Sorry for resending this ...the first was sent with the wrong subject heading Dear Gina, < Do you have any statistics or research to prove that reflux leading to dental caries is rare? > < But what about a fat and happy baby who urps all the time? Is that severe? > < In my experience, babies who spit up a lot continue to do so until they have started solids. > < Many breastfed babies (particularly if they are prone to allergies) thrive on human milk alone for much of the first year, if not more. This is ample time for the reflux to affect the teeth--including the first molars.> <What I am saying is that if some of these early infancy maladies that are considered *normal* are, in fact, manifestations of food sensitivites, we would be remiss not to address that b/c there might be long-lasting implications.> Dear Gina, The reason I said caries from GERD must be a rare occurrence is because: 1) During my 25 years as a pediatrician I have seen so few babies with caries during the 18 months (the period of maximal reflux) other than babies assumed to have bottle carries or carries from CONTINUOUS night nursing. 2) GERD (frequent large spit ups associated with poor weight gain, pneumonias, persistent crying) only occurs in about 0.3- 0.4% of babies (~2% of the 15-20 % of all babies said to have colic in our culture). And, in children, it tends to disappear by the end of the first year. Since the entity is so uncommon, the tiny number who might get dental caries as a complication from it must be exceedingly uncommon. It is quite unusual for the first molars (so-called 15 month molars) to erupt during the first year of life. So, any risk for caries in those teeth (even in a child with GERD) is miniscule...and certainly not worth giving every mom whose baby is a "happy spitter" another thing to worry about. I encourage you to try the 5 S's when you run into a mom who is having a tough time soothing her baby. If the baby calms easily with this simple approach, they chance of overlooking a medical problem (and even of overlooking a hungry baby) is nil. Babies with GERD, food allergy, ear infection, urinary tract infections...and hunger may be calmed for a few minutes with these techniques, but they will soon break out of the calming reflex because of their level of discomfort. Best wishes, Harvey *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html ------------------------------ End of LACTNET Digest - 13 Dec 2002 - Special issue (#2002-1637) **************************************************************** *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html