My son currently has six teeth: but not the six you’d think. He has three on top and three on the bottom—and not even the same three! I’m guessing the other two teeth will come in soon (one has been ‘trying’ for a while, one not so much), so we’ll be dealing with teething for a while.
It seems like a lot of moms, myself included, are at a loss when it comes to teething. It may be one of those times that you just can’t make everything all better, but there are more than a few ways to help ease your child’s pain. I’ve scoured the Internet for everything from the mundane to the unusual in teething tips, and now, for your gnawing pleasure, “The Giant Compendium of Teething Tips!”
Old Standbys
- Massaging baby’s gums (if s/he will let you!)
- Teething biscuits
- Zwieback
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol)
- Ibuprofen (Motrin; better than Tylenol because it also relieves inflamation, the underlying cause of teething pain) Note that you can stagger these two medicines and administer every 2-3 hours, alternating which medicine you give
- Teething rings (freezing them is old school; refridgerating them may be better)
- Damp rag, frozen
- Baby gum numbing gel
- Cold or frozen foods (including ice) in a mesh feeder
- Hard objects s/he can’t choke on
- Ice chips (small enough not to choke on)
Slightly More Unconventional
- Small dampened stuffed animal, frozen
- Homeopathic teething tablets (yes, homeopathy is slightly unconventional to me)
- Homeopathic teething liquid
- Apples, Asian pears, celery, cucumbers, carrots, etc., preferably cold or frozen (small enough not to choke on)
- Frozen bagel (small enough not to choke on)
- A toothbrush
- Carabiner
- Music, specifically baby disco (strange only because I’ve never heard of that as a remedy for teething)
- Frozen flax bean bags (I suppose rice bags could work, too)
- Clove oil
- Spoons, especially dipped in cold water or stored in the fridge
- Frozen corn syrup gel pack
- Frozen applesauce or other baby food, slushy consistency
- Magnets
Downright Strange (and Not Recommended)
Or you could always do what I did last night: mysteriously lose hearing in your right ear and sleep on your left side to muffle the sound of his cries. (I’m kidding—I can’t sleep on my left side.)
Got more? Leave a comment or e-mail me at jordan (at) mamablogga.com !
For more tips to make your life easier, visit Rocks in My Dryer, one of the 30 most Popular Parent Blogs, for Works-for-me Wednesday.
[tags]teeth, teething, parenthacks[/tags]
9 replies on “The Giant Compendium of Teething Tips”
Clove oil definitely works. I picked some up at CVS when I had a bad toothache…the only problem is that it BURNS when its first applied. Very uncomfortable for me, so it might not be such a good idea for a baby…or toddler.
Wow. I’d never heard of it before. The person that did it here made their clove oil out of vegetable oil and cloves, so maybe it was less . . . sting-y.
Question: Does it matter what color ink I use in the pen?
🙂
I’m a fan of the mesh feeder. You can get some cute ones at Target. I filled them with frozen grapes and it was a big hit. That reminds me… I never got that to you Jordan! Oops! Sorry!
Lindsey—That’s okay. I’m afraid Hayden’s huge-child-teeth (there’s no way those things could be called ‘baby teeth’!) would rip a hole in them!
Jenny—I think so. If you have a girl, you should probably use a pink pen. 😉
My doctor told me not to use teething gel because it toughens the gums and takes longer for the teeth to come through…makes sense: Orajel is used by seniors to help with their dentures – must make the gums tougher so they can stand the teeth.
I have also gotten desperate enough to use the old timers rubbing the gums with wiskey (not enough to affect the child)
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When I was a baby my mom could not do anything to help me with teething and my dr. told her to boil bones until they had no meat on them and let me chew on those (big ones that I could not swallow). And it worked.