In my 50 Things I Wish I Knew About Breastfeeding I mentioned that breastfeeding causes tooth decay, while this may not be the case for everyone, it was the case for my family. I’d always heard that if you breastfed your baby they wouldn’t get cavities and boy was I shocked when I discovered this wasn’t always true.

I was constantly brushing my child’s teeth so I was shocked one day when I spotted a stain on the back of her tooth. I tried brushing it off thinking that it was just me seeing something like a shadow or something but it wasn’t. I called the dentist and they said to come in. When they saw her they looked at the back of her teeth and told me sometimes babies simply got a stain on the back of their teeth,  nothing to worry about. I went back a few months later, not satisfied by this and same thing. It only seemed to get worse and finally they saw what I had been, sure enough it was now tooth decay.

The dentist explained to me that sometimes, even though it was rare, babies could get tooth decay from breastfeeding. I explained how I was always told this COULD NOT happen and he said everything depends. How often you feed, if you feed at night, etc. Apparently, according to him, since she was one that would latch on at night and sleep through the night constantly eating it was staying in there too long and it did eventually cause the tooth decay.

I’ve learned my lesson, while I still feed at night I make sure not to let them leave it in there. Meaning I make sure to stay awake long enough to pull the nipple out of his mouth. So far, I have not seen the “stain” as the dentist had originally called it, I did however with my third child. During the day I give him a bottle of water or a sip of mine to make sure his mouth gets rinsed out while he is awake.

Did any of you experience tooth decay with your children that were breastfed?

Post from: Babylune

1. That you get engorged in a matter of seconds.
2. You’d wake to a soaked bed, or night shirt.
3. Your baby would not want to eat when you wanted him/her to do it.
4. He/she will want to eat when it is inconvenient. (road trip)

5. You would grow twice your normal size.
6. You would shrink down to one size smaller than you once were when you stop breastfeeding.
7. It is easier to breastfeed then to wean.
8. That you should not diet while breastfeeding.
9. It is cheaper to breastfeed my baby then it is to bottle feed him/her.
10. Breastfeeding keeps him/her a little healthier.

11. Breastfeeding can cause tooth decay.
12. Everything you eat your child will eat.
13. Your child will suck the calcium out of you, make sure you take care of your teeth.
14. Breastfeeding delays “that time of month.”
15. Breastfeeding reduces the risk to breast cancer.
16. Your child may not like your breast milk and need something more. (yes this happened to me, I’ll write a post on it later this week)
17. No matter what, some will not be able to breastfeed.
18. If you work, expect someone to drink your pumped breast milk, if it is not in a bottle.
19. First time you experience blocked ducts you may think you have breast cancer.

20. You will leak at the worst of moments, especially when you have nothing to change into.
21. Everyone will tell you the joys of breastfeeding, but never the others.
22. Mastitis
23. Breast infection
24. Closed ducts
25. getting too much milk
26. Taking a shower does not mean you’ll stop spraying, in fact you probably will even more.
27. Your milk won’t dry up over night, weaning will be harder than that.
28. Breastfed babies can be colic too.
29. Men will be turned off by a breastfeeding mom.

30. Your doctor (male) will try telling you he has many new moms that leak in front of him. Eeek.
31. Many will argue that you breastfeed instead of the bottle.
32. Your nipples will crack, if you don’t use lotion of some sort.
33. There are breastfeeding websites to help you understand it all.
34. Men will be turned on by a breastfeeding mom, there are two types of men.
35. Everyone will give you advice on how to breastfeed your child, even after you’ve already had a few.
36. You will probably answer the door at least once with your breast hanging out. (my UPS man saw too much one time)
37. Your child will try breaking in his/her new teeth on your nipple. It will hurt.
38. Expect to show everyone your assets at least once in a grocery store.
39. It really is up to you if you want to breastfeed.

40. You will begin to release any time you hear a baby cry.
41. Even when you try to hide that you are breastfeeding someone will come up and begin talking with you.
42. Tossing a blanket over you while breastfeeding won’t stop onlookers from taking the blanket off and oowing at baby until they see his mouth is attached to your body.
43. Someone will be frightened that you breastfeed.
44. Someone will call you a pervert that you breastfeed, ignore them, they are the perve for ever going there.
45. One of the best ways to make your child quiet in a movie is to let them eat.
46. You will be warned not to feed your baby inside a museum.
47. Someone will ask you to cover up while you breastfeed.
48. You might get kicked out for breastfeeding your child.
49. You will definitely save a lot of money breast feeding, however shirts may cost a bit more.
50. Breastfeeding will bring the two of you closer.

 Can you add to this list?

Post from: Babylune