As a first-time mom, there’s nothing more exciting than opening up that baby milestone book and marking down your baby’s first tooth! But the days or weeks leading up to that magical moment can be treacherous! Baby’s first teeth is something so thrilling, scary, and hard all at once.
No matter how many children you have, a teething baby never gets easier. As a parent, the worst thing you can witness is your child in pain. Feeling completely helpless as they struggle with a feeling they don’t understand and have never felt before. All of my children started teething very early and most had cut their first tooth by four months.
As a first-time mom, I frantically researched remedies for my baby’s teething pain. I was exclusively breastfeeding and remember being so scared that a numbing agent would affect her nursing. So I went on the hunt to find natural products. I purchased and used all the remedies that I had found. And I was ecstatic when I saw a change in her behavior, the remedies were obviously working. I could tell she was in less pain, which made me so happy.
As a result, with my subsequent pregnancies, I figured, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Therefore, I didn’t even bother researching if there were new products available. I just stuck with my tried and true remedies. Which have proven for me time and time again to be effective. The most important thing for me was to help bring them relief and comfort.
Teething is Hard!
First and foremost, no matter what remedies you may find and use, nothing beats comforting your baby. We co-sleep, and honestly, I don’t know how I would have made it through all those teething years if I hadn’t been able to just lie there and comfort them all night. Having to keep getting up each time they yelled in pain! It would have ruined me!
Teething is haaaard! Not only on babies but moms too. Sometimes those pesky little teeth can come in back to back…to back! It can seem like an endless loop of crying and neediness, but it’s temporary, and you can rest assured, that your baby’s sweet disposition will return!
Teething Signs.
Going into it knowing that it won’t be easy for either of you, makes it easier to sail through. Some of the early signs that your baby’s first teeth are making their way is drool…so much drool! Be prepared to change those bibs 100 times a day LOL! Along with all that drool, your baby’s poor little cheeks will surely get red and raw. As well as those cute little butt cheeks.
Secondly, you may notice if you’re breastfeeding, that your baby may want to nurse ALL THE TIME for comfort! Or go on a nursing strike from the pain. Either way, creating a calm and relaxed atmosphere (although you may be far from it!) can help ease your baby. I remember my first baby had gone on a strike and I was so worried! I was scared that my supply would drop and she would lose weight! It was short-lived and she was totally fine. But, one thing the lactation specialist had told me was to try nursing in the bath…and it had worked beautifully!
Another sign can be excessive fussiness and crying. If you notice your little one having a harder time than usual, accompanied by swollen gums, chances are those little pearly whites are on the way. That fussiness, caused by the pain of the teeth trying to cut through the gums, can undoubtedly affect their sleep. Having a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep can be a tricky sign, as it can also be a sign of a sleep regression.
Lastly, let us not forget the gnawing and biting. Your sweet little baby may all of a sudden turn into a wild pup chomping down on everything in sight. They aren’t doing it out of spite. The counter pressure from biting down alleviates the pain. And let me tell you, a gummy chomp on a nipple hurts just as much as teeth do LOL!
The most important thing is to trust yourself and your baby. No matter how much information or advice you get, you need to find what works best for the both of you. There’s no cookie-cutter way to navigate the journey to a baby’s first teeth. Find your own path together. You have 20 little chicklets to get it right!
Thanks for stopping by today! Make sure to check out my 10 teething must-haves to help ease your baby’s pain.
Elisa
