You know the drill. You read all the baby books. You heard the horror stories. And then you wake up one day and you see it. The little tiny white pearl in your baby's mouth. "When did that happen?" "Am I a horrible person because I didn't notice my baby was in pain?"
First of all, no, you are not terrible. You didn't notice because not all babies make a big fuss out of teething. Laela had two teeth before we noticed! I was still nursing, she wasn't biting me, and she was her happy, playful self, so how was I to know? Sure, she was a little drooly, but she was barely even five months old! She was always drooly! When I had thought she was teething, our doctor said she thought it was a little early and not to worry about it, so we didn't.
Anyway, I did what any parent would do. I went shopping! I bought every teething ring on the planet. The thing was, she was more interested in my wooden spoons and rubber spatulas. So of course, I went shopping again for more teethers. Then her cheeks got all red and I got convinced there was poison in the teethers, and that my daughter is a wild monkey chewer, so I gave up. And then we found the keys.
I have no idea who made those suckers, but they were the best. They had a stop light on them that she could push buttons and make lights, and gave her the option of hard and soft chewing. We didn't give her teething tablets, and when she seemed like she had a low grade fever before bed, we gave her some infant tylenol. Don't waste your money on teething tablets, herbal teething medicine, or gum numbing gel, none of it works, and if it does, it's not in the way you want it to. Your baby might get a numb throat and mouth from the gum numbing stuff, and that can be dangerous. Of course, now that my friends' babies are starting to teethe, I can't find those amazing teething keys anywhere! Argh. I guess I'll just buy them some spatulas and wooden spoons.
Laela with her keys:
When Laela's back teeth started to come in, she was gnawing on everything like a dog, so I decided to get some Sassy Teething Feeders with mesh bags, freeze up some sweet potatoe puree in ice cube trays, some bananas (I just peeled some bananas, cut them up, and popped them into freezer bags until I was ready for them), strawberries, blueberries, and yogurt, and filled the teething feeders whenever Laela seemed like she needed something cold to gnaw on. She really loved them, and when she seems like she's teething again (drooly, a little rashy around the chin, maybe a little more sleepy than usual- kind of like a growth spurt), I make these for her and she goes to town. (This is also a great way to get them to learn to eat on their own, and to get them to eat when they're sleepy/fussy/not feeling well.)
At the end of the day, teething is a natural process, and like anything else, if you freak out, your kid will freak out too. It's parental instinct to want to soothe every pain and discomfort, but the reality is that sometimes even little people have to figure out a way to deal with it...because in a few years all those little teeth are going to fall out and new ones are going to shove their way through.
Moral of the story? Make lots of comforting food for your little one (if they're old enough), pour yourself a glass of wine, offer up a lot of cuddling, distract them by playing and reading some fun stories, and just roll with it. Oh, and get a crib guard. They are chewing on it when you aren't looking. Yes, even your little angel will chew on the walls if you let her/him.
For other tips on how to deal with teething, I highly recommend Baby and Toddler 411 by Dr. Ari Brown and Denise Fields. Their books offer great advice on pretty much all things baby and toddler (and are especially awesome when you have a fact checker like my husband!)
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