Teething tips for your Baby + Toddler

I am sure you mums out there know how painful it is to watch your little one teething. We are currently going to a feverish stage - the back teeth are kicking in...

Our little one is a little over 20months now and nearly has his full set of teeth. I want to share some of my experiences with you and hope I can provide a few tips, making it easier for you and your little one. Of course every child is different and what might work for one, does not work for the other one.

1. Tip: Lot of Love & Cuddles

When Toddlers and Baby’s are teething they are usually cuddlier than ever. Although you might be exhausted because of sleep-deprivation show them that you are there for them – but I am sure you do this anyway. Any of us who had a toothache knows how painful it is and even it is just a tiny tooth comparing to the rest of your body, EVERYTHING hurts. So hug them as often as you can, soothe them with singing and talking softly to them. They might find comfort in it.

2. Tip: Drooling is not necessary teething when your baby is little.

As soon as our little Toddler was 3 months he started drooling. Some days more than others but it was noticeable. Also when they are as little as that they tend to put everything in their mouths. We were reading it up and found that the glances start working around that age and because their swallow-reflex might not be as developed yet, they drool a lot. Also they start to develop their senses – the oral phase starts where not everything needs to be touched, no it needs also to be tasted and therefore everything goes into the mouth: toys, fingers, hands etc

Please do not bombard them straight away with medicine. Check first if their gums are swollen by feeling it with your fingers. Of course it is not necessary for me to mention to you that you always have to wash your hands doing that.

Hygiene is very important when you have kids, in fact it is very important at all times!

So don’t let yourself get wound up by friends or family who “only mean it good” and give you teething advice when in fact it might not be necessary due to the oral phase they are going through. Drooling, red cheeks, crying and swollen gums are the very sure indication that your little one is teething.

Once your slightly bigger Toddler is teething you know the symptoms straight away: the cheeks are fiery red (thats a good indication at any age by the way), they drool heavily and sometimes even point into their mouth.

If the drooling is getting out of hand make sure you always have some dry T-Shirts or Pullovers with you for changing them. Or accessorize your child with a chic little triangular scarf or a bib that has a plastic coating underneath. That is also exchanges quickly.

3. Tip: Medicine vs Homeopathic Remedies

When our little fella was very small, homeopathic remedies worked great for him. We didn’t need anything else and he was completely fine with it. One of the remedies we gave him was Chamomile in the following potency: Chamomilla D6.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find as much detailed information in English however lots in German. I know that it is quite common in Germany to treat children rather homeopathic as long as they are little. The little body responds very well to those remedies and their body needs to build up antibodies and incorporates this quite well. However everybody has to choose for themselves and getting further into this thematic would be a completely different topic altogether.

Of course you should always consult your doctor or pharmacist if you are concerned and please stay away from self medication if you are unsure.

The Chamomile Granules should be given as follows: 3 Granules for Babies and 5 Granules for Toddlers (3 years on) 3 times daily. You can also find information about different treatments for you baby on the Weleda Website I personally recommend.

Or we used Osanit, a German brand. I got my family to send me that from Germany. It has proven to be very effective for a few years now and has a combination of herbs especially for teething Babies and Toddlers. I am not sure if you can get it outside of Germany actually but wanted to give you some heads up. We are still giving it to our Toddler, but not for pain relief – currently it helps to reduce the drooling a little bit.

If you want to read more about Homeopathy in general and what it stands for I would advice to read further detailed information online at Wikipedia which summarizes quite a lot.

If your Toddler is in very much pain there are lots of good child-friendly Paracetamol syrups or supositries out there. They usually help to reduce the pain and also the fever. We currently must get a double-set of back teeth and without the pain relief our boy would not be able to sleep and wakes up every 30 minutes. Again: please consult your doctor or pharmacist for the best advice on what to give when and how. In my experience – the bigger the teeth – the bigger the pain.

4. Tip: Food-Intake

You might experience that during the times of teething your Child is eating almost next to nothing. Understandable when the gums are sore but what to give to ease the pain? As soon as they are on solids they need their nutrition and cannot live on milk alone.

• I am usually not a fan of formula milk but if he is eating not much, we give him the relevant formula milk for the relevant age. So they get their vitamins and do not loose out on anything during their development.

Regarding the solids I can give the following tips that have worked for us:

• Rice Crackers (unsalted, unsweetened)
• Breadsticks (like those Italian-Style crustini’s)
• Crisp bread (with or without sesame)
• Fresh baked bread (do not cut away the crust – that’s the crucial bit)
• Some slices of a salad cucumber you had in the fridge (cooling effect)
• Some slices of an apple (cooling effect)

All of those foods might be crumbly – please make sure your Toddler can eat and swallow properly so there is no danger of choking.

I listed quite plain food - please make sure not only giving your child sweets for comfort or cookies for soothing. It is hard to wean them off again and (do I really have to say) it is not healthy. Here and there one occasionally is OK but please don't make it the rule.

Thankfully the really bad days of teething only last maximum 3 days so after that – lots of sleep (for the parents) and cuddles and playtime again.

I hope you find my tips helpful. Again – what worked for mine might not work for yours. Hang in there – its over soon, than we might have different problems :)