night feeds & tooth decay

[willsmum]

My 3 year old had to have several teeth fixed under general anaesthetic recently - due mainly to night time feeding after his teeth arrived according to his dentist (a specialist paediatric dentist by the way so she should know what she is on about). I fed 'til he was 2 and he used the night feeds to comfort himself to sleep.

I intend to feed my new bub for as long as possible, but how do I get around the problem of night feeds leaving milk on the teeth?

[mamafelix]

Hi Willsmum-
are you talking breastfeeding or bottle feeding?
Breastfeeding doesn't cause decay as the the nipple is so far back... past the hard palate so the milk doesn't run over the teeth at all.
here's some links with more info:

https://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/t107300.asp
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/older-baby/tooth-decay.html
http://www.mothersnature.com/toddlers/info/dental.html
http://www.babyfriendly.org.uk/pdfs/torney_abstract.pdf (this one is a bit technical)

not sure about bottle feeding though.... this link has some info

http://www.drgreene.com/21_748.html

Basically the key is to start cleaning their teeth as early as possible... with a flannel if not a brush....

here's link on how to do it
http://www.aboutsmiles.org/bto3a.htm

hth!

[vonnie100]

Hi mamafelix,

I was just wondering, where do you get all your info and links from, they are alway so helpful.! :)
Vonnie

[willsmum]

Thanks mamfelix. I meant breastfeeding. He never had a bottle at all. And unfortunately I did clean his teeth at night and in the morning - he had a flannel rub from the day a tooth popped out of his gums and then graduated to a toothbrush. Maybe he just has crappy tooth enamel. His Dad has problem teeth so it may run in the family. I will definitely check out your refernces though - many thanks!

[mamafelix]

np Willsmum- yeah weak tooth enamel is a real bugger! not much you can do about it though...

Vonnie I did a google for most of that stuff, I also spend a lot of time at few other forums where there's already heaps of info... so it's easy to find!