If you have an infant and have not already experienced teething, you will soon enough. It is a painful time for both mom and baby because there is not a whole lot that can be done for them. Even the greatest of mothers can become frustrated and realize the helpless feeling in this situation.
Teething can happen earlier, or later, but typically around 5-6 months. Here are some symptoms that your child may be teething:
1)Drooling excessively, their bibs will need to be frequently changed
2)Biting on everything, my daughters own fingers have teeth marks from her biting on them
3)A slight temperature raise, anything over a few degrees is not typically teething
4) Fowl smelling/acidic diapers, sometimes resulting in diaper rash. My advice is from the onset of this begin to put ointment at every diaper change.
5) Slight loss of appetite
6) Clear runny nose, green or yellow is a sign of infection.
7) Fretful, or inappropriate crying. If your child normally sleeps well and is suddenly waking out of that sleep crying, this is because teething hurts. Anna is 20 months and cutting teeth again. She will be whiny for what seems no apparent reason throughout the day.
Some remedies for teething are:
1) Teething rings, putting them in the fridge or freezer can help (it eases the swelling as well as partially numbs it)
2) Tylenol or Motrin. I am conservative when it comes to medicines. However, in this stage there is not much we can do for them, and we are not masking symptoms here. If they are having a really hard time you can “piggy back” Motrin and Tylenol. This means if Motrin is given every 8 hours, it has been 6 and your child is crying out, you can give them Tylenol, which lasts 4 hours. If you need to give them something in that four hour window, you can give them Motrin again, as long as it has been 8 hours since you have given them the Motrin. Dr. recommended to me.
Again, I do not like giving medicines unnecesarily, but I also think it is unnecesary for children to be in more pain than they need to.
3) Herbal teething powders, or Orajel
4) Lots and Lots of TLC! When Anna has that “no apparent reason” whininess all I can do is sit down and hold her, and love on her. Yes your laundry may not get done today. Sorry. This is a time where all we can do is love them through these growing pains.