A woman wrote to me recently expressing concerns about putting a baby to bed in a crib with a bottle. Her concern is well founded since putting the baby to bed with a bottle of milk, juice will very probably cause tooth decay. If anything other than water is in the nap or bedtime bottle, it does lots of damage. This is because the sugary substances don't get washed away by saliva as they would when the child is awake. Water in the bottle would provide the same comfort to the baby and water won't damage the teeth.

What happens in "baby bottle tooth decay" is not a pretty story, but your son and daughter-in-law need to hear it. In the beginning stages parents don't notice the band of dull white at the gum line which marks the attack of acids on the teeth. The top four teeth are most affected because the tongue covers the bottom teeth when the baby is sucking.

As the decay progresses, the white band turns into a brownish black collar or ring of cavities around each of the baby teeth, near the gum line. I have seen 3 and 4 year olds whose top teeth are just brownish black root stumps which look as if they have been melted away by acid, which of course they have.

By this time there is no way to save the teeth. Extracting them would make the permanent teeth come in stronger and straighter, but this would mean anesthesia and pain that would be traumatic to the child. Parents have no idea that giving the baby a nap or bedtime bottle can cause this tragedy, which could so easily be prevented! Water is the only thing parents should put in the nap or bedtime bottle.

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that babies see the dentist by age one for two reasons: to start an early and happy relationship with the dentist and to check or prevent baby bottle tooth decay. Don't take a chance on losing your child's smile.

Evelyn Petersen's weekly parenting columns are carried in over 200 papers across the country, and she is a contributing editor for "Children and Families" magazine. As an author, early childhood educator, Head Start consultant, and host of a series of parenting audio and video tapes, Ms. Petersen employs a hands on, nuts and bolts, practical approach. Her books, described at AskEvelyn.com, include "Growing Happy Kids," "Growing Responsible Kids," "Growing Creative Kids," "Growing Thinking Kids," "1,2,3, Blocks," and "A Practical Guide to Early Childhood Lesson Planning."