Goodbye Passy Baby....and some oral education!!

This is Ranan at about 2 weeks old. He LOVED his passy- even back then! It time..to get rid of it FOREVER! If you care to read-- here are a couple of my VERY OPINIONATED ORAL HABITS. For those that know me- I can be very extreme/passionate in some aspects of my life, THE MOUTH-- is one of them.

MY THOUGHTS:

My kids can have passy's. Frankly- they have both LOVED them. My nickname as a kid was passy Cassie- it's in the genes. However- the day they are

15 MONTHS-- no more passy out and about- even at home. Its ONLY NAPS and BED and stays in the bed from then on. Nothing erks me more than to see a toddler/child running around with a passy hanging out there mouth-- sooo bad for their teeth- so tacky!

18-21 MONTHS-- BREAK THE PASSY FROM THE BED. Jada's I took away and threw in the trash at 18 months on the day- she never looked back. Ranan on the other hand- really LOVES his nighttime passy. I put his off a little longer b/c of where his 18 month marker fell- Buffalo, Cabin, beach at California, Ness and TJ coming-- needless to say- we really haven't had a good couple of weeks to focus on breaking it- until NOW! I figured one life altering change at a time for his kid. I'd start with the passy- then really start in hardcore with the potty training. I started by cutting the end off and making a tiny whole at the end of the passy- not so desirable that way. Last night- cut even more. I will proceed until its pretty much destroyed. I don't stay in his room long enough to find out if he is still trying to use it- but the first night I could hear him in there sobbing. Passa, passa...like it was broken. We are a couple days in- and pretty confident we are free sailing!!

MORE ORAL OPINIONS?-- why not?:

1. NEVER, EVER let a child have a bottle/sippy cup in bed. Especially milk and juice- such a horrible habit! Ever heard of baby bottle mouth? Such a sad thing. Never start a bad habit you have to eventually break- if you don't give them anything in their bed- they'll never expect it (even water).

2. Be very careful of how much you nurse your baby in the middle of the night past the point of where they have teeth- for the above reasons as well. Not as bad as milk and juice- but can still cause tooth decay.

3. Juice- I hate it. It can cause sooo many problems as well. Its soo sad once you've seen it. I am VERY strict when it comes to juice and milk for that matter. ONLY at mealtimes when they are seated and are able to drink what they want in one sitting. For milk- only in one sitting as well- when they are done- their done. They are NOT aloud to run around with a sippy of juice or milk- ONLY WATER! (If you want reasons why it needs to be in one sitting- food or drink- in vague terms- it comes down to an "acid attack" that happens on the teeth once anything (except water) touches them- minimum for 1 hour. Therefore- it they have a drink of juice, drop it, run around, find it again on the floor 45 minutes later- take a drink, drop it- have a cracker- etc the teeth have been under straight acid attack for a couple of hours without a break. Their teeth are ALWAYS under attack. Its horrible. Same goes for adults- going hours between eating or drinking beverages other than water is always in the best interest of your teeth. I could go on and on--

4. Brushing teeth-very important! I am not as crazy as to say you have to wipe your babies mouth out with a washcloth everyday when they don't have teeth. Once that first baby pops through- super important! I am a fan of the finger scrubbers when they have only a few teeth. I start out with some non-fluoridated baby toothpaste, but probably around a year old switch to a fluoridated toothpaste. Your thinking- but they can't spit out at the end. Everyone uses WAY too much toothpaste as is. For children- literally dab/touch the bristles with toothpaste- its okay for them to swallow that amount. That way- they are getting fluoride exposures to their teeth to help restore and protect enamel at a very young age. On a side note- I still do not let Jada go to bed without having a run at her teeth. She is getting to the age where I let her do them by herself in the morning and at night- but I get the final run around at night before she goes to bed. They need to learn, but they aren't getting it all.

5. Water- it is VERY important for children (and adults) to drink fluoridated water. What does that mean? No bottled water! It is sooo sad to see these very high end people come in to see you and their children's mouth are FULL OF CAVITIES. Why? They think they are doing what is best for their children and giving them only bottled water- WRONG. No fluoride in the water= mouth a cavities. Find out if the water in your area is fluoridated. If the thought of drinking tap water grosses you out- get over it or contact your water delivery guy and have them add fluoride to the water- its costs just a couple dollars more. Every time you drink fluoridated water- your teeth are getting a little repair/protection from all those "acid attacks" you are getting from eating through the day. Best results- drink water every hour to get a "fluoride wash" on your teeth.

6. Make sure you have a decay free/perio free mouth if you are going to be sharing spoons, cups, etc with your children or anyone else's. When babies are born- their mouths are sterile. Who inoculates them with their 1st oral bacteria? Usually their moms or primary care provider. If they have a mouth full out decay or perio- guess what bacteria is being transferred to the baby or child? You guessed it- HIGH amounts of the bad cavity/perio causing bacteria. In a sense- they don't have much of a change when older b/c they were "born into the world" with all the bad bacteria in their mouth. So please, if you are pregnant- get all if not most of your work done BEFORE the baby arrives. They have much better odds that way.

7. Since I literally could go on forever and most of you could care less- lastly...so important to take your kids (and yourself) to the dentist for regular checkups. If the habit is started young (1-2 years of age) the dentist visits become fun! It's when you wait and they have a mouth full of decay- that they get a negative outlook on dentists and hate it.

ALL OF THIS SPRUNG FROM BREAKING A PASSY? As you can see- its my passion and I LOVE it! Feel free to ask questions if you are ever in doubt! Hopefully I didn't offend anyone too much by my extremely opinionated/educated views. :)