Monday 5 October 2015

Teething Drama is About to End! What Worked for Us?



Molars, why are you taking your sweet time to get out?! My son has been in this molar-teething stage for as long as I remember. He is actually very good with teething. He still sleeps well in the evening and don’t get feverish (thank God!). Unlike other babies, my son never liked biting on his teethers. We bought about 5 different teethers to test if he will like any of those but, nada! We placed them in the fridge/freezer but never worked. I even tried the breast milk popsicles, but he just made a face and threw it away! I also tried to give him a cold, wet washcloth, but it didn’t appeal him. But I know that he is suffering from this phase as he gets pretty cranky sometimes and totally clingy to Mum.


You are probably thinking, what worked for my son during this uncomfortable teething process. Here are some of the things that we did that seemed to ease his discomfort:


  • Any metal objects such as spoons. As I’ve said, my son didn’t like his teethers. He would pick up any random object to chew and bite but not his teethers. When I notice that he does it often in a day, I immediately relate to this as teething. He doesn’t really bite anything unless his gums are already swelling because of a tooth about to erupt.
  • Give him an apple or pear. My son loves fruits so much and that he likes to munch on crunchy and harder fruits when he is teething. So when I think he is teething, I give him sliced/whole apples and pears for a snack. If you are giving your child whole fruits, watch out for the core!
  • Gum gel. My son can get pretty crappy when it comes to food when he is really in pain. He will not cry but constantly spit out his food. Probably because it hurts his gums. So to allow him to eat (since he is interested anyway), we massage a bit of gel around his gums. Remember to read the label on the frequency of application to avoid overdoing it. He particularly likes this brand and I tasted it. It is actually kinda sweet!
  • Frequent latching on Mom's breast. If you are a breastfeeding Mom, you will immediately notice that your child wants to latch every-single-time. I work from home so I am able to feed him but like any working Moms, I also have deadlines. It is impossible to work and nurse at the same time. When he is teething, I try my best to accommodate to his every demand in “boobie time”. Breast milk has natural analgesic that helps them to feel relief when teething. Watch out for the bite marks, though! Teething babies will make frequent attempts to bite during this stage.
  • Give some pain relief medication such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. When all things fail and your child is still cranky, give him/her a dose of painkiller such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. I am not a fan of giving too much medication to my son especially since he doesn’t have a fever. But when I feel that he is in too much discomfort (ie cranky, spits food frequently) even after trying the other things mentioned above; I give him a dose of medicine. I noticed that ibuprofen works best for teething pain especially with the molars. So you may want to use paracetamol for other teeth but ibuprofen for molars.

Remember that I don't do all these at once. I try to do one thing at a time and the last would be to give him a dose of medicine. Apart from these, additional TLC helps them get through this painful teething process.

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