Teething Nightmare

hi T.,
seems like teething gel is the most common responce my daughters responce to this was absolutely not because if it numbs the gums it numbs the throat posing a choking hazzard no matter if its breast milk or bottle milk just something to think about and ponder

S.

I know this sounds terrible but I finally tried it and it worked. My father told me to put my finger in the whiskey bottle and rub that on her gums. It was the only thing that work. I did all the other things first.

Are you sure he is teething and it isn't something else? Babies tend to be quite oral so many times other pains can be mistaken as teething. You may want to ask if anything has changed...

Has he recently had his shots?
Has he recently started eating solids?
If yes to solids, has he started a new solid?
If you are nursing have you changed your diet?
If he is on formula, have you changed anything about the bottle, nipple or formula?
Has he started drinking something other than formula or breastmilk?
Has anything in his environment changed? ie new carpet, new detergent, anything that can off gas that you may not even notice, but is irritating him? Some kids are extremely chemical sensitive and even perfume can effect them.

The only purpose for numbing cream is to numb for the 10-15 min it takes for medication to kick in. Try it in your own mouth and time it to see. Also advil works better than tylenol for teething since it helps with inflammation, but you will have to contact your dr or pharmacist for dosage based on your childs weight (never go by age). I would only do the advil if you are 100% certain it is his teeth. I would be cautious of these types of meds. Tylenol is very toxic to the liver and babies are VERY suseptible to this. Advil is bad also because it can cause brain bleeds.

I hope you can figure out what it is that is bothering your little guy. I hope you can also find a way to comfort him so you both can get some rest. Good luck!

B. :)

I know some reports say not to use the numbing gels, as they can numb a baby's tongue and they can possibly choke on it while they sleep. My kids hated the stuff, so I never used it anyway.
I always used frozen plain bagels for my boys. They are hard enough and cold enough to ease the pain, and they just got mushy with no big pieces to choke on as they thawed. It took a looong time for them to thaw. I'd just give half pieces. I found this much better than the biter biscuits and that kind of thing. Also, you could try a vibrating toothbrush, like Crest Spinbrush. Good luck!

J.

I'd check for ear infection. If that's what it is, even baby Motrin is just going to be a temporary fix.

Try rubbing some baby orajel on it. The only thing is, it wears off in a few hours, but it really does work. Buy some and before you use it on the baby squeeze out a bit and try it on your tongue. You will see just how it numbs their little gums. This worked wonders for my daughter and son when they were both teething.
My Dad even chipped a tooth on the weekend when he couldn't get anything done about it, and he was in a ton of pain. I recommended it to him and he went and bought the maximum strength and he said he couldn't have made it without it. He actually got rest with it. Good luck!!

This was my LIFESAVING COMBO! Orajel (get the swabs so the medicine stays mainly on the teething area-not tongue, Motrin (check ages on it)worked better than tylenol..helps more w/ swelling and the BEST...I took my kids pacifier and put in the freezer for about 10 minutes (just let it get really cold) and gave it to them. THEY LOVES THE COLD BINKY!!

Hi T.,
When my daughter was teething, we tried teething rings too. They didn't work for her. Her pediatrician recommended frozen bagels. We didn't freeze them because we were afraid they might be too cold for her, but we gave her chilled bagels from the fridge. Hope this works for your little one.

Hi T.

With my daughter I either stuff a tiny wet washcloth with an ice-cube, tie it off and hand it to her, OR and this works the best, I got her her first toothbrush with baby tooth-paste and whenever she's hurting, I run the tooth-brush under VERY cold water, put some yummy tooth-paste on it and just let her chew and gnaw on it until she's had enough....result? She loves it!

As much as it stinks, sometimes there is no relief for it. My sister swears by carrot sticks straight from the fridge but you have to watch them because you don't want them to get the end off and choke on it. I say use with caution. I froze a wash cloth for my first and I always did the orajel/anbesol and tylenol combination along with teething tablets. The orajel would numb it until the tylenol or motrin would kick in. Still it never seemed to fully take away the pain at times.

Also, watch for other symptoms just in case it's something more than teething. Good luck.

My son cut his first tooth right at 4 months old, he prefered to chew on the harder baby toys verses the softer ones. He would go to town anything that was made out of hard plastic. His doctor reassured me he it was fine as long as it was a nonchocking hazard.
I was also able to give him Advil.

Hopefully the tooth will break through soon.

I never found much relief for any of my children (I have 3) with orajel or anything else along those lines. I will agree with other moms that ibuprofen/motrin works better than tylenol. you can also try alternating them. a couple of other things we did......peel a carrot and let your baby gum on it, also try rubbing just a little bit of vanilla on his gums. my youngest son started teething at three months, so i feel for you sweetie! good luck!

My daughter used a teething toy that vibrated. She loved it. Orajel was also a life saver.

WEll my son cut his first two teeth at 4 months old and at that age they really don't know what to chew on. I used Anbesol but you can only use a small amount and they have a night treatment as well to help them get through the night. Good Luck!

We found Baby Orajel teething swabs, you just break off one of the tips, let the medicine run down to the other end and rub it off their gums. It is awesome!! and it was the only thing that worked with our daughter. They have a night time formula as well in the teething swabs. They can be found at any Walmart, Walgreens, just about anywhere and a very reasonably priced as well. Amanda would be very content for hours after we used one on her gums.

Have you tried baby Motrin? My son, who is almost 9 months old, cut his first two teeth at a little under 5 months. He already has six teeth now. Anyway, Tylenol just did not work as well as baby Motrin. Actually, It didn't seem like Tylenol worked at all. If your baby meets the the weight requirement for the baby Mortin infant drops, that's what I would try, but you should call your doctor first. It's what my doctor recommended for the heavy duty teething. The office actually gave me sample boxes of it. The only other thing that my son would tolerate and that seemed to relieve some pain was brushing his gums. I don't know if you have a baby toothbrush and toothpaste yet (I was told to start brushing the gums at 4 months) but my son seems to love it when I brush his gums, especially when he's teething. There were times when he'd only stop crying if the toothbrush was in his mouth. But, anyway, I hope you find something that works for you. This can be such a difficult and frustrating time. Good luck!

Just please be careful when using orajel. When my Nephew was teething, his parents used that on him and it caused him to stop breathing. We came up with a very unconventional method and it worked! We were drinking coffee one day while trying to soothe the baby and when I got done stirring the coffee, I let the spoon cool for just a second and let the baby hold it and put it in his mouth. I don't know if it was the heat or the spoon, but we never heard one more peep from him when it came to teething. And it worked with his younger brother!

Good luck!

My son got his first tooth at 4 months as well. What worked well for him was to slice up a banana and place the pieces in a ziploc freezer bag. Then I would place a piece of the frozen banana in a fresh fruit/veggie thing that you can buy at Babies R Us or Target, I think it's made by Munchkin. We also used the infant Motrin drops.

Here's the link for the one at Babies R Us, but there's a cheaper version I used from Target too.
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=240476...

Try Orajel nighttime (it's stronger for numbing the pain so it lasts longer) and a vibrating teething ring, those are what got me through my kids teething when they were that little, and when they get older and start teething with their molars I give my kids a toothbrush to carry around and chew on because my daughter is horrible about sticking her fingers in her mouth and chewing on them. Hope this helps you. Also they had orajel baby swabs you might try those (not sure if they still have them or not.)