My daughter is 2 years and a few months old.

She never took to the bottle so I was breast feeding her up until 2 years.She did drink milk during the times she was awake,but she used to cry a lot in her sleep if I did not feed her.
We could not make her stop breast feeding.

Now she has stopped that but she still wakes up in the middle of the night for a feed, I give her milk,some water and then she goes back to sleep without a fuss.

The thing is her upper teeth,is very weak and it has been that way since it came out,the lower ones are strong.At the beginning she rarely used the front teeth to take bites out of food.
It got better for a while.Dentist says that there is nothing much to be done,except wait until her milk teeth fall off.He also says that it could have been something I had while I was pregnant, I am not sure which one,but he said some iron tablets prescribed during pregnancy could have affected my daughter's teeth. I havent been able to find any information on that though.

Since we started the night milk feed(we use a straw and clean her teeth after,give water too), her teeth seems to get weaker and I feel a bit scared that they might not last until her new teeth comes out.

I knew someone who used to feed the bottle to her baby at night,even juice and her little one has the same problem and the dentist advised the same thing to wait until the new ones grow.This boy I am talking about is now 5-6 years old now and his teeth are weak but he still has them.

What could I do?Should I stop the night feeds,but I have a feeling that her night sleep will be disturbed.
She does eat well at dinner and I am sure is not hungry when she goes to sleep,but she needs the feed about 3-4 hours after she goes to bed.And having stopped the breast feeding I think she misses that a lot and throws a fit even in her sleep if I try to get her back to sleep by giving her water alone,without the milk.

Thank you in advance

grammadidi

I feel that you should stop the milk entirely after she goes down for the night. If she fusses, you can go in and reassure her that she can have milk in the morning, or just give her water. If the fussing continues, just tell her you love her, give her a kiss and leave the room. It generally will not take any longer than 3 nights of consistency to effect a change of habit. She may test it again a few nights later, then again after a week, but as long as you are consistent she will be fine.

Do you have flouride in your water where you live? If not, try her on cranberry juice, or a mixture of orange/cranberry in the mornings or for her snack time. Cranberry juice is full of natural flouride.

Hugs, Didi

firmbeliever

I will the try the cranberry idea.Would that be natural juice?We get only packet or bottled ones here, none fresh.

And I am guessing this night feed stopping is going to wake the whole household until it stops.Well, I got to do what I have to do..

Thanks GrammaDidi

grammadidi

Well, I don't know where you live, but I use bottled Ocean Spray Cranberry Cocktail here. It's a little bitter, so she may not like it, that's why I would add it to some pure 100% orange juice.

Yes, you may have a few sleepless nights, but it will be worth it in the end! One little guy I babysat almost drove his parents to drink. However, I took him off the bottle in 5 minutes. You might try sending her to a relative's to do it! They often behave much better for someone other than mom's and dad's.

Hugs, Didi

firmbeliever

Sendin her over to someone else is not something I can handle, not for sleeping,playing is fine..

I am tough, I can get through it.
A few nights of crying is better for her than years of toothache.

Thanks GrammaDidi!

NowWhat

Just curious, but do you have flouride in your water? If not - you can get either vitamins with flouride added or flouride drops (both from your ped.)
If the teeth are that weak, then try doing a flouride rinse with her. It might be a bit tricky with a 2 year old.

My daughter's front tooth would break as it came in. Until finally, it had to be pulled (at 16 months old). The dentist could not give us an explanation of why - other than it is was a "bad tooth". Now, we deal with lots of cavities. (She is 7) Her dentist has said she produces more bacteria than the average kid. (not uncommon) so we have to be deligent about brushing after meals. If we can't then her mouth should be rinsed out with water. Start flossing too. It could be helpful.

I would think giving her water at night would not hurt her teeth. There is nothing in there to harm them. The milk has sugar in it as does most drinks. So the water will fill the need of her routine but won't harm her teeth.

Hope this helps.

firmbeliever

Thanks NW,
I am not sure if my water has flouride,Didi asked the same thing.
I need to check if we do.

N0help4u

The only thing that stopped my kids from waking up in the night was giving them a bowl of baby cereal before bedtime to keep their stomach full. Always make sure you never put her to bed with the bottle in her mouth the bacteria from the drink will rot the teeth.

Health experts bare teeth on fluoride - Andrew Glass - Politico.com

About 'Fluoride' -- Truth Every Mother Should Know

firmbeliever

No chance of her sleeping with the bottle .She never took to the bottle.Lucky in a way,that wasnt what made her teeth weak it seems.

Thanks for the links.