Teething Trauma! What No One Told Me About the First Year

Everyone has teeth. Well, except for those unfortunate souls who didn't have access to fluoride in their younger years or choose to play rough and tumble sports for their living. But, let's face it, other than brushing, flossing and the occasional visit to the dentist, do we really think of teeth being that big of a deal? I know I didn't. That is, until my baby turned 4 months old last year and we entered the terrible teething zone.

That's right. Over an 8 month period of time it was teething, teething and more teething. It's never ending! We've dealt with all the colds, a pretty bad stomach virus, separation anxiety, learning to self-feed, the first temper tantrums, and so on. I was warned about all that. What I wasn't warned about was teething. Now, 10 teeth and 4 molars later, I'm here to impart some of my knowledge of the process upon other new parents. I desperately hope that yours is one of those unaffected children who wake up suddenly one morning with a mouthful of teeth and you have no idea where they came from. But if yours turns out to be like mine, I hope you'll find my story and hints helpful.

According to my pediatrician, we are now well past the halfway point of primary tooth eruption. Babies have 20 primary teeth and usually they begin appearing anywhere between 6 and 12 months of age. Lucky for us, my baby's teeth began appearing around 4 months of age. About a week prior to that, he had just begun to sleep through the night (6 hours straight). So, naturally, that lovely learned skill took a back seat to teething.

I remember the night like it was yesterday. After a week of good sleep, he was suddenly up and crying out every half hour to an hour one night. My husband and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. He didn't have a fever, his diaper was dry, nothing was poking him and his room was a perfect temperature. He never even fully woke while he was crying. Eventually, we determined that no one was going to get good sleep that night and resolved to just deal with being zombies the next day. At about 4:00am that morning, as I was carrying my son downstairs to attempt to rock him in a new location for distraction, he bit my shoulder! I howled at him and then proceeded to poke and prod my way into his mouth, as if he hadn't had a bad enough night! Sure enough, there were two little teeth poking through his bottom gums, cute as can be. My first thought? Thank goodness there was a reason for all that night waking!

My son was like a different child after the teeth finally came through. But since he was only 4 months old, we weren't expecting them yet and hadn't been watching for them. After that night, we made a habit of taking sneak peeks at his gums every time we could get him to open his mouth wide enough. Sure enough, we saw some more on their way in on the top a few weeks later.

My son gives plenty of signs that teeth are working there way in and sometimes the signs appear long before we can visibly see teeth under his gums. First, he usually starts drooling more than normal and chews on almost everything he can get his hands on. But drooling isn't always a sign of teething, so I usually look for others. If it's teeth, I can usually catch him trying to "suck" on his gums, which looks like a chewing motion while his lips are tightly closed. As for visible signs, when my son is cutting new teeth, I can usually first see swelling and redness in the gum area. Soon after that, I see little white "patches" form just beneath the gum. If running a finger over the gum, I will feel little points in that area.

As the teeth get closer to the surface of the gum, he will become noticeably more fussy. My son is usually happy and plays well independently. When he's teething, minor setbacks become major ordeals. Taking away a book will send him into a tantrum that includes throwing himself on the floor and crying until he is distracted with something else. While teething, he loses his patience and cannot keep his cool if he is hungry and sees food being prepared for him but not being given to him immediately.

My son has never had a fever while teething. Not even a low grade fever, and while some believe that is a symptom, if he ran a fever, I would never chalk it up to teething. If it were a high fever, I'd bring him to the pediatrician. He's also never had a runny nose or red cheeks from teething. Usually, I can find other causes for those: colds, windburn, dry skin, or something else. In speaking with other parents, I find that people are often all too quick to blame something on teething when, in fact, there is another issue. When in doubt, I say a call or visit to the pediatrician can never hurt.

So, what can you do about all this teething trauma? Well, mostly you just sit and wait it out. For the 8 months it seems we go through about a week or two of teething and then two to three weeks of a break. I always remind myself, however, that no matter how frustrating it is for us, it is more so for the baby who feels pain and discomfort and doesn't understand what it is or why his parents don't make it go away. We tried a whole bunch of plastic teethers, including regular beads, rings, and ones that you can cool in the fridge. My son wasn't interested in that. He much preferred to gnaw on a slightly damp and cool washcloth that I kept in the fridge. I tend to think he just likes to create more laundry for me. Another good idea if you're in the self-feeding stage is to attempt some biter biscuits. They aren't the most nutritious, but they feel good for babies to gnaw on.

I'm not a fan of medicating my son unless it is necessary, but when the molars and the eye teeth came in, a little Tylenol to get through the night was an absolute necessity. Just make sure you dose correctly and check with your pediatrician before using it for the first time or if your baby is under 6 months old. My favorite oral remedy, however, is Hyland's Teething Tablets. They are homeopathic and not a drug. They can be dissolved in water to give to younger babies or placed directly under the tongue of older babies to dissolve in their mouth. They may not work, but they are worth a try. When my son is teething, I give him 2 or 3 before bedtime and it keeps the night waking down to no more than once or twice. If he doesn't get them, he wakes 5 or 6 times while teething.

The final solution for us has been manual gum massage. I brush my son's teeth daily anyway with non-fluoride toothpaste and a brush that goes over my finger. So, if he's teething, I simply spend a little more time massaging the gum where the tooth is coming in with my finger. He loves it and it does seem to lessen the breakthrough time. Just be careful to avoid getting bitten by teeth that are already in!

We still have a few more teeth to go, including another round of molars. It's not the end of the world, but I sure wish someone had told me before what a big deal it can be to babies and how much it can change their routine and their attitude. As I said before, it's mostly a waiting game, but all of the things I've mentioned have dramatically improved the wait in our house.