Most babies have sweet smelling breath, but occasionally baby bad
breath does occur. It can be a particular problem upon waking, after
the baby has been asleep for a few hours - like morning breath in
adults. During sleep, the mouth is typically relaxed and motionless,
there is decreased saliva production, and bacteria that live in the
mouth cavity have an opportunity to multiply undisturbed. Some of these
bacteria can produce the unpleasant odor we associate with bad breath,
and when they multiply to sufficient numbers, the odor becomes
detectable.
If you think that "morning breath" is causing bad
breath in baby, try treating it by cleansing the mouth before putting
baby down for a nap. If baby is very young and has no teeth, encourage a
water rinse to flush traces of formula or bits of food out of cracks
and crevices. If baby has teeth, a gentle brushing and a rinse should
help. Rinsing and brushing upon waking can be helpful too. (Fluoridated
toothpastes should be used very sparingly in young children, and
brushing should always be supervised even when your child is old enough
to begin brushing on her own.) If these measures relieve the baby bad
breath, you needn't do more.
However, if bad breath in baby
persists after brushing and cleansing, there may be another problem.
Does baby use a soother or habitually suck on some other object like a
blanket or stuffed toy? An object that is continually put into the mouth
gets coated with saliva and oral bacteria and can develop an unpleasant
odor. Though the smell may not be offensive to your child, it can
contribute to lingering bad odors in the vicinity of baby, and to baby
bad breath. The simple solution is to wash or replace the offending item
regularly. Eventually, your child will give up the sucking habit and
the problem will disappear on its own.
Occasionally bad breath in
baby has a more sinister cause. If your efforts to solve the problem are
fruitless, you should consult your pediatrician or family doctor. The
physician will check for signs of throat or sinus infection, infection
somewhere in the mouth, tooth decay, or a foreign object lodged in a
nasal passage. Sinus congestion can contribute to baby bad breath as
well, by causing baby to breathe through the mouth: dry mouth is a cause
of breath odor in both children and adults because saliva is naturally
antibacterial and, in a healthy mouth, it keeps the population of odor
causing bacteria at a minimum.
Once again, baby bad breath is
relatively unusual: if simple measures don't solve the problem, your
child should be seen by a medical professional to rule out more serious
problems.
By
R. Drysdale
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