Collaborative Links¦ Autumn has been teething since just before Christmas, when she was 3 months old. I felt sorry for her, even more so as she didn’t quite have the coordination of babies who are of average teething age (around 6 months) to hold teething toys in her mouth herself.
Here are my top tips for helping a little one that is teething and lacks the coordination to help themselves very much:
- Prepare to have your fingers chewed – a lot! Yes, every time their hands or your hands get anywhere near their mouth they will be chewed on. All you need to do sometimes is just put your hand over their head to grab the remote control and before you know it, they’re latched onto your wrist having a good old gum! Yes, you do get all slobbery, but at least it seems to be helping them!
Here’s Autumn grabbing my hand to have a chew on my finger: - Use teething gel. You can buy this in pharmacies or on the shelf in places like Boots and Superdrug. It definitely helped with Autumn’s whinging due to teething pain. I’m not sure if it was just that she liked the taste of it or if it actually helped the pain, but whatever, I didn’t have to listed to a whinging baby so we were both winners either way!
- Lots of cuddles! Even as an adult, I know that cuddles help make all kinds of things feel better. One of the best things you can probably do for your baby when they’re teething is give them lots of cuddles!
- Holding chilled toys in their mouth for them. We have a pink gel foot my cousin bought Autumn that goes in the fridge. It must feel nice and soothing to bite down on, especially when it’s just been cooled. Unfortunately, Autumn had a bit of a gum on it but seemed slightly confused and went back to her hand. It might work better for other babies though, it’s worth a go !
- If all else fails, your baby won’t settle, and keeps whinging, give them some medication*. You can look at a site such as Best For Parents for information on different medicines, and advice on what to use and when. Within 20 minutes of giving paracetamol to Autumn when nothing else seemed to help, she always calmed down and seemed a lot happier!
It may seem like this is a long period of time, but it’ll be over before you know it! Your child will soon be old enough to use teething toys and jewellery.
*Disclaimer: All medications are given to your child at your own risk. I am not in the medical profession, so if you have any queries about teething or medication, please ask the appropriate healthcare provider.
When did your child start teething and can you think of anything else that could help younger babies when teething?
This post first appeared on MeetOtherMums
My five-month-old is teething right now, bless her heart. First I try to distract her. I’ve found that if I put too much focus on her pain it makes it worse! Sofie the Giraffe has helped A LOT, and when all else fails I give her infant tylenol. Cuddles, singing and rocking have helped as well, and we’ve also had some success with cold rags and refrigerated teething rings. It was SO HARD seeing her in pain at first … babies are so strong and resilient!