Influence of Maternal Prenatal Vitamin D Status on Infant Oral Health

A total <strong>of</strong> 77 caregivers responded to the question <strong>of</strong> whether their infant had ever
been breast fed to sleep. Of these, 70.1% (54) indicated that they had done so. Another 53
caregivers provided responses to the frequency <strong>of</strong> breast feeding their child to sleep with
the majority (52.8%) stating that this was a usual practice. Results from the infant
questionnaire also determined that many children (39/69) were breast fed on demand, in
that the child had the breast whenever they wanted it. It appeared that the majority <strong>of</strong>
children who were breastfed (68.4%) received vitamin D drops.
The majority <strong>of</strong> infants in this study were bottle-fed (96.3%) with only five
respondents indicating that their child did not receive a bottle. One child was tube-fed for
medical reasons and was neither breast nor bottle fed. A considerable proportion <strong>of</strong>
infants were given the bottle from birth (40.5%) but the average infant age when the
bottle was first introduced was 1.8 ± 2.8 months (median 0.5 months) ranging from birth
to 15 months <strong>of</strong> age. The majority <strong>of</strong> infants who were bottle fed were still taking the
bottle at the time <strong>of</strong> the study as only 21 caregivers indicated that their child was weaned
from the bottle. Among those who were already weaned from the bottle, the average
weaning age was 14.2 ± 4.8 months.
The majority <strong>of</strong> participants indicated that their infant had gone to bed with a
bottle (82.3%) and that the frequency <strong>of</strong> this practice was usually (62.3%). Fortunately,
only 39.8% <strong>of</strong> caregivers indicated that their infant received the bottle whenever they
demanded it.
Common contents in the bottle included formula (93.9%), water (90.0%), cow
milk (88.5%), and apple juice (74.6%). Other contents included human breast milk
(39.2%), tea (13.1%), and pop (9.2%). Interestingly, 40.6% <strong>of</strong> respondents indicated that
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