Another extended BF question..

[labst60]

Extended BF moms... how long do you nurse at night?

 

DD1 nursed until 25 months and nursed at night until 18 months.

She had TERRIBLE dental problems (cavaties) starting at about 28 months - cavaties, then pulpotomies, crowns, extractions - it was awful. She is now 7 and we are FINALLY getting past it - but that could be because every baby tooth has fallen out or is already filled!

 

Based on my internet research, her cavaties exactly fit the pattern for baby bottle decay (she never took a bottle, just nursed). I believe there is a huge genetic component to it also....

 

So with DD2 - I night weaned her at 12 months (pretty painlessly) and she self weaned at 18 months. Held on to her paci until 3.5 - but no dental issues for her at all (she is now 5)

 

That brings me to DD3 who is now 19 months. I fully intended to night wean her at 12 months to avoid all the problems big sis had (it was awful for her and me to go through 10+ cavaties fillings IN ADDITION to the time she had to be put under at the hospital for a lot of work IN ADDITION to 2 extractions of crowns that abscessed....)

 

But I can't get this one to wean at night... she will wean, get sick (nothing major, stomach virus, cold, etc) and I just give in and then we are back where we began... :-( She always cosleeps, so I'm sure that adds to it.

 

I have nothing against continuing (depite the fact that I would probably enjoy a full nights sleep) except that with Dd1's history I am SO AFRAID of DD3 going through all that! (And I don't even want to experience it as Mom watching again!)

 

How long did you nurse at night? Did your little one have dental issues?

[Momof3littles]

Around 2 it started tapering off. DS1 had an early cavity on the back of an upper central incisor, and the dentist thought it could be related to night nursing. We had very good dental hygiene with him considering he was a toddler. I was unwilling to totally nightwean as he was only 15 months, and was dealing with chronic constipation, taking Miralax, and not eating well. His teeth mattered, but so did the rest of him. We started using xylitol toothpaste, wiping his teeth down more frequently during the day, and I'd try to wipe them after night nursing. Easier said than done. He didn't have any more decay (knock on wood!) after that filling, and he's now 8.5 yo.

 

DD night nursed until 2ish and didn't have any issues.

 

DS2 has a small spot in one of the grooves on his upper lateral incisor, but the dentist checked it and said it is a deep groove and an enamel defect, but solid. He said it will be prone to cavities (5x more likely) but so far it is okay. He moved into his bed at 2, and we've been working on going longer at night without nursing. He's getting closer and closer to being nightweaned.

 

We use xylitol products a few times a day, eat very few starchy or sugary carbs, and make sure the night nurser's teeth are very well brushed before bed so we aren't getting lactose from breastmilk combining with leftover food particles.

[eternalknot]

Mine nursed throughout the night (we co-slept and I can sleep through anything, so they had free/easy access as they needed it) through 4-5 years old. One has had dental issues (a tooth grew in decayed and there have been more cavities than this kid is years old), and one has had nary a problem at all (perfect dental health). One has teeth like my side, one has teeth like daddy's side. Their diets and lifestyle habits were identical. I think genetics and proneness play as important a role - if not moreso - than how a baby is fed.

[ktgrok]

Mine nursed at night until at least 2 years old. Breastmilk on its own does NOT cause cavities. However...food particles plus breastmilk DO cause cavities, worse than just food particles. If you brush before bed it shouldn't be a problem. Also, keep in mind that nursing cavities would be in different places than baby bottle cavities because the milk doesn't pool behind the teeth, the nipple is in further, and the baby has to actively suck to get milk out. There is none left pooling int he mouth the way there is with a bottle.

 

Oh, and neither kid had cavities.

[Mrs Mungo]

I night-weaned my kids when they were about 10 months old. They didn't had any cavities until they were older.

[Joanne]

My research (years ago now) lead me to conclude that dental caries and decay were related to *bacteria* and genetic predisposition. Unfortunately, my kids were more at risk if I kissed them on the mouth than if I breastfed or bottlefed them.

 

Treating nightweaning as a separate topic, I didn't have the same view of the nursing relationship and boundaries with my oldest that I did with the subsequent 2. I believe in nightweaning, decided by Mom, after a year or so.

[TheReader]

My three boys all had very bad dental health, with the exact same pattern of issues for all three. Front teeth without or with limited/very weak enamel, assorted cavities (some more so than others), the front teeth needed to be capped and then all three also wound up with mouth injuries that required those capped teeth to be pulled.

 

With my youngest, the dentist tried to blame the nursing. Except, all 3 boys had the same exact issue. With #1, I nursed only 3.5 months, and he never had a bottle propped in bed at night and didn't have any night bottles past maybe 9-ish months or so. With #2, I only nursed for not even 2 months, and same bottle pattern. He actually weaned from bottles earlier than #1 did. With #3, I nursed him (including night nursing) until he was 3 yrs old.

