No, he's not crying because I put that ridiculous wizard hat on him. He's crying because he's cutting his first tooth! He's been gnawing on his hand non-stop, poor little guy. In one of my many "mother-of-the-year" moments, I swaddled him the other night only to realize, when he woke up screaming a few hours later, that Little Husband's hands were trapped and he was unable to gnaw on his hand to soothe his aching gums.
The worst part is that at times I can't tell if he's crying because his gums hurt or because his chest hurts. MY question is, why haven't we, as a human race, evolved out of this sort of hell? Why can't babies just be born with teeth or, better yet, no pain receptors in their gums?
I've looked into the various remedies for teething and they are effectively useless for a three month-old. Little Husband cannot yet hold a teething ring let alone bring it up to his mouth. Different sources warn against topical analgesics due to their side effects. I've had two people mention some tablets that the baby can chew on--I need to look into these. Does anybody else have any ideas or input?
If baby doesn't sleep, mamma doesn't sleep, and when mamma doesn't sleep, nobody's happy...
11 comments:
ok, this is going to seem a bit silly, maybe even distressing, but you know those ball gags they use in S&M (like from Pulp Fiction)...is there anything you can almost attach to him so he doesn't have to hold it...loose enough so he can breathe of course.
i'm thinking this might not be the best idea...or the most attractive, but if there were something he could just have in his mouth that he couldn't swallow and didn't have to hold...like a passifier but bigger so he could chew it....
and if you do put a ball-gag in your baby's mouth, i'm not so sure i want to see a photo of it ;)
poor girl..hope you get some sleep soon....
Hmmm what ever happened to letting the kid drink at an early age!? I had brandy when I was teething. And look at me now!? I only drink on the weekends, fridays, every other day starting on monday and after volleyball on tuesdays, and occassionally on wednesdays while I watch the guys play. :)
Yeah, I thought a little brandy or something on the gums was supposed to help and be okay. Email BF's mom, she probably knows some remedies.
Besides working for Makena, I've had others swear by the teething tablets. They are in a small baby blue and pink bottle. Definitely worth a shot.
Can you give him tylenol? That worked for Kess. I used Anbesol, despite the warnings. The warning I remember was about using too much an inhibiting his gag reflex. I was just really careful to only use a little and to be sure to only put it on the affected area. Granted Kess was 10 months old or so and as strong as an ox. In fact, the vomit stained floor in his bedroom proves his gag reflex is just fine!
Just to clarify, it was baby anbesol.
Ok, I've been thinking about this and here's what I can remember doing with Will:
Frozen wet baby washcloth, but at his age I'd stick it on your finger and let him gnaw away. The pressure of my finger mixed with the friction from the washcloth used to soothe him a little. And then he'd gag a little, but it provided temporary relief.
Baby toothbrush. Sometimes I'd wet and freeze it. The bristles help to scratch their gums since they supposedly itch as well as ache.
Hyland's teething tablets are the ones in the pink and blue bottle that Kelly was talking about. I don't know if they actually work or not but we used them anyway. We'd put a couple in Will's bottle. (Talk to the nurses at the doctor's office because they might have a little caffeine in them, even though they never kept Will from sleeping I'd just talk to them about it anyway.)
In the Orajel Baby toothpaste, there's a little finger cover with bristles that you can use to brush the baby's gums. I used to use this for Will when he was teething. I'd just stick it on my finger and massage his gums with the bristly side.
Orajel itself never really worked for Will, he usually spit it out so I am not sure that you're really missing out on anything by not giving it to him.
That's all I can think of for now but I'll keep racking my brain!
Good luck!
Use a little bit of olive oil on your finger and massage his gums with your fingers every so often. The cold wash cloth is great too.
For Little Bear I used the baby oral gel (q tip that you broke in the middle and put a little on his gums but little bear was over 5 months when he started teething.
I just reread my post. I just wanted to clarify, I didn't use the Orajel toothpaste when he was teething but only the little bristly finger cover that came with it.
ok.. it's orajel, not anbesol that I was referring to. But, the best advice I can give is ignore my advice and listen to Katie. How the hell do you remember all of that, Katie?!?!?
It took a really long time to remember that! It's amazing what you forget (block out) after they get a little older!
Plus, Will is getting his last molars in right now so we're chewing on frozen toothbrushes. It's kind of gross when it's a toddler who loves to share with the dog and a dog who loves that the toddler shares.
Poor baby! Good luck to both of you getting through this. I hope you both get some sleep soon!
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