Helping Your Baby Cope with Teething Pain
By 9 months he had 8 teeth, and now all FOUR of his canines are working their way in…
So, what have we done? We’ve tried everything! First we started with Hyland’s Teething Tablets. Some parents rave about these, but they really didn’t do much good for our son, even when we increased the dose. Then we moved on to Baby Tylenol – this was ok – at least he’d go to sleep for a bit. Unfortunately, when he woke, it was an even bigger nightmare because he’d gone to sleep without pain and woke to a mouth on fire! The same went for Baby Motrin. We also tried the nighttime Baby Orajel – he hated the taste and it wore off so quickly that there really wasn’t any point in giving it to him (we never finished the tube and now use it for emergencies like when he got a foxtail stuck in his gums!).
We also tried a plethora of teething toys, including frozen/cold chewies, plush toys with plastic/rubber hands, neoprene beer cozies (those actually worked for a little while), rubber knobby balls that looked like dog toys, wooden spoons – literally anything we could get our hands on (or that he could get his mouth on!) Each thing worked, but only for a very short period of time. What could we do?
We tried food – and quickly discovered that he could take too big of bites off the teething biscuits (even without teeth!), so we switched to hard crackers (WASAA brand). Again, this only worked for a little bit. Same with ice chips, soaking washclothes, popsicles , EVERYTHING!
In the end, holding our son when the pain was at its worse, allowing him to sleep with us at night, and letting him nurse as much as he wanted to worked better than anything else. Constant attention and playtime, family and friends (he DOES get tired of always being with Mama), long walks, singing and story time – these are the things that helped us get through the worst of the teething and these are the things that STILL WORK! MY ADVICE – don’t rely on over-the-counter products and toys to sooth your child’s teething woes. I know its frustrating at times, but there is no substitute for giving your child love and attention to get through the pain of new teeth. Remember – your child doesn’t understand WHY it hurts and so will always look to you for comfort. GOOD LUCK and PATIENCE to you and your child!
