What To Do When My Baby is Teething

My baby girl, who is now 10 1/2 months old, has one lower front tooth out and I can see one more upper front tooth starting to come out.  The gums are red and swollen and I can feel a hard lump underneath.

During this time in a baby's life called teething, these are the signs that are observable.  She drooled or salivated more than usual, put her hands in her mouth, pretty much bit or chewed anything nearby that she can grab, even bit my nipples when breastfeeding, and sometimes was very irritable.  It has also become quite difficult to feed her probably due to painful eating.

Here are some of the things that can be done to ease the pain of teething.  (1) Give her something to chew on like:

• Cool, wet washcloth
• Teething Toys (especially those that vibrate because it massages the baby's gums)
  
• Teething ring - cold not frozen
• The pacifier
  
• Teething biscuits
  
• Firm-textured foods such as carrot fingers or pieces of apple
  

(2)  I've also read from a forum that Hylands makes some teething tablets that are sweet and milky tasting and dissolve almost instantly when placed under the child's tongue. They say it helps a lot though I have not tried it. (3)  Massaging the baby's gums.

Below is a video which gives a short demonstration of things to do when the baby is teething.




Take note also that other symptoms such as high fever, loss of appetite, diarrhea or vomiting are never caused by teething.  If the baby suffers from these, a pediatrician should be consulted.  As an example, my daughter  had 3 days of fever during this teething time and was found to have roseola infantum.