Living Through Infant Teething

Teething seems to be one of the hardest milestones for parents as well as babies. After all, baby now has this relatively big thing trying to poke through her already sore gums. Doesn't sound pleasant, does it? I'm sure it doesn't feel pleasant either. No wonder babies cry so much during teething! It's not pleasant for parents because they hate seeing their precious babies uncomfortable. Listening to the loud crying isn't exactly fun either.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to help your baby feel better during teething. There are several toys that you can buy for baby to chew on while her teeth are coming in. Be sure to read the package, though. It used to be common to just throw them all in the freezer, but most now advise to only put them in the refrigerator. Freezing can make some of the plastic brittle, leading to tears in the frozen plastic when baby bites down. The liquid in the toy won't hurt your child (it's usually just distilled water) but the tear on the plastic can make for some painful scratches and cuts in her mouth. As long as you follow the directions, you shouldn't have this problem, though.

Another good thing you can give your baby to chew on is a cold, or frozen, washcloth. These can be especially helpful when your baby is cutting her molars, because they can be wet and then twisted to make them long and thin before freezing. This way baby can get it back far enough in her mouth to put it where her mouth is actually hurting. The cold washcloth will feel really nice on baby's sore gums. An added bonus is that baby will suck some of the moisture out of the washcloth, allowing it to be more absorbent and soak up some of the excess saliva that teething babies have. This should help keep baby's clothes dryer since she won't be spitting all over herself as much.

One other thing that we use on our son is teething tablets. They are tiny and you just slide one right under baby's tongue. They dissolve quickly, and most kids don't mind the flavor of them. My six year old niece uses them as she is getting her permanent front teeth now. She says they taste like pez candy. They numb baby's mouth, and seem to work very quickly. They come in especially handy if baby is cranky and tired from teething. They've always helped our son get some sleep.

The only other thing that we've always done for our son is to give him extra kisses and cuddles during this time. Babies that are in pain especially love to be held and cuddled. My 14 month old has just started cutting molars, and he went from Mr. Independent to Mr. Cuddles. Before he was happy to play by himself with his toys, now he always wants to climb on Mommy's lap and read stories and just cuddle. I look at it as one bright spot in the terrible teething phase.