Evaluation of Feeding Behaviors Related to Oral Health in Nighttime Bed-Sharing Children between Zero to Four Years Old - A Cross Sectional Study

Aim: To evaluate the feeding behaviors in nighttime bed-sharing children between zero to four years old and its correlationto their oral health. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a simple randomly selected sample of 200 children who were between 0-4-year old and their mothers. A printed questionnaire was given to the mother that enquired about child demographics, mother demographics, the total family income, whom the child lives with, who took care of the child during the day, birth order, birth maturity, medical problems, and child temperament. The data also included information on nighttime feeding behaviors that were used by the parent to help the child to sleep. Dental caries was recorded according to WHO criteria 2013. Results: Most of the children participating in this study bed shared with their mothers every night of the week and were mostly below two years old, lived with both parents, were perceived to be stubborn and were more likely to either breast feed throughout the night, or breastfeed or bottle feed to help them sleep. Also, they had a higher incidence of caries rate than the children who did not bed share with their mothers every night of the week. Conclusion: This study is important since it shows few practices that are associated with nighttime bed sharing habit which consequently places the child at a higher risk for developing caries. The dentists should inquire about the feeding habits (especially the night time feeding practices) as well as the night time bed sharing habits of the mother-children dyads so that adequate counseling can be provided to the mother, if needed and preventive strategies can be made targeted especially at mothers and children who bed share at night.