Teething

Who doesn’t love seeing those adorable toothless grins and crooked gummy smiles of a baby? Truth be told, if parents were given a choice some babies would be born with a full set of choppers. One of the many joys and trials of parenting is going through the teething stage with baby. Baby’s first tooth is one of many monumental moments for parents. Most babies start to cut their first teeth around the age of 6 months or so, but there is no general rule. Some babies may start sooner, others later, heredity plays a role. Teeth can come in in different orders as well. Some babies may cut their top eye teeth first and resemble a little vampire until the middle teeth come in. Sometimes it’s a bottom tooth that makes its first appearance. Whenever your baby does start teething you’ll likely know it by him or her becoming cranky or just out of sorts. Baby can run a fever, have a runny nose and may even appear to have an earache when teething. I remember taking a clean nubby washcloth and soaking it in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes in it, then wringing it out and applying it to my baby’s gums and rubbing them with it to help the tooth break through the gum. “ICE” cold is the key with teething, the colder the better as it numbs the pain. Don’t hesitate helping baby feel comfortable by giving him or her cold teether or appropriate analgesic to lessen discomfort. Rubbing a numbing cream made for babies on the gums will help temporarily as well. Cutting teeth to a baby feels much like a toothache does to us, so help baby feel better. Before you know it, it will be a distant memory and you’ll be snapping pictures of your baby’s beautiful pearly whites for the entire world to see! Then just as teething is long forgotten it’ll be time for your child to start losing his or her first teeth and make room for their permanent teeth, expect lots of visits from the Tooth Fairy!!!

Do you have your own little trick that works for teething, please feel free to share yours here! Just click on “Leave A Comment” above!