As I understand the problem of dental caries just from attending conferences, you need
1) the bacteria
2) food for the bacteria

So, mom has to have the particular type of bacteria that causes dental caries AND transmit it to
baby.  As I also understand, you can break transmission by cleansing the baby's mouth - such as
with a washcloth.  Sugar from anything can be the food for the bacteria.  Again, you can wipe the
mouth to get rid of the food.  This is not due to night nursing per se and many babies whose
moms do not have the particular form of bacteria that is prone to causing dental caries have no
problem.

Don't have the references for the above, but I'm sure someone does.

As for proof that you can nurse past one year of age, I would be happy to provide my son's dental
records for anyone who needs them.  My son nursed for six years and 5 days.  He agreed to stop
after his birthday party (not his actual birthday).  He has never had dental caries.  He almost
always nursed at night and, no we were not that careful about washing off his teeth after nursing.
So, there - definitive proof that you can nurse a child for five years and 5 days longer than 1 year
of age and still have a child without dental caries.

Susan Burger, mother to Caleb (six years & 17 days old)

             ***********************************************

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(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html