Night nursing - I need support!

721 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by anabelneri, Jul 9, 2005

Plummeting

Discussion Starter · Jun 21, 2005

I've read all about night nursing and ECC. I feel pretty confident that nursing my DD to sleep and a few times in the night has not caused her dental issues, and yet..... I can't shake this guilty feeling. The ped dentist we saw is supposedly the best in the area and they insisted that her teeth are "at increased risk for these problems because she's still nursing." I don't *really* believe them, but it would be nice if anyone here could give me a little encouragement. I'm feeling kind of down about it.

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bonbon mama

· #2 · Jun 21, 2005

I have known mothers of large families who have practiced CLW and have had some children more prone to cavities and some children without any. It didn't seem dependent on duration of nursing.

I have also read that bottles can cause bottle rot because the liquid continues to dribble through the rubber nipple even after the child has stopped sucking and fallen asleep. This liquid can pool on the teeth and contribute to decay. When your child releases suction on a natural nipple, the milk flow stops and there is little or no pooling to feed the decay bacteria.

I hope that others pitch in with more information for you. My brain is too sleepy to make any more sense than this.

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meemee

· #3 · Jun 25, 2005

i feel even though ur ped. dentist is the best that does not mean he is well informed.

have u checked out www.kellymom.com for more info on night nurisng? there is another ped. dentist online whose links i have at home that i can add later.

anyways here is my experience. i feel bf has nothing to do with bottle rot or cavities. first of all very little of the milk even touches the teeth because the nipple is positioned at the back of the throat so the milk goes directly down teh throat.

my dd has bottle rot. the top 4 teeth are decayed. she has 2 caps becuase of being on medical she didnt get to a pedio dentist on time. the other two teeth the decay was 'sawed' off. and we had an appointment in 6 months.

well i continued bf at night. i'd bf her to sleep, she'd wake up twice at night to nurse and drink and then a long one when she woke up. now if bf was causing decay she should have got decay again. but no. at 6 month apt the dentist gave her a clean bill of health.

my dd has always eaten healthy. she didnt come across sweet stuff till she was 18 months once in a while and only at 2 got candy. she is not much into fruit juice either. my take on this is she just has bad teeth. perhaps i didnt take enough calcium when i was pregnant. i remember craving for milky, creamy things and high calcium fruit.

sometime later i will post the dentist site too so u get more info.

http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/

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anabelneri

· #4 · Jul 9, 2005

Here's what I've learned in my searches about this topic... I don't have links, but it's out there.

Breastmilk does not cause cavities by itself. If clean teeth are exposed to breastmilk, it has as little effect on them as water has. No damage done.

If teeth are exposed to a non-breastmilk sugar, this can cause cavities (sugars feed particular bacteria that not everyone has, the bacteria give off acid, and that eats the teeth). Damage done.

If teeth are exposed to a non-breastmilk sugar and breastmilk at the same time, this causes cavities even faster than non-breastmilk sugar alone. A whole lot of damage can be done.

So, if you want to be cautious of teeth and continue breastfeeding at night, just make sure you brush your child's teeth (and floss, if you can) before bed.

HTH!
Anabel

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