hello, my dd went to the dr's for her 6 month check up and my dr put her on floride drops. i was wondering if anybody else gave their babies floride and if you heard anything good or bad about the drops. she also said that it taste terrible, how did you get your babies to take the drops? ty, terri

By Pamt on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 08:50 pm:

I had to give them to my first born for awhile because we didn't have flouridated water where we lived. When we moved there was flouride in the water so we didn't use the drops anymore. I think with used Poly-vi-sol with flouride and I never tasted it, but it smelled fruity and like it would taste good. Too much flouride can cause spots on teeth, so just make SURE that your water doesn't have flouride in it.

By Cat on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 09:02 pm:

I had floride as a baby/child and my mom swears that's what stained my teeth. My oldest had floride drops for a while, and they were like what Pam described--fruity smelling. I only gave them to him for a couple weeks because I spilled the bottle all over the counter and the military wouldn't refill it without seeing the ped again. Like Pam said, make sure your water doesn't have floride in it. Some people really don't think it's necessary. Do you're own research and make your own decision.

By Boxzgrl on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 09:46 pm:

We have fluoride in our water so DD doesnt need it. In high doses (if your water already contains flouride) it can and probably will cause teeth staining. I would get a report from your water company to see what the fluoride levels are if there are any at all.

By Kellyj on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 10:30 pm:

We did floride drops for a while. They smelled terrible but dd loved them. (She's so weird!) The NP suggested mixing it in with cereal to get them to take it.

By Tink on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 11:16 pm:

Our water isn't flouridated so all of my kids get flouride. As babies, it was in drops and I just added it to their morning juice. Ours smelled fruity but the kids made awful faces before we put it in their juice so I think it must have tasted bad. Now all of the kids take it in tablet form and they love the flavor of them.

By Kayleesmommy on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 01:39 am:

My ped gave me a prescription for flouride and it smells horrible and is really dark. I have given them to my dd a few times but I think that it upsets her tummy because every time she pukes about 5 minutes afterwards. I have stopped given them to her because I said something to her ped about it and he told me to wait awhile to give it to her again because you know when you puke something up the taste and/or smell makes you sick.

By Ginny~moderator on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 02:41 am:

My dentist's office offers a flouride rinse after teeth cleaning (our water is not flouridated) and it upsets my stomach. That said, if your water is not flouridated I'd try to find another kind of drops that don't upset her stomach. She is probably too young to safely use a rinse or have her teeth painted with flouride, as it requires that you spit and not swallow. Your ped sounds like a reasonable person who is willing to deal with reality instead of what "should" be - I'd treasure him/her.

By Amecmom on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 02:12 pm:

I give my son fluoride. First in drops, then as he got older in a small tablet. We have well water with no fluoride. In very large amounts, fluoride can stain teeth. As long as you use the amount the doctor prescribed, you should be fine. The alternative is having enamel that is softer.

I think I used drops that were clear. My son like them.

By Coopaveryben on Sunday, January 16, 2005 - 04:23 pm:

I asked our Pediatric Dentist when I first took my son to the Dentist, several years ago. He said that our water is flourinated and the drops have too many risk (staining, upset stomach) just give him tap water.