development of early childhood caries (ECC).

The online survey form prepared with Google surveys was shared with Facebook groups formed by mothers with children under the age of six. In the questionnaire, the nutrition of the child between the ages of 0-2 and divided into six-month periods was examined. Breast milk/formula milk use, transition to complementary foods, the month when night feeding was stopped, tooth brushing habits, tooth-paste use, fluoride applications were recorded. It was asked whether there was any decayed, filled or extracted (caries-related) tooth in the mouth, and the number, if any, was questioned. The conformity of numerical variables to normal distribution was tested using the Shaphiro Wilk test. Relationships between non- normally distributed variables were tested with the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. SPSS 22.0

Windows version package program was used in the analysis. P<0.05 was considered significant.

265 mothers voluntarily participated in the study. 65.5% of the participants stated that they fed their babies only with breast milk in the first six months. 40.7% of mothers stopped feeding at night; 38.4%

continue to be fed at night with breast milk and 11.4% with formula milk. 58% of those who stopped feeding at night stated that they stopped feeding longer than 18 months. The longest night feeding was 72 months and the shortest was 6 months. 55% of children affected by EEC were breastfed at night.

Others were bottle-fed with 20% formula milk, 17% cow’s milk, and 0.3% fruit juice, respectively.

A relationship was found between night feeding for longer than 18 months and the development of ECC.

It has been shown that breast milk is effective in the development of ECC in night feeding.

Keywords: dental caries, early childhood caries, baby nutrition, night feding, breast milk