Should I stop breastfeeding?

Question

Ok this is really difficult for me! My daughter turned 2 a week ago. I always said I don't mind BF upto about age three. I love our bond and relationship, although I am starting to feel changes that signify a natural cutting down of feeds (on my part not hers, although her understanding of me saying 'no' is getting better and she can be distracted or offered normal milk). But I intended these changes to be slow over the course of the next 6mths to year.

However my daughter has severe tooth decay. The dentist totally blames breastfeeding despite me knowing this is NOT the total cause. A family member BF 5 children and only had this issue with her fifth child, who was premature same as my daughter. But I cannot be sure that BF is not making the problem worse.

Then also I discovered my attempts at ttc have been failing due to BF still effecting my fertility. After much soul-searching I decided I can wait a while longer for the sake of giving my daughter more now.

But with that and the dentist thing (and my husband quietly thinks I should have stopped by now) it seems like support for carrying on is nil.

My daughter has about 7 feeds in 24hrs. I am wondering if I can cut some out? But its hard!!! Its her most favourite thing in the world.

Answer 1

Maybe try cutting out any feedings right before bed or in the middle of the night (but I'm assuming she sleeps through the night). Having the milk sitting on her teeth or pooling in her mouth while she falls asleep could be a partial cause for tooth decay. My mom BF all 5 of us kids and none of us ever had any tooth decay problems. She BF my youngest brother until he was 2 and 1/2 when he finally weaned himself and he never had any tooth problems. Start by cutting out one feeding a week. Try to find things she really enjoys to distract her when its her usual time to BF. Take her to the park, paint or color..whatever you can to distract her. If she's feeding 7 times in 24 hours, it should take you about 7 weeks to completely wean her and you may even be able to do it quicker if you choose. The BF sure can stop you from conceiving. I am a HUGE supporter of BF and normally I would suggest letting her self wean, but with the tooth decay and trouble getting pregnant again, I would say this may actually be a good idea. At least you did it for 2 years. That's great! The longer the better, but in your case, I think you did it pretty long already. So for example, if she always feeds right when she gets up in the morning, cut that feeding out by distracting her and keeping her busy. Keep it up for a whole week. Then a week later, pick a second feeding to cut out and so on. Good luck!

Answer 2

There is no right answer to this question.  Only you can decide what is best for you and your baby.  If breastfeeding is making it hard to conceive again and it's important to you to get pregnant again soon, then yes, I would probably move towards weaning.

Frequent nursing should not, in itself, be causing tooth decay.  However, if she has an inborn tendency to weak enamel, frequent nursing (esp. at night) could be adding to the problem.  

There is no clear 'right' answer here -- so do what you are most comfortable with.  

Answer 3

The best is to consult a good doctor, there's no definite answer to your question... but i have never heard of tooth decay because of BF

Answer 4

Like everybody else has mentioned there is no right answer. I think you know what is best for you and your child. Here is what I know. Prematurity can cause poor enamel and lead to tooth decay. This could be the culprit no matter what you do. Extended BF can cause tooth decay, just as a bottle, ecspecially if she is being fed at night.

I would get a second opinion from a pro nursing doctor. Something that you can do that will most definitly help is to brush her teeth before bed and no more milk till morning.

With the getting pregnant , that is a totally personal decision.  

Answer 5

You know, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the World Health Organization both recommend nursing to 2 years at minimum, so that means they recommend nursing later then that.  2 years is a good amount of time, and nursing 7 times a day is a lot for such a big girl - you must be producing a lot of milk for her.  And it's unlikely it was the nursing that caused the tooth decay, I nursed both my boys for a long time and they do not have any decay.

And cutting out a nurse is hard, I started to not remind my now 2 year old (I just weaned him on his birthday) and over time in that manner we were able to cut out all but 2 nurses (that's down from 8 nurses a day when he was 22 months).  Then I just said we're not doing that anymore, he was very sad but he got over it.  For the last couple weeks he's asked to nurse 3 times and for the most part been okay with not nursing.   It takes me about 3 months to step down to weaning, both because it's such a wonderful thing for them and also because it hurts too much to go too fast.

Answer 6

Try consulting a doctor than asking here it will be safe for you and your sweet baby.May God Bless Her...

Answer 7

Although BF is essential  and good  for baby n mom [ if given up to  1 years age]  yet You should stop BF now at age of 2 and start semisolids and porridge in diet .Because prolong breast feeding causes protein defficiency and sometime anaemia - hypoprotenaemia. Give her balanced full flaged diet including top milk.beside this she may be ' breast addicted ' and this will affect her personality in future.