my ped and ped dentist say we should nightwean....

[babybirkel]

At my 9 month old's wbc her (new! wonderful! seriously i really do like her) pediatrician said ds's enamel on his top teeth looked a little thin or something, which she said is probably due to his night nursing. she knows we co-sleep and at no point did she tell me i had to let him cry, etc, just that i really needed to work on getting him to sleep through the night and not nurse so much at night, which...no, really? i love being woken up a zillion times a night! why on earth would i want my baby to sleep longer stretches??? anyway. she referred us to a pediatric dentist because she was concerned about his teeth. so we went today, and the dentist, who is super cool and very pro-breastfeeding (i took ds to her when he was 8 weeks old to check for tongue-tie, and she was very encouraging and told me to not give up on bfing) said that i really needed to nightwean because of his teeth. i am devastated. i don't really know what to do...he's 9.5 months old. i don't think he's really ready to night wean, but at the same time i am concerned about his teeth. he will go to sleep without nursing at first (our bedtime routine is dinner, bath, jammies, milk, daddy rocks to sleep, and for naps i can put him in his crib drowsy but awake, give him the paci, and pat him until he falls asleep. this is a recent development -- like about a week he's been doing this). once he wakes up for his first night awakening he will FREAK OUT if i don't give him the boob. so i end up nursing him all night long, after his first awakening.

his dentist also said to give him a bottle of EBM with rice cereal to get him to sleep longer. and she sort of hinted that if nightweaning didn't work out, that we should consider weaning altogether to get him on more of a schedule and to sleep thru the night, etc.

what do i do? i am worried about his teeth. how do i get him to go back to sleep without nursing? how do i get him to sleep longer stretches? is it too early to nightwean?

i'm really upset. i'm already super exhausted and at my wit's end with all the night nursing. but now there's all this other pressure to get him to sleep more and nurse less at night, like i'm not already trying with everything i have....

[calebsmommy25]

So, what is the problem with his teeth? Poor enamel? I was trying to find some good resources on night nursing and cavities, etc, but can't find too many good ones, or up to date ones. I wouldn't listen to the dentist about the bottle and cereal...what would be the difference between sucking on a bottle or your boob? Putting rice cereal in a baby's bottle is just ridiculous. And who is to say night weaning or weaning in general would help your babe sleep better at night?

He is only 9.5 months...*I* would still nurse him on demand (night or day) and just scrub his teeth before bed and in the morning. I know around that time my ds had a growth spurt and ate ALL THE TIME...My son started sleeping 'through the night' at around 12 months-ish. He is 18 months now and usually wakes up once to nurse and goes right back to sleep...sometimes more, depends on the night. I think it happens in their own time. We allowed our son to do it in his own time. I'm sure there will be other mama's who might have pointers on getting him to sleep better.

I've attached what I could find on Dr. Sears about night feeding and cavities and also kellymom about night weaning...

Good luck Mama. I know it is frustrating sometimes, but you can do it.

Your mama milk is doing alot more good than harm! Keep it up, you'll get through.

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/bf3.asp

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning-night.html

[lindberg99]

Sorry, but I cannot believe a dentist who told you to nightwean your 9.5 month old and possibly totally wean him is pro-breastfeeding.

I was just reading a blog today and found an entry about night nursing and cavities and this dentist said that breastfeeding does not cause cavities. It is the bacteria in the milk.

http://askdrellie.blogspot.com/2009/...-with-ecc.html

That entry is about a toddler. She also had more info on her site specifically about babies http://cleanwhiteteeth.com/babies.htm

Don't feel like you have to wean your baby! Do some more research, there is some very good info in the Dental forum of Health and Healing here.

ETA: You might want to get some Spiffies wipes. If your baby is a sound sleeper, you might be able to wipe his teeth after he finishes nursing.

[pife]

I agreee with the posts above - I would continue to nurse on demand. I am hoping to night wean now at 22mo :-)

[AAK]

I also wouldn't nightwean, but I would try to remember to remove my breast from his mouth once he was back to sleep so that the milk wouldn't pool in his mouth. Other than that, I would clean his teeth regularly. But, seriously, if his enamel is that thin. . .I hate to be negative, but it will be a losing battle regardless. So, I wouldn't add the stress of forced nightweaning. Also, if you can afford it, have the dentist put sealants on his molars when he gets them.

Amy

[mommy2two babes]

Wow I personally think that 9 mos is way to young to nighwean.
Both of my DKs have had thier teeth come in with spots of thin enamel which I suppose has predisposed them to having dental issues.
They have both had to have dental work done under the age of 2 but I wouldn't trade off night nursing and certainly not nursing altogether because of it.

Also once those weak spots were taken care of and I continued night nursing neither of them have had a single cavity. We are talking 3 years ago for DD and 2 for DS.
I am not convinced that night weaning will prevent those spots from turning into cavities if they are already pre disposed.