Babies who go to bed with a bottle of milk, formula, or juice are more likely to develop tooth decay because the sugar in those liquids stays in contact with the teeth during the night. Follow these simple steps to avoid this significant problem for your child:
- Avoid nursing children to sleep, nighttime feedings, or putting anything other than water in their bedtime bottle after his or her first tooth erupts.
- Do not put your child to bed with a bottle of milk, juice, formula or sweetened liquid.
- Stop nursing when your child falls asleep or stops sucking on the bottle.
- Try not to let your child walk around using a bottle of milk, formula or juice as a pacifier.
- Start teaching your child how to drink out of a cup at about 6 months of age. Your goal is to stop letting your child use a bottle by 12 to 14 months at the very latest.
- Do not dip your child’s pacifier into honey, sugar, sugar-filled drinks, or in your own saliva. It is true that the same cavity-causing bacteria in your own mouth can easily be spread to your child’s mouth.
