Newborn with a tooth!

[AlanMoore]

Any advice? He seems to be cutting one on the bottom right and the top 2 are threatening...

Born with a tooth? My dd had 4 by 12 weeks, very odd but didn't cause any problems with bf.

Babies will cover their bottom teeth with their tongue when they feed. Try sucking your own thumb to see. So if he's actively feeding then he won't bite.

I'm not sure if that was what your concerned about.

If it's teething pain, then breastmilk already has a natural pain relief in it so nursing him should help him with cutting any teeth.

Gosh! My DS didn't start teething until 6 month but it took a day or two for each new tooth to readjust his latch. I just took him of if the latch wasn't right and made a big mouth shape with my own mouth.

these MAM are suitable teethes from one month. would that help?

1. awww at newborn with a tooth!

2. really - breastmilk contains Calpol now? Thought as a ff-er I had heard all the myths information I needed about the adventure of breastfeeding.

He's only a day old

There are nipple protectors for breastfeeding... Google it! Cant remember he brand atm but ive seen them in boots.
GL

Yes, it's true that breast feeding acts as an analgesic which is why many mothers breast feed their babies during immunisations.

I wonder if using another feeding position would help things AlanM?

A premolar? Blimey - they don't usually get those until a year!

I've had a problem with my 12-month's tooth catching on my left breast. He actually bit a hole in my nipple three weeks ago, so be careful. It took until this Weds to heal and was very painful indeed. My advice - if he hurts you say 'ouch' or pop him off and reposition him. Gritting my teeth was what got me into trouble - so nip his biting in the bud.

Luvilee here's the research links about breastmilk giving some pain relief. kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/illness-surgery/bf-analgesia/. I did check it again before I posted yesterday as It does sound a bit like a myth.

sorry AlanM, I've no experience with that but June's advice to relatch sounds good. Kellymom is a great resource for bf advice too.

Thanks for the links - looks like it's the suckling that provides pain relief though, the research includes pacifiers but not milk from a bottle. It's something I get peeved by when breastmilk is lauded with random amazing qualities that ff babies miss out on when studies like these don't compare the two feeding types. If it's suckling and sucrose that provide analgesic effects, it can be assumed that ff babies receive the same effect.

Aware this isn't a thread about bf/ff but it gets my goat /rant.

Disappointed breastmilk doesn't actually contain Calpol though

Alan Congratulations! If you are still under the care of your midwife ask them to watch a whole feed to see about the latch. They might be able to suggest a new position or if not point you towards your local breastfeeding cafe/infant feeding specialist

Luvilee It appears it's not the sucking but the actual breast milk double blind

hazchem - that study compares breastmilk to water.

I'm sure formula milk does exactly the same as breastmilk, as the other studies show it's the sucrose content and the suckling together that cause the analgesic effect.

Formula is replicating breastmilk, that's the point of it, so it would probably do the same thing. Can't find out though as I'm rubbish at googling for research Kellymom is a breastfeeding advocate site so it won't link to any research showing formula is as good as breastmilk at most things.

Luvilee, I'm not anti-formula, I have had to feed both my babies with it.

But, it's not replicating breastmilk, it's trying to but it's definitely not entirely equivalent. Human breastmilk is made especially for human babies and tailor made to the baby that receives it. So it actively changes according to the baby's age, antibody needs etc.

Why do you doubt its analgesic powers? Because you're weary of that being anti-formula?

I just found www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/15188980/this through a simple google search, makes for an interesting read especially as its ebm rather than straight from the breast, so you can't assume that it's the suckling that does it.

I don't doubt the analgesic qualities of a baby drinking breastmilk, but am saying that none of these studies say anything at all about breastmilk as compared to formula.

That study you just posted also compares expressed breast milk with water. The only difference between that and the other study is that this time the milk is in a bottle.

Again - it's the sucking and the sucrose that do the trick, not some woo about the miraculous breastmilk itself.

Therefore formula will have the same effect, no?

A study directly comparing the analgesic properties of expressed breastmilk and formula milk would definitely be more convincing IMO...

I can see this conversation going round in circles! I guess it's hard to believe or disbelieve something that involves our children and the way we care and nurture them.

I never breastfed directly my first, expressed and bottlefed at first and then formula fed him. At that time I was at times resentful of comments on the amazing properties of breastmilk, they seemed unrealistic and upsetting, reminding me what we didn't have. With my daughter, breastfeeding is going really well, after a tough start. I have seen her react differently to breastmilk and formula (topups in the early weeks) and I can also see our relationship affected by the way she feeds.

I think our experiences influence our criteria, still, this is a very interesting debate...