Hey mamas:)
So I have been wondering about something here lately. Sometimes at night I just don't get my nine month old's teeth brushed. I will be running around, getting the kids bathed, clearing supper dishes, getting jammies going, you know the drill. Well after I pajama my lil one I nurse him to sleep. Sometimes I remember to brush his teeth, sometimes not. Well I was looking at my baby toothpaste and it says it provides natural protection for your baby's teeth with ingredients close to what is found in breastmilk. I did notice that this happened a lot with my first born and he has beautiful white teeth and not cavities. Of course he is three and has been brushing morning and night for a long time but as a nursing baby he fell asleep many nights without brushing. Plus even when I do brush my baby's teeth at night he still nurses to sleep after. So does anyone know if breastmilk is actual good for baby teeth? My little guy has 4 and is working on a 5th tooth. I would never let either of my kids go to sleep with a bottle or anything like that. Any thoughts on this?
Thanks:)
Saliva naturally rinses the milk out of his mouth. He is not at risk for dental issues unless he has weak enamel from his genetics. Any dentist will tell you that it's the holding the bottle all night in their mouth with the milk dripping on the teeth continuously that causes tooth rot. Your baby should be fine but if he does get cavities it is usually from just having weaker enamel not milk.
I nursed our daughter for 21 months, including nighttime power-nursing (we co-slept) and at age 5, she has no cavities...
This is only anicdotal, but I breast fed and co slept with my girls until they were 2 and 3 and they do not have a single cavity. They would nurse at night after brushing teeth all the time. My son was not able to nurse for long(only til 6 months) or co sleep due to medical issues and now he has a mouth full of fillings and caps even though we brushed his teeth before bed everynight. As I said, this is just my personal experience. Good luck!!!