 

So, I really don't think that the nursing/bottle stuff is as large a factor in teeth issues as genetics. DH had very poor dental health as a kid, I had mediumly bad dental health as a kid, and with all 3 boys having the exact same issue, yet different feeding patterns.....I just don't see the feeding method as a factor. At least, not in our case.

[VeganCupcake]

I nightweaned my DD starting at about 17.5 months. She doesn't have any dental issues.

 

My DS is mostly nightweaned now, at 17 months. He hardly has any teeth, so no dental issues with him, either. He's a late bloomer. ;)

 

I believe in nightweaning for my sleep and my sanity, sometime after baby is 12 months.

[Carrie75]

I bottlefed both boys until they were 3 at night with a "dreamfeed." Neither of them have any cavities.

 

I think genetics plays a huge part in dental cavities. I am only guessing but people have different enamel strengths, ect.

[Sara in AZ]

We nightwean around 2. No cavities yet in any of the four kids, and I'm not good at brushing until they are around 2. That sounds like a horrible situation you had with your first! If it were me I'd probably get serious about the night weaning for the double purpose of possibly avoiding the cavities and just getting some sleep! Of course, my answer is colored by the fact that my 19 mo. old is waking 5+ times a night. Grrrrrr.

[LittleIzumi]

One child did not nurse past two weeks or go to sleep with a bottle. She has horrible teeth--tons of cavities, extra teeth, crooked, etc. The other dd nursed at night for about two years. She has perfect movie star teeth, no signs of any cavities, etc. It's genetics here. My side has horrible teeth and get cavities from looking at food! Hubby can only brush in the morning and not go the dentist for seven years and have no cavities at all. Guess who got which DNA?

[mommaduck]

Eighteen months at the moment and still nursing at night. The others were done by now. She was almost done, but due to our family circumstances, she's aggressively nursing again, day and night.

[Soror]

Mine nursed at night until at least 2 years old. Breastmilk on its own does NOT cause cavities. However...food particles plus breastmilk DO cause cavities, worse than just food particles. If you brush before bed it shouldn't be a problem. Also, keep in mind that nursing cavities would be in different places than baby bottle cavities because the milk doesn't pool behind the teeth, the nipple is in further, and the baby has to actively suck to get milk out. There is none left pooling int he mouth the way there is with a bottle.

 

Oh, and neither kid had cavities.

 

:iagree: I've not nightweaned any of mine until 2+. Ds8 has never had any cavities, dd1 had several and dd2 has had none so far. Dd1 however has tight spacing between teeth and all of her cavities were between teeth, we weren't as diligent with flossing as we should have and she seems more predisposed. Obviously they've all had the same diet.

[LaxMom]

I night weaned the boys at 2 1/2 and they fully weaned at 3 1/2. They're 8 and have no cavities or dental oddities. My 11 yo self-weaned shortly after her first birthday, and my eldest (23) was bottle fed. Neither of them have had any cavities, either.

 

It's genetics. I have 3 fillings (all from those "difficult" early teen years) and my husband has never had a tooth filled.

Edited September 13, 2012 by MyCrazyHouse

[ElizaG]

Some of mine were nursed past a year (I think this is considered extended?), but they stopped nursing at night around 2 or 3 months. Even the ones who slept right next to me in a bassinet. They just liked to sleep better than they liked to eat, I guess.

 

The exception was my child with medical problems, who was seriously undersized as a newborn. She nursed at night until 9 months or so. She has grown like crazy since then, and still eats like a horse. Last night, she had 4 separate dinners. :lol:

 

None of them has any cavities.

Edited September 13, 2012 by Eleanor

[nd293]

Ds had dental problems, but I night weaned later with ds than dd - I would say 18 months for dd, and 2.5 yrs for ds. Ds has had 4 fillings - back molars, all around 2.5 yrs, with ongoing work on the same teeth (initial fillings were temporary ones as they expected to need to put him under general anesthetic when he was older - luckily 2 of the temp fillings look set to hold indefinitely, and he has managed a crown in the chair). The pediatric dentist described his problem as hypoplasia - under-developed tooth enamel, and says it is usually results from a problem during pregnancy (such as a maternal fever etc), and that they can even figure out when it happened based on which teeth are effected. Not sure if this is fact - the dentist seems to work at making parents feel better about their children's dental problems!

[labst60]

Thanks everyone for your input/support.

 

I too beleive that genetics play the biggest role - but since DD3 has the same genetics, I worried about adding to the bad genetics!

 

I will continue to try to night wean - mostly for my own sanity - but try not to stress about it too much. Her first dentist appt is at the end of the month and I'm just bracing myself.

[AdventureMoms]

I nightweaned DD around 2yo because I needed her to be able to stay with my mom when the twins were born. She hasn't had any issues thus far. I think that night nursing is a very minor player in dental health.