Children's Water

At two it shouldn't matter anymore. Mostly you want them to have the fluoride before most of their teeth come in. By two he should have all his front teeth and two sets of molars so he should be good. Most run-of-the-mill tap water has fluoride in it these days, but well water doesn't usually. It is really very good for them to have it when they're little, I actually didn't know you could buy water that had it in it. My ped, on the occasions that I've lived somewhere that I don't have it in my tap, has given me a Rx called tri-vi-sol that has fluoride in it along with, I think, iron and calcium. It's basically the Rx version of the OTC baby vitamin poly-vi-sol. So you could stop getting the "Children's water" and let him drink the tap or whatever you drink and just give him the vitamin once a day, it might be cheaper.

We, too, are on well water. We took water samples to the local health department for testing as most water contains some sort of naturally occuring fluoride. Its just a matter of finding out how much. Turns out that our well has just a trace amount of fluoride so we have been giving our kids flouride supplements (drops for younger ones and tablets for older ones). Ask your dentist (ideally a pediatric dentist) for the recommendations. I was able to find loads of info online when we began this journey. The argument with the fluride supplement vs. fluoride enhanced water is that the supplement provides you with a measured amount of fluoride vs. an unquantifiable amount consumed throughout the day from bottled water. The big side effect of fluoride supplements is fluorosis (too much fluoride). All in all, it is a very personal decision but one certainly to become fully educated on for the dental health of your family.

I just reviewed some literature given to me by our ped dentist titled "Clinical Guideline on Fluoride Therapy" from American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) which has a supplementation schedule until the age 16.

You might be able to find further info at the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry www.aapd.org Good Luck!

I have never given my kids special water. There is flouride in tap water.

My daughter is three and I still give her the water with fluoride in it. We receive a water report from our town and are not comfortable with some of the levels that are in the water so we don't drink the water. We drink Dasani and give our daughter Ice Mountain for Kids which has the fluoride in it. She recently went for her first dental appointment and the dentist contributed her drinking the fluoridated water to her not having any cavities. So, I say keep keeping your son the water as long as you want.

I think that's only if you have non-city water. Water that comes out of the tap is totally fine... do you have well water or something? Most chicago suburbs (and of course the city) has water with flouride already added to it.

Hey M.. I'm joining in a bit late here, but hope I can help. Last month, I had to make an unexpected trip to a Pediatric Dentist (my son fell in the tub). I told him we had our own well water, so I was buying Nursery Water with fluoride. He was very encouraging about it and told me to continue as long as possible. He said if we wanted to stop buying the bottled water during the time they still had their baby teeth, we would want to get a prescription for fluoride drops for each child. Either method will work just fine. So, in his opinion, a fluoride supplement (via bottled water or drops) is was a need until they get their permanent teeth. (What age is that...8-10 years old??)

I find the least expensive water at WalMart for $1.09/gallon. Sometimes I can find it on sale at Jewel-Osco for $1/gallon.

I don't understand why you have to use bottled water? Is your well contaminated???
Well water has a lot of minerals and other trace elements that are wonderful for your children. When I had Chicago water, I would go to the well in the Forest Preserve and fill bottles and bring it home. My child has never been sick.
All this purified and anti bacterial stuff is what makes kids really sick when they are exposed to bacteria.

I never supplimented with "childrens water" or flouride and my daughter has wonderful healthy, teeth. Was it a fluke or genetic?

Give me well water any day!

Hi M.,

I have always been told that our tap water has flouride added to it... and have never given any of my kids special water, and my ped. has never mentioned it as necessary. i will watch this post though - i'm really curious - maybe i should have been giving them flouride water (??)