just a query

Sorry, I wasn't sure what section this would go in..
At my young mothers group on wednesday, a lady came in to talk to us about dental health for babies/toddlers. I just thought I would check to see if something she said was really off the mark, it made a couple of us a bit annoyed.

She said not to breastfeed your child past 12 months because it can cause dental decay :eek:

Well, thats the one thing that upset me the most.. I dunno, maybe I'm just being silly. Some of the things did make sense and other things just sounded a bit off. I want to BF for as long as Logan wants, (within reason, not gonna BF and have him at school :p ) but I didn't think that BFing would give him cavaties.

That is someone talking out of their backside, Melly - I'm not even a mum and I know that! You and those other mums were most right to think it bad advice. It's thanks to this forum I'm now thinking BFing past teething is OK - the only reason I was going to stop then was because of biting issues (not saying I aren't going to stop when biting starts, just that it's no longer definate). BFing does NOT cause dental decay - it is more likely to prevent it, as everything else has the wrong sugars in it for baby's teeth, so don't feel bad BFing a young child with teeth. BFing is better than cow's milk and waaaaay better than juice drinks.

HTH!

My dentist spoke to me about Madeline's teeth when she was only 6 weeks old. Basically, once their teeth break through, it's worth getting a baby's first toothbrush and brushing. It's not even important to use toothpaste, just water if you want.

Moreso, he said that it was great if you can get baby to have a little bit of water after their last feed at night. That way their rinsing the milk off their teeth. I guess that makes sense to me... *LMAO*

Indah cut her first teeth at 3-4 months, she has bitten me twice, she now has 5 teeth.... I bought her a baby tooth brush shich I let her chew on in the bath, not brush as such... I also let her have wtaer if she wants, as she drinks through a straw, but she wants boob, not water late at night...
I would not use tooth paste there's lot's of sugar in toothpaste..

But my older daughter didnt get teeth til after she was 9 months... she stopped taking her bottle (she wasnt breast fed) at 10 months...

But feed for as long as you want too & bubs wants it!!!

I use toothpaste with Jackson, I think you will find that with childrens toothpastes they are all no added sugar. I have been brushing his teeth since his first one appeared, some people have laughed at me for it, but even if your child eats well, most foods have natural sugars in them, which can lead to plaque and decay, babies are not exempt from that, plus lookin after baby teeth paves the way for the adult teeth to come through healthy as well. A good way to start brushing if bubs hates toothbrush is to wrap a small piece of muslin over your finger and gently brush teeth with that.