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South Florida Babies
FutureHernandez
member
Horrible 1 year appt!
FutureHernandez
member
I'm so upset. Matthew had his 1 year check up. It was terrible. Some of you guys saw my FB status. There were major HIPPA violations and I was given a napkin by the office manager to cover up while I was nursing Matthew in the waiting room (mind you, the waiting room was empty).
I'm mostly upset because the pediatrician told me that Matthew may have cavities! He nurses a ton and she said this is why his teeth may be rotting. I feel terrible. I thought I was doing something good for him by breastfeeding.
Plus Matthew has always been in the 50th percentile. At his 9 month appointment he dropped to the 25th and now he's in the 7th! I'm worried, but the pediatrician said it's not a big deal.
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Re: Horrible 1 year appt!
Breathe in, breathe out.
Did doctor recommend going to a dentist for the cavities? This is the first I heard that too much milk can cause rotting of teeth.
GL Yvette... sorry you had such a rough appointment.
"If we couldn't laugh we would all go insane" -- Jimmy Buffett
Sorry you had such a rough appointment.
I won't even begin to discuss the office manager's actions or the HIPPA violations since I already sounded off about that on your FB status LOL
Regardless of what the pedi said, I'd be looking for a new one ASAP!
Ditto the breathe in... and out..
Milk can cause cavities, but that usually happens when people let babies fall asleep with a bottle of milk and the milk just sits on the teeth. They used to put silver caps on kids front teeth because of this (not sure about now). But I would check with a pedatric dentist before the pediatrician. They usually dont see kids until 2 but if your concerned-- call them up now.
As for percentiles, if the dr is not concerned and your little one is eating and drinking, then try not to worry (i know easier said than done).
((HUGS)) Im sorry the appt was so upsetting.
V, I sent you an email!
Going from the 50th percentile at 6 months, then to the 25th at 9 months and now the 7th at a year just doesn't sound right to me.
So sorry that your appt didn't go well:-(
I honestly would not worry at all about the percentile thing as long has he has grown and gained weight since his last appt. My sister had a 1 year old wearing 6 month clothes and the Dr wasn't concerned because she was steadily growing. At 18 months old she went through a huge growth spurt and wears 18 month clothes now. She completely caught up.
As for the concern about cavities, I am not a BFer but I have heard that BF'd babies can get cavities as infants.Breastmilk has a lot of natural sugars in it.
I don't know if you are planning to extend BFing much longer past his first birthday, but I do know that once a baby can suck through a straw you are supposed to switch them over exclusively to straw sippies to prevent cavities.
I am so sorry the appointment was so horrendous for you.
I cannot believe they handed you a napkin! Seriously?
Anyway, I have no comment on the cavity thing other than to reitterate what Liz said which is that I have never heard of this happening with a breast fed baby! Those I know who went through this did so because they were putting their kid to sleep with the bottle. Definitely get in touch with a pediatric dentist.
As for a percentile thing....he is growing and moving now. They all either lose wait or stay the same weight for a while until their eating catches up to their activity level. If I am not mistaken, Matthew just started walking, right? If the doctor is not concerned, I would not be either.
yeah, jackie, cavities can happen once they have a bunch of teach and they fall asleep nursing/bottle in the mouth. but i didn't think that it could happen so quickly,k you know by a year already!! that's crazy.
It's totally normal for breastfed babies to "drop" in percentiles. The percentile charts were created from bottle fed (formula) babies, and they grow at different rates from bf babies. Both my kids dropped from 75% to under 10%, and both are healthy and fine. My son "caught up" by the time he was around 2 or 2 1/2. If it's any consolation, just to say you're not alone, but your pediatrician should have told you this, too.
Sorry you had a sucky appointment.
As for the cavities, poor thing! That's not fun for either of you at all!! Definitely agree that you should contact a pedi dentist for a checkup. I know that my doctor told me to nurse the baby and then brush her teeth or give her some water in a sippy cup to rinse out the milk before putting her to bed, but honestly, I still let her fall asleep nursing at least half the time.
Tania
That sounds like a nightmare! I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that!
Mari
((hugs)) sweetie! I'm sorry you had such a rough appointment.
I would seriously complain to the office manager about someone asking you to cover up while breastfeeding. They really don't want to go down that path!
Breastmilk is non-cariogentic. It is not the same as giving a baby cow's milk at bedtime. This is a nice article referencing some studies.
That really just shows how out of date your pedi is. They have known about Early Childhood Caries being a disease since the mid 1990's and not caused by breastmilk!
Andrew has a cavity too. He doesn't even drink juice! His dentist said to give him water after cow's milk and brush his teeth more. At this age they don't do anything for cavities unless they are huge.
Ditto pp about breastfed babies dropping percentile points when compared to formula fed babies on the CDC growth charts. The WHO growth charts are nice for breastfed babies.
Andrew had a slow down and then he picked back up on the charts. As long as your son is looking healthy and developing appropriately, I wouldn't worry about it too much if your pedi said it wasn't a big deal. Continue to breastfeed on demand and offer healthy foods. Ask your pediatrician to explain the drop and if any monitoring is necessary. I would not stop breastfeeing though because that is nutrient and calorie dense.
Dr Sears has some nice info on BF growth patterns as well as kellymom.com
Hang in there!
I'm calling the dentist tomorrow so we'll see what happens. I have never heard of such a thing until a couple of weeks ago.
Sorry this appointment was so terrible! Did he actually look at your sons teeth and find a problem?? Or did he think it might be happening because he knows you are nursing? This whole thing that nursing causes cavities is a myth. Cavities at such a young age are normally a result of genetics and family propensity from what I understand. If he does have cavities he would have gotten them on breastmilk or any other type of milk. Time for a new pediatrician.