To be stumped at what to do? (Traffic post - sorry)

[TheLolaMontez]

Good evening everyone,

I have a bit of a quandary with my 11month old DD.

She is just cutting her first little tooth and we've started brushing it morning and night. The only problem we have come up against (apart from trying to brush an infants tooth) is that quite often she will feed to sleep.

I guess it's not really feasible to brush her tooth in the middle of the night. I did wonder about filling her bottle with water instead of milk but I'm not sure if an 11 month old should be drinking substantial amounts of water? Sometimes she'll get through two full bottles of milk a night.

So I just wondered what other people did, really. She won't take a dummy, she used to but isn't happy with them anymore.

Any advice/tips greatly appreciated

I don't think it matters at this age as presumably she isn't eating a lot of sugary things. My dd is 12 months with 4 teeth and although we brush three times a day she won't let us near her with a bruch and just chews it. So she's probably not had her teeth 'brushed' ever. We've tried everything. Dentist said it was fine it's just getting them into the habit and used to it for now. I feed her to sleep and feed a couple times during the night too.

I gave my DC a last bottle of milk in the bath and brushed their teeth afterwards. There was no option of having milk after that because I think teeth cleaning is too important. If DC woke in the night for milk I didn’t brush but did brush right away in the morning. However DC didn’t often wake for milk in the night.

My dd had 8 teeth by 11 months, so we brush teeth after bottle before bed. Tbf we also brush them at every nappy change cause she loves it!
But easier for us as she hasn't had milk in the night since 6 months

Thanks for the input folks. I can't remember the last time she had a night without feeding. She hasn't slept through the night properly for ages either, (probably a combination of things).
She slept beautifully for ages but then she levelled up and started doing more stuff, inevitably upsetting her sleep.

Not really sure what to do for the best for her, I don't want to rot her little tooth before it's even had chance to get established

Have you seen a dentist yet? I'd say that they're the best person to speak to, as they will advise you based on what they see in your little one's mouth.

My now 2.5 yr old was breastfed directly before bed and multiple times through the night until she was 14/15 months old and until recently still had a post toothbrushing feed. I asked our dentist regarding toothbrushing, as I'd read that you should brush after a feed before sleep, but hadn't been because sleep was already bad enough at that point without waking once sleep was achieved! The dentist said teeth/gums looked great and not to worry about adding extra brushing to our routine.

Teeth are still great and no problems. I don't know if this would be the same advice given if I'd been formula feeding, as obviously the make up of the milk is different.

Don't worry I fed all mine to sleep until much older than this and teeth are fine.A dentist is likely to tell you to do it differently but if you are in a routine I wouldn't worry yet. The routine will soon change again.

Not seen a dentist yet, should I be booking her in now as she has something? It's literally three little bumps

We seen dentist after DD cut her first tooth. He advised that after her bottle to give her an ounce of water or give it a wipe with a clean damp cloth.

NHS advice is first check up before one. So book in with your dentist. Dental checks for babies are supposed to focus on oral health advise.
If baby is taking two bottles whilst she is asleep, the danger is that the milk is in the mouth over a long period of time. So possibility of bottle caries.
If she has a bottle and falls asleep and you remove the bottle, it should be fine. It’s when babies are given bottle to feed on throughout the night, that problems can arise.
Having water after milk is also a good idea.

It is important. My dds tooth discoloured as it was such trouble to get the toothbrish in her mouth.
Dentist said to let her chew it and not force brushing as it would make her see it negatively. I had to make another appointment before the next six month check up because it just got worse.
His advice then was to just hold her and force it.

If i could go back i would.
She is 4 now and it was one of her first teeth at the front. It looks horrible! I thought itd have to be taken out.

She still hasnt had a propper check up in the dentist because he doesnt want to scare her by forcing his hands into her mouth and we cant afford to go private (and he genuinely is a lovely dentist and my other dc love him) but i think it is worth being a bit firm with new teeth.
Granny was sneaking her sweets though which definitely contributed. Thanks a lot mum.