January Breastfeeding Cubby Hot Topic: Teething

[Maribeth]

I think my baby may be teething. She has been cranky, drooling a lot more, and constantly putting her hands in her mouth. I have been just trying to nurse her when she gets fussy. Is there anything else I can do? I need ideas!

Share your thoughts with us. We'll archive this thread for the breastfeeding cubby.

Thanks!
Mari

[skm]

My daughte always wanted to nurse more when she was teething. As she got older and was working on molars, it was usually the only sign I had that they were about to come through - she'd start waking up frequently during the night to nurse.

To ease the pain, I used a lot of those teethers you keep cold in the fridge (I always froze mine even though you're not supposed to ). I had 4 or 5 and would just rotate them as they got too warm to be any comfort. If we were visiting and didn't have teethers handy, I'd keep a couple of spoons in ice water and let her teeth on those, again rotating as each warmed up, or I'd dampen a corner of a couple of wash cloths and throw it in the freezer to let her suck and chew on.

I know others have sworn by Hylands teething tablets and/or gel. It's a homeopathic remedy. I tried the gel on dd and she'd stop crying when I applied it. But I think it was just becuz it was sweet .

[hedra]

The teething gels worked a little with my kids, but not much. One thing that helped some was rubbing their gums with a wet washcloth. My boys had very fibrous gums, and rubbing them seemed to help. Gabe, in particular, liked to rub something against his gums. His favorite was one of those plastic stacking rings, but a textured one. He could rub it back and forth over his gums. He broke most of his teeth through, that way.

And we used infants tylenol, too. For my boys, the most painful part was when the teeth were moving, but not right near the surface. The only help for that seemed to be pain meds, or nursing, or both.

[alaskagirl]

My oldest son would respond well to teething toys or infants motrin/tylenol. However my 10 month old is the worst teether I've ever encountered. The only thing that truly soothes him is nursing. It's a bit inconvenient when he wants to comfort nurse for an hour and a half in the middle of the night, but I am able to lay down and sleep while he nurses. He refuses a pacifier when teething and nothing else seems to work, so I am glad that we're nursing. At least he gets some relief that way.

[LoveMyAlexa]

DS deffinalty nurses more when he is cutting teeth, thats fine with me because he needs the extra comfort, plus I think that him getting teeth pretty much lines up when I need an increase in my supply so it works for both.

[RNShelli]

My sons both had teething pain. I found that "momcicles" or frozen breast milk pops helped numb and relieve the pain. They can be a bit messy but that is easily remedied with a bib. I know they nursed quite a bit when they had pain.

[JulieD]

Frozen wash cloths are good for my boys (as are crushed ice chips) and Hylands' teething tablets but nothing else really seemed to help much (I have high needs kiddos ).
~Julie

[ErinFiat]

Both of my kids have responded well to the Hyland's Teething Tablets (known in our house as "tabbies"). With DS, I came across the Colic Tablets too. I've found that combining the two really helps him. The bottle of motrin isn't far away either.

Other non-medicinal remedies I've either read about or tried:
-freezing a bottle upside down (so the nipple is solid)
-freezing wet wash cloths (I tie them in a knot and only wet part, so there is a handle)
-DD loved zwiebeck toast and biter biscuits

HTH

[Tami C]

When my kids were cranky from teething, we gave them frozen waffles to gnaw on. Until the teeth came in, they really didn't break much off the waffle- just made it gummy and gross, but they didn't care. Once the teeth were in, the baby enjoyed the yummy treat, which helped take their minds off the soreness too. Frozen bagels worked too.

[Chelsey]

My baby has been cutting her first tooth for what seems like months. My number one remedy is nursing, which keeps her occupied and eases the pain. She has rejected both cold teethers and frozen washcloths. We've had pretty good luck with the Hylands tablets, and my last-resort resource is infant Tylenol.