Posted by
Yogini
20 yrs ago
My baby is 14 months and I still bf.
I am concerned about his teeth since he regularly falls asleep at his evening feed. Ideally I would feed him first, brush his teeth and bring him to bed. I know we should find a different bedtime routine but this is still the one which works best. If someone else puts him down he will fall asleep but with me he always asks for bf.
At what age did you start to brush every time before going to bed?
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Kimmi
20 yrs ago
Ideally you should really brush a childs teeth as soon as the first one's have come through after breakfast and last thing at night before sleep. Otherwise the milk and food just stays stuck on them causing plaque then ultimately tooth decay. I know it can be very difficult when a child is sleepy and likes his last feed before falling asleep but you must try to wash that milk of his teeth. Any kind of milk, especially breast milk is extremely sweet and sticky and stays on the teeth. Even if you cant get a small brush in there use a wet soft cloth and use your finger to get in there and clean the milk off otherwise your child might be one of the unlucky ones that gets tooth decay. Hope this helps.
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crj
20 yrs ago
When should it change from water and a wash cloth/baby tooth brush to adding some baby toothpaste? And how do you 'rinse' a baby mouth after using baby tooth paste?
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Hi Cri, Give baby a drink of water from a cup, will invariably overfill his mouth and give you great game with him gurgling. We brushed our boys teeth with a little bit of toothpaste and water as soon as he had teeth. Starting the routine early to get him used to it, so now at the joyful challening age of 2 its not an issue.
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Kimmi
20 yrs ago
You can start using the tiniest amount of colgate 0-6 or Macleans 'milkteeth' (both minty and available from B2B) from the start if you like either with a very small soft brush like colgates first or a soft cloth. I started with a brush and minty paste from the start with my child. Babies and small children cant rinse their mouths unfortunately so offer a small drink of water or just leave it. The fluoride will do good staying on the teeth. It does no harm what so ever if they swallow it either as the baby tooth paste has so little fluoride in it. You hear all these stories of fluoride being so bad. Yes it is, in extremely large large massive doses like most things. But we need it in our toothpaste to help prevent tooth decay with proper regular brushing.
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Everything I've read on the toothpaste subject says unequivacably NOT to until the child can rinse reliably. That's what our dentist said too. Floride oughtn't be injested. Just brush with a wet toothbrush, or a finger on a washcloth.
But back to the original question, breastmilk isn't hard on teeth like formula is, nothing like the amount of sugar. Mine BF to 20 mo (had all but her two year molars by then) and her teeth are perfect, so I'm not sure I'd worry about brushing. Makes sense to brush after the evening solids though, before the milk.
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Kimmi
20 yrs ago
Fluoride is injested with fluoride tablets that Dentists often advise parents to give to their children. We all injest some amount of toothpaste when we brush, thats why I recommended the tiniest amount. Yes alot of children do get away without getting decay on their teeth if they dont brush last thing before sleeping, they are the lucky ones, BUT alot dont too. Ive seen heeps of very young children having their decayed teeth removed under GA in the UK and Australia because of what they call "bottle caries". Yes mabe Breast milk isnt as bad left on the teeth, but in my experience I still believe you should at least try to clean the teeth before sleep to prevent decay.
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Sorry, I wasn't suggesting not to brush. I brushed hers after every meal, just wasn't so fussed about brushing after evening BF. I'd brush (with water) after her solids, and later she'd have her milk.
The other reason I wasn't so worried about it was that both my doctor and dentist said brushing once a day was sufficient at that age.
(These "bottle caries" typically present in babies that take a bottle to bed and suck all night. Although a co-sleeping baby that sucks on mummy all night is apparantly also at risk.)
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Kimmi
20 yrs ago
Yes, I think a BF baby could also be at risk if they are still sucking on Mummy 'all night' at an age when they have most of their primary teeth. The first little ones come through at about 6-8 months then they usually have all of their primary teeth by the age of 2. I BF my first child till the age of 1 and co-slept with her till the age of 3. I was lucky cause by 6 months she was usually sleeping through by then so I didnt have her sucking on me through the night. I always tried to clean her teeth before sleep. I believe damage 'could' be done if they were never being cleaned. But like I say, alot of kids have got away with it and were lucky but alot havent even the BF kids. I had alot of Mums chat to me saying they had never given their kids sweets, sweet drinks, biscuits etc etc and their little bubs or toddlers had decay. We often found out it usually came down to the last feed at night bottle or breast, then straight to sleep without cleaning that was the culprit.
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suze
20 yrs ago
Kimmi is so right my eldest got milk decay and had to have a tooth removed under GA. I was mortified, I just did not realise how much sugar was in milk and she would suck herself to sleep!
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