Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

I discovered my baby was teething when I fed my daughter a banana and she bit me. I had a friend who discovered teething when she was nursing and her son bit her. Teething really doesn’t hurt us moms but is sure can be painful for our babies.

Signs and Symptoms of a Teething Baby
The typical signs and symptoms of a teething baby include being the right age. Babies typically begin teething between the ages of three months and one year. My children each began teething at around 13 months of age, but many start much younger.

A second sign is excessive drooling, increased chewing and biting on toys or fingers. When babies are teething their gums can get tender and sore and they often find relief from chewing.

A third less obvious sign of teething is refusing to eat and a general fussy nature. As you may know a tooth ache can affect your entire body. You will not feel like eating, sleeping or playing. The same is true for babies. Babies often times refuse to eat because their gums are sore, which compounds fussiness from a sore mouth. Then when nap or bed time arrives babies will notice sore gums more because they are slowing down and more aware of the pain.

Ways to Soothe a Teething Baby

Tip One
Cold items always help. You can accomplish this in a variety of ways. My favorite was to wet a wash cloth then gently ring is out. I would then place the wash cloth in the freezer until it was frozen hard. I would then give this to my baby. She would chew on the wash cloth which was cold and soothed her gums, the melting water helped to ease swelling in the gums and the rough texture seemed to be pleasing to chew on. Best of all I always had washcloths on hand. The only draw back was the mess, she always seemed to drip and drool all over the house.

Frozen baby teethes can be purchased and work equally as well as a wash cloth. The teethers are filled with a non-toxic liquid and then frozen. Parents can pull these directly from the freezer and the baby can chew on them. The up side to frozen teethers is they stay cold for a long time. The down side is they cost money and they are hard. My daughter bumped her teether on her head which started a crying fit that was worse than the sore gums.

A third option is popsicles. I always liked this option for two main reasons. When I was at home I could make my own popsicles out of fruit juice or peppermint tea. I knew these where healthy for my baby and served to ease her discomfort. The second reason I liked popsicles is if I was out I could easily purchase popsicles at the grocery store or convenience stores. The main draw back to popsicles is they are messy.

Tip Two
Numbing agents work well if your baby can tolerate them. Products like Orajel can be purchased at the pharmacy and can be applied in small amounts to the baby’s gums. These gels are designed to temporarily numb the gums. The up side is that numbing gels work fast. The down side is some babies don’t like the feeling of numbness in their mouth. The numbing effect also wears off after a while and babies may be more irritable than before.

Tip Three
Keep the baby calm. When a baby is teething they may be irritable and cranky. If you are able to soothe your baby by rocking or walking her around the room this can help to calm your baby and ease discomfort. When your baby is calm she can then relax and sleep which will give her a break from the pain of growing teeth.

Tip Four
Baby pain relievers. Some parents find that giving a small dose of infant ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help to soothe the gums. The best advice here is to consult your pediatrician before giving your child any medication.

Tip Five
Massaging the gums. I am always reminded of a line from the movie Murphy’s Romance when I think of massaging babies gums. In the movie Sally Fields is telling her helper to check the horse’s mouth, she says ‘I warn you some horses resist this procedure.’

I found that my children sometimes liked their gums being rubbed and sometimes they didn’t. When they didn’t I knew it because they bit me.

The reason rubbing the gums works is the pressure is equalized from the tooth growing outward and you massaging inward.

As your baby is teething remember this is a normal process and all babies go through this.