After Alice was born it obviously took a while to get the swing of things. Becoming a mom or parent is like getting a new job: you have a ton of new skills to learn and a new coworker to get to know and fast. The good part is, it’s a 24/7 kinda thing, so you likely will pick it up quite quickly.
I felt like we finally got into a rhythm and it would soon be broken by what I hear is a disastrous time of life for babies. Not so!
BabyCentre.ca says that you’ll know your baby is teething when they get:
- red and swollen gums
- red flushed cheeks or face
- heavy drooling
- gum rubbing, biting or sucking
- rubbing her ear on the same side as an erupting tooth
- sleepless at night and wakeful during the day
- not feeding as well
- irritable and unsettled
How to address this situation more naturally?
1. Camilia by Boiron is a great homeopathic combination for teething (and as a nutritionist I can recommend homeopathic remedies, woohoo!) This has especially worked wonders on Alice when she won’t sleep because she is so irritable and upset, and chewing things seems to make her even more frantic.
2. Raw Baltic Amber teething necklaces are used in Europe as a purported analgesic. The stones sit on the skin and reduce pain. I met a couple in Walmart who swore by them, and figured at $15, it was worth a try. I think it’s working as we haven’t had any more problems. Baby must be supervised and don’t let them sleep with the necklace on.
3. Sophie the Giraffe natural rubber toys: soothing on the gums, one side is very textured if they like that and it’s made of all natural mouth-safe rubber and vegetable paints.
4. Wooden Toys and Nursking Necklaces, including wooden spoons! The necklace I bought below has natural smooth wood beads with no toxic polishes and organic wool, both safe for baby’s hands and mouth. And since you’re already wearing it, it’s a great teething toy anywhere you go!
5. Frozen washcloths: saturate a washcloth with water and then freeze it. Babies enjoy sucking on it and the coldness soothes their gums. It helped Alice one of the few times she was really freaking out.
6. Celery and other cold fruits and veggies: the lovely JH from school gave me this tip but haven’t tried it yet since Alice isn’t eating solids at this point. I’ve found this suggestion on a lot of mom’s blogs though, there may be something in the celery that is also soothing above and beyond the cold.
7. Frozen breast milk ice chips: my lactation consultant friend gave me this tip a long time ago. Ice chips help numb and soothe the gums but they’re even better if it’s made of antimicrobial.
8. Your finger: left home without a chew toy for teething baby? Never fear, one of your fingers is here. It might get chomped quite a bit though!
9. Plus Chew Toys: on top of wooden and rubber, these are nice too and Alice especially loves them. Apparently, I had a toy giraffe that I kept in my mouth when I was a baby (made of fabric).
10. Continued Nursing and snuggles! Really, babies just need to be soothed at this time, and sometimes all it takes is Mama’s touch and more milk to make them calm down.
Hello, my name is SPD Mom. I'm a 37 year old self-employed US.