What do I need to know about caring for breastfed baby teeth?

[Xavismom]

I heard so many horror stories (I hope exagerated) while I was pregnant of babies teeth rotting because of breastfeeding on demand at night. (My IRL friends are not supportive of bedsharing)

We bedshare, and DS nurses as he needs to all night, I DONT want to change this, but I'm scared!

DS is almost 6 months old, his first tooth (bottom front, so cute!) just popped out a few days ago. I want to make sure we are caring for it the right way and hopefully avoid any problems.

Any help is appreciated Mamas!! I have no one IRL to ask, all my friends babies sleep in cribs and are on formula by the time they get teeth.

[blessedwithboys]

no special care is necessary, other than common sense hygiene. you can wipe the tooth with a washcloth once or twice a day. i never did. cavities are caused by bacteria. some ppl get it some dont. my sis and i were formula fed. i brush and floss regularly, she walks around with green slime on her teeth. i have had so many cavities i lost count and she has never had one.

she and i nursed all of our kids til age 2, 4, and 5. all of our kids have had cavities. its not breastmilk, though. all three kids nursed through the night for at least 2 yrs, but the cavities came later. no bottle-rot from bm.

just clean the teeth 1-2x daily and dontn worry about night nursing. you may want to learn about s mutans, though, and maybe traditional foods and teeth, if you arent already into TF.

[Vancouver Mommy]

I agree with the pp. Brush before bed, limit high carb snacks (residue of crackers, etc sit on the teeth the same as sugar). I just night weaned my 3yo a few weeks ago but he still nurses at bedtime and again in the morning. He saw the dentist last week and his teeth are still fine. His sister OTOH now has three cavities. She only nurses for 15 months. I attribute her cavities to all day snacking - a habit we're trying to break.

[JaneS]

Cavities are not caused by bacteria or sugar staying on the teeth but low levels of the right nutrients: minerals and fat soluble vitamins.

The nutrients in your breastmilk are made up of the food you eat, please see "Curing Cavities with Nutrition".

I would be sure to supplement vitamin D unless you live in a southern state and get a lot of sun without sunscreen regularly.