Baby Dental Care and Breastfeeding

[AnnaNova]

so im reading this book "healthy teeth for kids"
http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Teeth-...7217332&sr=8-1

it was recommended here on mothering somewhere and i found it in our local library. all my life ive suffered from dental problems, partially resulting from poor hygiene habits brought about by my parents, partially by genetics, partially by 'addiction' to all things sweet. i certainly dont want my son to go through the same, so i thought it would be a great read.
while a lot of things in it seem like sound and good advice, things ive read about just now i dont quite understand, and thought maybe someone can clarify...
while they advocate breastfeeding big time and have a whole chapter dedicated to advantages of bfeeding over ffeeding, they suggest that by the time the baby breaks the first tooth, he or she should be weaned off naptime and nighttime nursing, no nursing to sleep either. they cite some research that shows that kids that were weaned off sleep-time nursing by 6 mo had a lot less cavities than the ones who continued to nurse through the night...
if your child nurses before going to bed, you should wipe down he mouth with a warm wet cloth afterwords...
i really really dont get this. can bfeeding at night time be really that bad for babies? i work full time and night time nursings are often the only way for my 1yo to catch up on what he misses during the day when im not there,
plus nursing is the only way he'd go down to sleep when im there. wiping his mouth with a cloth would mean waking him up and the going through the whole getting him go back to sleep thing again...
so... im looking for your opinions.
thank you in advance

[pumpkinhead]

I have heard this as well and all I can offer to you is my experience. I have two children and I almost always nursed them both to sleep both at night and at naptimes. They also nursed off and on throughout the night until they were at least a year old. My second continued to nurse at night until he was weaned at just over 3 years old.

I have a history much like yours. Due to genetics, my parents lack of insistance in terms of teeth brushing and everything else, I have crappy enamel. I got my first cavity at age 5.

My children have awesome teeth. I have no idea if this is due to my husband's genes or something else, but their teeth are awesome. My now almost 8 year old has never had a cavity. We try to brush his teeth twice a day, but often it's only one good brushing a day. My almost 4 year old (who nursed the longest) also has awesome teeth.

We started brushing their teeth before bed when they first started coming in and continue to do so. Sometimes an evening gets missed. They still have awesome teeth.

So, in short, I think the whole BF at night = cavity thing is pretty much bunk. Breastmilk is filled with antibodies and antibacterial componets and I personally believe that if you brush your child's teeth before bed and they have nothing but BM or water until morning, they will be just fine.

I think that if a child is genetically predisposed to having weak enamel, night nursing might have a negative effect, but I don't think this is true across the board for everyone.

[MissMommyNiceNice]

Sounds like BS to me. There's no real sugar in you milk. I mean, I know there's sugar in there, but not like other things.

And I have bad teeth thanks to genetics and my parents never taking me to the dentist for cleanings or fillings. At 31, I'm still trying to get all the reapairs done! Oh, I'm close. I look at DS's teeth and they look like mine physically. I hope that with regular dental care I can help prevent his ending up like mine.

Honestly, I always felt that breastfeeding actually cleaned his teeth from the things he ate during the day, much the way water can. We try to brush his teeth twice a day, but the morning one is the only one we really enforce. Sometimes he's too tired or it's not worth the fight at night.

[AnnaNova]

thank you for the input! i feel like evening nursings before going to bed help him wind down after a long day and just drift away to sleep instead of fighting it... i would really really hate to give it up

[1babysmom]

Originally Posted by pumpkinhead

I think that if a child is genetically predisposed to having weak enamel, night nursing might have a negative effect, but I don't think this is true across the board for everyone.

This. I never advocate weaning, but I do share our experience now for anyone who might want to take it into consideration. My DD1 was kind of our "shocker" into dental issues. We'd taken great care of her gums and teeth from the start, she has a good diet, etc. I didn't really take into account the genetic possibilities. At 18 months I started noticing some issues with her teeth, and when we went in at 20 months, sure enough, she had lots of decay on nearly all of her little teeth at the time (leading to oral surgery a few months later). I was devistated and felt like a failure (though honestly, with our dental routine, not sure what more I could have done?). The thing was, we saw 2 different dentists to get 2 different opinions, and BOTH of them said the same thing...they commented on how the decay on several of her teeth had slowed or nearly stopped, probably about a couple months before. They asked if I had done anything different, but I didn't DARE tell them the ONLY change we'd made...which was nightweaning. We had nightweaned pretty much exactly a couple of months before (because I got pregnant and it was very uncomfortable for me at nights...so the reason was totally unrelated to dental issues).

Anyway, my kids are definitely genetically predisposed to dental problems from my DH's side of the family (ironically, SIL had to have the same teeth worked on as a baby, and my other SIL's little girl, a year younger than my DD, had the EXACT same procedure done on her teeth- same teeth, same oral surgery, same amount of decay, etc). That has led us to choose to nightwean by 18 months with our kiddos...though I'd still NEVER nightwean them before 12 months, and even after that we take it slow. But I do believe it had an effect in our situation. I hate when people say there's absolutely no connection because it just adds to how horrible I felt/feel about my DD's teeth (which are now great, BTW, and so far DD2 hasn't had any issues...she nightweaned pretty much naturally around 14 months so we went with that instead of waiting). Clearly it CAN be an issue for some.

For the record though, DD1 is still nursing and she just turned 4 years old. No plans to wean her...she'll do it when she's ready. As will all of our children. But we just choose to have a hand in the night nursing.

[pumpkinhead]

1baby'smom, that sucks that your little one had to have surgery so young. When did she start cutting her 1st teeth?

Something that may have played a role in my kid's "good" teeth is that they cut them super late. My 1st didn't have teeth until he was 10 months and my 2nd didn't cut his until he was 16 mos, I kid you not.

I do think that it is important to never say never. I don't know if any studies have been done on this, but a child who cuts teeth semi-early, also has genetically weaker/thinner enamel and night nurses lots could definitely have decay issues.

I dislike blanket recommendations though. I do think that *most* (definitely not all) breastfed babies who night nurse do not have decay issues.

[1babysmom]

Originally Posted by pumpkinhead

1baby'smom, that sucks that your little one had to have surgery so young. When did she start cutting her 1st teeth?

She started at about 7/8 months. DD2, so far has GREAT teeth, and she started at 5 months.

eta- I forgot to mention that I DO believe other things may have contributed (though I am pretty certain genetics were first and foremost the problem). I've read some info on things like how an epidural can contribute to decay along the gumline, and that's were DD's problems were with her front teeth. I did have an epidural with her. I wouldn't doubt it contributing to the issue at all (though I know a lot of people don't think there's any connection).

[AnnaNova]

thank you for your replies! i was thinking that it may have been a blanket statement by the book author, and it probably is... im keeping my fingers corssed that my bad genetics will not affect my son, as im not planning on night weaning him... i guess there is no other solution than just wait and see... well, maybe find a dentist that would look at his teeth now (coz i know a lot of them won't till the child is about 3)

[Unconventional1]

Like 1babysmom my DS has major decay issues that pretty much halted once he nightweaned at 16 months. Unfortunately DD is having the exact same issues too. I think genetics play a strong role, but milk IS sugar (lactose is a main component) and if you have genetic enamel defects like we do- that sugar does major damage at night.

Good luck- and AnnaNova- we have a pediatric dentist that is looking at DDs teeth this week- and she just turned a year old a few weeks ago- so they are out there!