Baby Bottle Tooth Decay: Why You Shouldn't Put Juice In Your Baby's Bottle
Dealing with a crying baby or toddler can be stressful, and many parents will try to soothe their little one with a pacifier or bottle. Giving your child a bottle when they’re crying because they’re hungry is perfectly fine but handing them a bottle filled with juice could actually be doing more harm than good, especially if you let them fall asleep with it.
Key Takeaways
- Juice in bottles or offering a bottle at naptime can increase the risk of tooth decay. Prolonged exposure to sugars in juice and milk can lead to a condition known as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay.2
- Preventative oral health care starts early. Parents should avoid giving children sugary drinks, encourage open or sippy cup use by age one and practice good oral hygiene with fluoridated toothpaste as soon as baby teeth appear.2,4
- Pronamel for Kids is formulated to help keep your children’s teeth strong and healthy.
What is Baby Bottle Tooth Decay?
Tooth decay is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease in America, with 23% of children aged 2 to 5 years old experiencing cavities (dental caries) in their baby teeth.1 Baby teeth are just as important as permanent teeth; they’re essential for chewing, the first step in healthy digestion, and help kids speak clearly and smile brightly. It’s important to keep baby teeth healthy so that adult teeth can come in correctly.2
Tooth decay in toddlers and infants is often referred to as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay.2 While this decay occurs most often in the upper front teeth, the others may be affected as well.2 It’s often caused by repeated, prolonged exposure to drinks that contain sugar, but it can also occur if a child is put to bed with a bottle, or when a bottle is used to soothe a fussy baby, rather than a pacifier.2
Preventing Cavities in Baby Teeth
There are a few ways that you can help protect your little one’s teeth and keep them healthy and avoid dental caries:2,3,4
- No bottles or sippy cups in bed. A bedtime bottle allows the sugars found in juice, formula, cows’ milk and breast milk to sit on the teeth for a prolonged period of time, potentially leading to tooth decay.
- Avoid using bottles to soothe your child. When your child gets fussy, but isn’t hungry, it might be tempting to try and calm them with a bottle, but this can have the same effect as a bedtime bottle. If your child is of the right age for a pacifier, opt for that instead.
- Skip sugary drinks. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend that infants and babies under 12 months ingest fruit juice at all.
- Drink water. Regular tap water may contain fluoride, helps maintain saliva flow and washes away debris in the mouth.
- Handle baby items with care. It’s easy for bacteria to move from surface to surface, and from mouth to mouth. Refrain from tasting your baby’s food and then allowing them to eat from the same spoon as you.
When Can Babies Have Juice?
Ideally, your baby should only drink water and plain milk.5 In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that juice should be avoided altogether if possible. It’s overly sweet and lacking in fiber; which is why whole fruit is always preferred instead of juice.4,5
Children may develop unhealthy preferences for overly sweet juices if they’re introduced to juice at a young age.5
How to Protect Your Child’s Teeth From Baby Bottle Tooth Decay
While you should always talk to your dentist first about when your child should start using a fluoride toothpaste, the American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentists recommends that you brush your child's teeth with a soft toothbrush and a smear of fluoridated toothpaste the size of a grain of rice as soon as they come in to remove plaque, which helps protect your child's teeth from cavities.2,4
Other tips to care for your young child’s teeth include:2,4
- Use a smear of toothpaste the size of a grain of rice for children younger than 2. Use a pea-sized amount for children aged 2 to 6 years old.
- Talk to your pediatrician about scheduling your child’s first dental visit. Starting early is the key to a lifetime of good dental health.
- Supervise your child’s brushing until they can be trusted to spit out the toothpaste and not swallow it–usually around age 6 or 7.
- Ensure that your infant or toddler finishes a bottle or sippy cup of milk, formula or water before taking a nap and does not take their drink into bed with them.
- Encourage your child to drink from an open or sippy cup by their first birthday.
Help keep your children’s teeth strong and healthy by helping them brush twice a day with a toothpaste that’s gentle on little mouths. Pronamel for Kids was designed by dentists, formulated for children.
Pronamel for Kids helps protect against cavities and acid erosion and has a mild mint flavor. Pronamel Kids Bubble Twist toothpaste is gentle on enamel^ while being free from sugar, SLS, and parabens.
^with twice-daily brushing
Source Citations:
- Tips to Prevent Cavities in Young Children. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/oral-health/Pages/Teething-and-Dental-Hygiene.aspx . Accessed 5/5/25.
- Tooth Decay with Baby Bottles. MouthHealthy by ADA. https://www.mouthhealthy.org/all-topics-a-z/tooth-decay-with-baby-bottles. Accessed 5/5/25.
- Why It’s Important to Take Care of Baby Teeth. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/teething-tooth-care/Pages/How-to-Prevent-Tooth-Decay-in-Your-Baby.aspx. Accessed 5/5/25.
- Policy on Early Childhood Caries (ECC): Consequences and Preventative Strategies. American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. https://www.aapd.org/globalassets/media/policies_guidelines/p_eccconsequences.pdf. Accessed 5/5/25.
- Recommended Drinks for Children Age 5 & Younger. American Academy of Pediatrics. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/Recommended-Drinks-for-Young-Children-Ages-0-5.aspx. Accessed 5/6/25.
