My toddler does not brush well, but at least he tries. From what have seen there is not a mouth wash on the market that is for children. Any idea of how to freshen my son's breath? Any products that you know about that I could use instead of having to hold him down and brush his teeth better.
I don't know of any products, and I wouldn't use adult mouthwash. I would suggest adding more brushing to his daily routine, it's a good habit to establish anyway. Try to see if you can get him to brush his tongue as well as his teeth when he's brushing too, that can help some. And, encourage him to drink more water throughout the day, it could just be that his mouth is getting dry and causing the bad breath.
The main culprits for bad breath in children is sugar and mouth-breathing. Before going the mouthwash route (which shouldn't be necessary) you could alter his diet. Both milk and juice can cause bad breath. My kids have been off milk for several years and have really never been juice drinkers. The other thing is mouth breathing, especially at night. Is he congested? Try a humidifier in his room, or Vicks on his feet. Human nature is actually to breathe through the nose, and babies have been cited as the "most efficient breathers" out of all humans - meaning, we make the best use of our lung capacity as infants and lose it over time. That means toddlers SHOULD also be efficient breathers, provided they aren't congested. If those methods fail, you might also look into getting some floss in there. If his teeth are close together, grody things can hide between and cause nasty smells.
