Teething Signs, Tips, and Tricks

Most babies start getting their teeth between 4 and 7 months old.  The tricky part is identifying the signs of teething which can show up long before their first tooth.  This is a rough time for both you and your child.  But trust me, it will be over before you know it.  When those pearly whites finally do come in it will be well worth the struggle.

 

This is her "teeth" smile on her first birthday, ten teeth already!



Signs of teething can vary, but the most common are: increased drool, red swollen gums, chewing on fingers a LOT, runny nose (usually molars and top teeth), increased irritability, and waking up several times during the night.  Some of the more serious and less common symptoms can include diarrhea, vomiting, and fever.  If your baby has any of these more serious symptoms, contact your pediatrician for steps to take to prevent dehydration.

There are lots of things you can do to ease their pain during the day.  Teething rings are always a good choice (you can make them even more enjoyable by keeping them in the fridge so they are nice and cold).  If your baby is eating solids, some cold baby fruit or baby yogurt works well too.  This was one of my favorites.  I would keep jars of baby food fruits in the fridge.  Apples, bananas, blueberry apple, any fruit.  On days when she was super fussy, I would feed her a jar of the cold fruit and it usually did the trick to soothe her gums.  Another great tip is to use a wet washcloth.  Get a CLEAN washcloth, run it under cold water (or put a damp one in the fridge to get it nice and cold), then give to your baby to chomp on.  This does wonders to help relieve the pain in their sore gums.

At night however the only thing that worked for me was to give her baby Motrin an hour before bedtime (I didn't resort to this until two weeks of no sleep, then I finally gave in). If she woke up during the night it was only when the Motrin wore off. Another dose and a few spoonfuls of COLD banana baby food (cold helps soothe their gums and the food helps prevent an upset tummy), then some rocking and humming and back to sleep in 20 minutes. Now, when the tooth/teeth start to break through (my daughter got her first 8 at the same time) your baby will give a shriek that will make your heart stop (at least mine did). After doing an Olympic style jump over the baby gate and running at the speed of light (slight exaggeration) I scooped her up and saw the beginning of teeth poking through.  So I grabbed a CLEAN washcloth, ran it under cold water and let her chew on it to soothe her gums. She eventually calmed down and went back to sleep.  It took ME over an hour to calm down and get the sound of her shriek to stop ringing in my head.

I hope this was helpful to you.  If you have a funny teething story that you would like to share, please do so!