I don’t brush DS’s teeth after milk

[newmum8888]

My DS has one bottle of milk a day, in his room before I put him in his cot and he goes to sleep for the night. I brush his teeth before the milk but not after, as he hates having them brushed and I don’t want him to get agitated and tearful just before bed.

How important is it to brush after bedtime milk rather than before? He’s 15 months old and has eight teeth.

I also did this with my youngest son, it’s totally understandable, it was his comfort & I didn’t want to upset him with extra teeth brushing. He has decay now at the age of almost 4. I feel utterly hideous about it. I’m sure it’s attributable to other things too but if I had my time again I would definitely do another quick brush after the milk.

I didnt with my DD and her teeth are fine.

I never do and I never did with my older two. They were asleep as they drink that last milk and even at 18 months my son still has one in the middle of the night. I'm not brushing then! The older two were fine. Good strong mouthful of teeth.

I did the same and D's had decay, dentist really told me off and said anything but water turns to sugar on the teeth.

We just changed bed time routine and teeth cleaned after bottle and a story.

I had the exact same question as you.
I've 16 month olds twins. They also have one bottle of milk a day, in their bedroom before going to sleep.
I brush their teeth after the bottle, since I wouldn't forgive myself if they got cavities as a result of this.
So, to make it less stressful, I bring in a small bowl of water to their room, with their toothbrushes. I use finger ones, since they tolerate them the best, and don't start "playing" with them. It's not a very thorough brushing, to be honest, but I'm hoping it's better than nothing.
I bribe one twin with his dummy, saying he can have it after we brush his teeth. Luckily the other twin allows me to brush her teeth with no complaint.

You need to brush them after the bottle. Or brush them before and then after the bottle sweep a bit of toothpaste round their mouth with your finger. (Until old enough to tolerate brushing last).
To make toothbrushing easier put their heads on your lap like at the dentist and slowly count to 10 for each sextant so they know when it's over.
It's going to be a battle but tough.

I did this with DS a few times and he had to go to hospital age 5 and have 3 teeth pulled under anaesthetic.

At that point he'd only been drinking milk and water, no squash or juice. The ward was full of kids all having teeth pulled. They dedicate a day a week just for teeth extraction.

So yes always brush teeth after milk I'm afraid

I didn’t with any of my three and no teeth problems at an older age.

I did the same with my dc op and at 23, 27 and 30 they all have perfect teeth with no fillings.

You need to brush them! So many children ending up with really bad decay at a very young age, all linked back to going to bed/sleep with a bottle of milk

Just wanted to add that DD never had any issues with her teeth and DS now has nice strong adult teeth. The teeth he did have pulled were all just baby teeth thankfully

And I was mortified about it. I felt like the worst DM ever for a few days especially having to hold his little hand whilst counting backwards from 10 in the operating room till his general anaesthetic kicked in

DS1 went to bed with a bottle of milk as well, and his teeth are fine.
I wouldn’t worry too much on the basis that you look after his teeth the majority of the time. Pretty soon he’ll drop the bottle. Just get his teeth checked on the regular.

His teeth really should be brushed before he sleeps, otherwise the milk is just coating his teeth all night. I’ve lost count of the amount of children I’ve looked after who have teeth removed at age 2-4 and their parents are baffled as they don’t eat many sweets, juice etc, only milk! But it’s the milk that does it as they don’t brush their teeth after.

Thanks everyone. I’m dreading it as it’s going to put him in an agitated and wide awake state right before bedtime!

Also, is it ok for him to still be on the bottle once a day at this age or should he be having mill from a sippy cup? The bottle before bed is his comfort so I’m reluctant to take it away.

• milk

We are looking to change our babies routine for this reason too. We use a sippy cup and he drinks two of these a night before bed. Wouldn’t entertain water - we had tried! So, after this heat wave we are trying again. Milk after dinner, bit of a break and then brush teeth. We have been advised that brushing too close to a meal or drink leaves the teeth vulnerable as the enamel is weaker, and you’re brushing it off, hence the break between milk and brushing before bed.

I wouldn't risk it - he might be fine, he might not. I'd just change the routine - sippy cup for milk instead of a bottle (you're a big boy now!) and teeth done after. We do milk during story time. Changing the routine is short term pain for long term gain. It's probably easier to do it at 15 months than 2.5yo when he's really set in his routine.

The problem with asking for individual experiences is people will tell you about the time it was OK. In the 80s I rode in a car boot and I’m alive but it’s doesn’t mean I would allow my children to do it.

Do people REALLY brush teeth at 3am after having milk?!

Who's talking about 3am?

@MrsPelligrinoPetrichor

Who's talking about 3am?

Me!

My giant baby still wakes quite often and has milk at that time...

Ok, the OP is talking about a bottle before bed so going to sleep every day with teeth coated in milk, not the odd night bottle .