TEETHING!!!

[nitaghei]

I'm so not ready for this - but it looks like the first tooth is on its way. :'(

He's drooling like crazy and his gum is very tender. Any suggestions / hints/ advice on making this easier for both of us would be very much appreciated.

I acted as his pacifier / teething toy last night, and got barely 30 minutes sleep. And I'm at work today - trying to be productive - there's a project that needs to be done today. :(

AAAARRRRGGGHHHH! He's too young - he hasn't even started solids as yet - we were going to do that this weekend.

Please help!!!

Nita

[nigele]

Nita,

Tom's first tooth started to appear at three months. He couldn't even hold a teething toy at that point! Somehow, it acted like a turtle and popped back down (actually, I think the gums swelled up) and didn't come back until he was six months old.

Here are a few suggestions to try to ease his pain (beyond Tylenol):

- Give him ice or frozen fruit in a Baby Safe Feeder (www.babysafefeeder.com)

- A wet, frozen wash cloth. I tried this with Tom and he likes it but everything gets wet so be prepared!

- Apply light pressure to his gums with your finger. Some babies find this soothing.

Good luck and I hope you both get through his first tooth okay!!

[etwahl]

how do you tell when teeth are coming?

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[nitaghei]

Lisa,
Thanks for the suggestions! So the frozen washcloth works for babies? I knew that a small frozen knotted towel is recommended for teething puppies! :) I don't mind dealing with things getting wet.

Of course- wouldn't you know it - I decided to postpone getting the Baby Safe Feeder - thinking he wouldn't need it for a while. Maybe I can find it a BRU or BuyBuyBaby.

Fortunately, I do have a couple of teething toys (I have to remember to thank the person who included these in her gifts again!). I might just stop in at Target tonight and pick up a few more.

Nita

[sweetbasil]

Lots of drooling, general fussiness (sometimes- depends on the baby, the tooth, etc.), Kellen always had a warm head when he was cutting teeth- the doctor said he wouldn't get a fever or feel warm, but he (and all my friends' kids who were teething) did!

Sometimes the gums look a little swollen, you might be able to see either a little white spot where the tooth is showing a little, or see the outline of the tooth in the front of baby's gums.

Then sometimes really lucky parents have no signs at all, and suddenly, there's a tooth.

With all you went through with Lauren in the beginning, I hope you're one of those lucky ones, Tammy ;)

[nitaghei]

Tammy,
I'm so clueless that I didn't put things together - DS's day care person did (she's an experienced mom).

These are the symptoms that DS exhibited:

Low grade fever a few days ago.

LOTS of drool (and he generally doesn't drool much).

Tender gums.

Lots of mouthing - has to have something to mouth on constantly - toys, paci, blanket, his hands (from 2 am to 6 am this morning, I was the object of choice).

General fussiness (and he's usually a happy baby).

Of course this has to happen on Friday. It's good for him, he'll be at home for the next couple of days. But, I need some rest so desperately (but that a separate post), I'm about ready to burst into tears.

HTH

Nita

[Marisa6826]

Nita-

I can completely sympathize. Sophie's been going through the same thing for a few weeks now.

What really perplexed me was when I saw the ped on Tuesday (6m checkup) he said he couldn't feel anything (well, I couldn't either), and so she "must not be teething". I'm not so sure about that! He said that the average time for new teeth is 9m - anywhere from 3m to 15m.

I use cotton "bar cloths" (from Bed Bath and Beyond) for burp rags. They're all cotton and very textured. I wrap it around one of my fingers and Sophie loves to bite down on it.

When she's really yucky and all else fails, I give her some Advil (I found it better than Tylenol) and it seems to help.

I tried the frozen washcloth and it just dried out and got really hard in my freezer. Maybe I wasn't getting it wet enough?

Somebody else recommended taking a nipple in its collar, filling it with just enough water and freezing it. Put the bottle back together and give it to the baby to gnaw on. That way as the water thaws, it goes back into the bottle instead of all over the baby. I froze one, but haven't given it to Sophie yet...

Good luck!

-m

[nigele]

Tom gets fussy (usually he's a happy-go-lucky kid) and his gums swell and turn very red.

[nigele]

LOL - I tried this once and the water just dripped out of the hole in the nipple (I didn't notice until I went to get it out of the freezer!)

[ginalc]

I find that my little ones have done well when I took my clean finger and massaged the tender gums really hard. If the tooth is ready, you can help break the skin and relieve the pain. All mine have gotten teeth really early and this helped alot. My DS just turned 6 months and he has 4 teeth with 2 others well in sight under the gums.

My 2nd child took teething really poorly. She fussed and screamed for months every time a tooth was on it's way (started at 2 months) and didn't really get better until all her teeth were in (including the 2 year molars!).

BTW, if teething early in infancy, chances are your child will get their adult teeth early, too. My oldest DD was an early teether and at age 9 (4th grade) she had all her adult teeth and got her braces on. She got her braces off last spring at age 11 (6th grade) before many of her classmates had even lost all their baby teeth! I look at her now, hair high-lighted from playing outdoors, straight teeth, no glasses (contacts replaced the glasses), and think "Where did my little girl go!?!" :)

gina, mom to 3

[kristie]

Hi,
So I am sure you are now past the first tooth since this post was from awhile ago.
But I just noticed that no one had mentioned "Hylands Teething Tablets"?!!
I live in Ca. and can get them at my local Ralphs (grocery store) but I do know that you can get them at Wholefoods (Organic food store)

Hylands actually makes a whole line of baby products and I, as well as many many people I know , found them helpful.

I will say this though, my older daughter didn't get her first tooth until she was 11 months old! (Which I have heard the later the teeth come in the healthier they are, but I don't know how much truth is in that)
Anyway, she never complained once about her teeth!
But my second daughter, she lets me know when her teeth are bothering her! It is so funny how every baby is so different!

Hope you survived the first tooth! :)