whether their teeth are really getting clean. We finish up with a swish of Colgate Kids Bello Bubble Fruit mouthwash, for our kids that are 6 and older, and those pearly whites are ready for bed.

And don’t forget, the Bippar app is totally free!

Now if only there was an app for putting your clothes in the laundry hamper instead of the floor.