cleaning baby's mouth?

[mangopaco]

We read somewhere that you need to clean out a breastfed baby's mouth with a wet washcloth - especially their gums.

Is that true for newborns? We haven't done it much because his mouth is so little.

Anyone know?

[xekomaya]

No. I wouldn't do that for a newborn. Try to avoid putting anything in unnecessarily so you don't harm the latch while he's still learning. Maybe it is considered good practice for an older baby, but I wouldn't even think about it until they start eating real food after 6 months.

[Just1More]

No, me either. (And I never have...this is my fourth.)

In addition to messing with their latch, I'd be concerned about putting germs in there. I think new babies should only have nursies in their mouths!

Maybe later you can do it if you want, but I don't think it's really as critical as they say. Eat a healthy diet, and feed one to the baby, and their teeth will be fine. My 18mo brushes all by herself...and we just started having her brush at all.

If you do a search on "tooth brushing" or something similiar here on MDC, you'll find lots and lots of interesting opinions on the necessity of it.

[Kelly1101]

I agree... I wouldn't put anything in there at least until solid food starts. (after solid food and getting some teeth, I'll wipe down the teeth with a piece of damp gauze)

[MaerynPearl]

Gosh, I sure wouldn't! I agree at the risk of introducing bacteria or such to their mouth unnecessarily... they really shouldn't have ANYTHING going in their mouth yet but their hands and your nipples and if both of those are kept clean, baby should be just fine!

[sattygirl99]

We did after every feeding with some very diluted GSE... BUT we also had yeast and that's a natural way of handling it (cleaning with GSE).

For a non-yeast, normal mouth? Nope...

[Lit Chick]

Not at all. The only reason to do any cleaning is if you have thrush. We did at 3 months, and like satty, we beat it with swabs of diluted GSE.

I'm pretty sure we got thrush not because of not cleaning before that, but because I was wearing the same 2 nursing bras and only washing on the weekends. Ick. Wash your bras and towels a LOT, and that should keep any nasties away.