Sonicare for Kids Review

This is a compensated review from BlogHer and Sonicare for Kids.

When I was asked to review Sonicare for Kids toothbrush , I decided I would ask my daughter, Kat to help. Mostly because her opinion is really what matters since this is a toothbrush designed for kids, and also, any excuse to get your kid writing and thinking is a good thing, right? Right. I'll let her first tell you in her own words what she thinks and then I'll give you my thoughts.These are her un-edited words:

I really love how it feels on my teeth, it feels like a massage. It's light and easy to use and it cleans really well. I love how it turns off when the two minutes are up because I don't have to guess if I've brushed my teeth long enough. I also love that it has a grip, it's really cool. I like that you can pick your own front. I really like the way it feels on my teeth. It's especially awesome how it plays a few musical notes when you have to start brushing a different section of your teeth or when it's going to turn off. It cleans my teeth really well.

So she's obviously sold. In all fairness, I think that kids (mine included) just aren't that objective, so I'll take a closer look.

At first glance, the Sonicare for Kids just looks fun. It comes with three different faceplates so your kid can basically design his/her own toothbrush. In our house, this was an immediate issue, my son wanted blue, my daughter wanted red. After a round of "guess what number I'm thinking of", all was fine again. If your kids are capable of sharing and compromising (mine totally aren't) or if you have an only child, this is a really cool thing. Usually when you're talking about an electric toothbrush, you're talking about white being the only color "choice", so I would imagine that the splash of color is really appealing to kids. I also thought that the grip of the toothbrush (bright red) just made the toothbrush LOOK a lot cooler (obviously it also is helpful for little hands to keep a better grip on the toothbrush). And let's face it, there's not that much about brushing your teeth that can be considered "cool".

The toothbrush came with 2 different sized heads, one for ages 4 and up and one for 7 and up. You can easily select which mode you want to use by sliding a switch, 4 and up setting is a lower setting, the 7 and up setting is a higher, more powerful setting. My daughter didn't use the 4 and up setting, but we did play around with it, and it seemed much less powerful than the 7 and up setting, which for tiny mouths seems like a good thing. I also appreciated that when the toothbrush is on, it automatically turns off after 2 minutes. I didn't even know that you were supposed to be brushing for 2 minutes, I'd always been taught that you brush for as long as it takes to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice. I can tell you though, even after just 5 days, Kat's teeth just LOOK cleaner. I don't know if it's attributable to the toothbrush alone or the 2 minutes of brushing time, but I would imagine it's a combination of both.

Another cool feature was that the toothbrush played a little melody every few minutes as a reminder that it's time to switch brushing "zones". I didn't know what brushing zones were, but thankfully, there was a diagram included in the directions. Basically it's just the different parts of your teeth, (front, both sides, top, etc). As a mom, I find my self always asking, "did you brush long enough?" or "did you do a good job", with the Sonicare for Kids, I don't have to do that, I know that they have. I think that the music is a great way to get kids to focus on what they're doing so they really do a good job brushing.

The directions suggested charging for 24 hours before using, which we did. We haven't charged it since, and we're on day 5, so it would be great for traveling or if your kids are at all like mine and forget to charge things frequently. I really appreciated the little extra touches that were added to this toothbrush (the music, 2 minute-timer, changeable face-plates, etc.), it seems like Sonicare really went the extra mile in designing this toothbrush with kids (and parents) in mind.

You have a total of 10 chances to win a $100 Visa gift card from BlogHer Reviewers, plus the chance to win a Sonicare prize pack on the BlogHer.com special offers page! To enter, leave me a comment below and tell me How do you handle your kids' dental hygiene? - or you can leave a link to your post on your own blog in the comments below. The contest will begin at 9:00 a.m. (PST) 10/15/2009 and will end 5:00 p.m. (PST) 11/15/2009.. Make sure that the e-mail address you leave is correct.

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive an additional entry by linking on twitter and leaving a link in the comments.
You may receive an additional entry by blogging about this contest and leaving a link in the comments.
This giveaway is open to US-residents, 18 years of age or older
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will notified by e-mail.
You have 48 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
Please see the official rules here: Official rules