Hellobee Boards

Aw I'm sorry! I will agree with your dentist that I think a lot of teeth issues, you are predisposed to.

Well it's not your fault- it's genetics! My cousin's wife feeds their girls sugary drinks and candy all the time. I'm shocked their teeth still look good, but it's genetics.

Good luck night weaning!

This is freaking me out! DD is 16 mo and has so most of her teeth, we brush but I'm not a stickler about it. Now I feel like I need to bring her to the dentist asap! I was going to wait till she's closer to 2!

I'm so sorry! I have bad teeth too, apparently the grooves are just really deep and hard to get entirely clean (or that's what my dentist said, maybe they were just trying to be nice).

Maybe you could brush teeth at night but after nursing, just do a quick once-over with a damp washcloth. I'd hate to fully wake him up to go to the bathroom, turn lights on etc. when he should still be sleepy and just go right back to bed.

I brush and floss my kids teeth and LO 2 still had tartar buildup in the back. Her dentist removed it but told me to spend more time flossing!

Don't feel guilty about breastfeeding. Would eliminating processed foods during the day help? I've read that that's really bad for young teeth.

I bet the carby snacks are loaded with sugar. I did a science fair project as a kid to see which was worse acid or sugar on teeth. Sugar was awful.

Granted we didn't bed share, but I found it easier to wean the before bed feed first, then tackle the MOTN. We just had DH go in at first for about a week. Then, I'd offer water and cuddles but say there was no milk until morning. It was only a few nights of short lived freak outs before she caught on. Good luck! Hope it's an easy transition for you.

Anything that can stick to the teeth can cause decay. Fruit snacks, peanut butter, carbs (like crackers), dried fruit.

Our pediatrician told us to make sure he gets plenty of water to drink when he eats these things, it makes it less likely they will stick to his teeth.

Don't feel bad! You saw it, and you took him in! So now you know what to look for and you can move on from here.

@junebugsmama: we just bottle weaned for the Same reason, worried about tooth decay at 16 months. But he is also addicted to the boob and night nursing/nursing to sleep. if you figure out any magical tips for night weaning please let me know. I feel like it's never going to happen

@junebugsmama: I was going to suggest maybe sleeping in another room depending on how it goes! Night weaning wasn't a magic bullet for slee but it definitely improved a lot! Hopefully you have the same experience! Are you using fluoridated toothpaste? If not I would recommend it. I naturally have cavity prone teeth no matter what I do and the thing that helped the most was switching to a Rx toothpaste with higher fluoride content. So, adding in a little if you don't already might help. I haven't used the toothpaste in over 3 years due to pregnancy and nursing and pregnancy again, and consequently after having many years of no cavities while on it, I have had two pop up since then.

@junebugsmama: I don't think you can heal cavities but you can keep them from getting worse. I had a cavity that was really small and we just monitored it for about a year. Then it started getting worse so I got a filling.

We had a similar experience when we took LO to his first dentist appointment. He didn't even have any cavities, but the dentist practically yelled at me for nursing him to sleep and nursing him overnight. She suggested I go stay in a hotel room to night wean him (haha!). He wasn't 2 yet, and I wasn't ready to night wean him, so I decided to compromise. We cut out carby snacks and juice and seltzer (seltzer is acidic for teeth- I didn't know), we became religious about brushing twice a day with fluoride, giving him more tap water (fluoridated), flossing every night, and I ordered some xylitol wipes to wipe his teeth after nursing. DH and I also became more strict about not sharing utensils with him, since cavity bacteria can be transferred orally (ew!) We also bought some xylitol gum for us.

6 months later at his next check up, the dentist said everything looked perfect. Even though she was kind of rude/aggressive about it, I did learn that breastfeeding doesn't protect from cavities, especially after a year, so we became proactive.

He's still nursing now at almost 3 (though he is night weaned now), and we're super strict about dental hygiene and snacks. That was a compromise that worked for me.

Good luck!

@junebugsmama: why doesnt your DH brush your LO's teeth? Has he not done night brushings 3 nights a week for as long as LO has had teeth?

@junebugsmama: I agree you might have to take some measures because some cavities might have already started! Definitely brushing with fluoride toothpaste. I do recommend the xylitol wipes, for after nursing or after eating, like if you're out and can't brush.