Teeth teeth teeth. The bane of my life. Well, the bane of Tayo’s life really but you know, mainly mine. For a fairly long time I thought the reason for him not settling at night might be down to some sort of allergy or intolerance but now I’m pretty much 99% certain it’s all been down to him teething.

Signs

Tayo generally displays the following signs of teething; ear pulling and rubbing, being irritable seemingly out of nowhere and ALL the dribbling. He’s also into biting… luckily not people but muslins, teddy’s or any soft toy he can find and also his rubber spoons. He’s also a massive fan of two teethers, this one from Nuby which has different parts for different parts of the gums and this toothbrush. Every morning when we brush his teeth he keeps a hold of it and bites on it for a good ten minutes. It really helps us get through that first nappy change of the day.

He also seems to get pretty swollen gums just before they break through. They look so sore. Something else I’ve noticed as well is that he doesn’t necessarily have loser bowl movements like I know a lot of babies do but they really increase in frequency which is loads of fun when he doesn’t want to lie down to be changed… Pull-Ups to the rescue! Other signs I know friends have mentioned are really rosy cheeks and also loss of appetite. Tayo has this week been nicknamed ‘The Hoover’ at nursery so he’s definitely not struggling with that.

Brushing

I’ve just mentioned brushing his teeth and it was something I wanted to lightly touch upon. At his one year review with our health visitor, she asked me if we were registered with a dentist yet (we were, phew!) and also if I had already started brushing his teeth. At this point he had four, and yes we had. She then proceeded to tell me that my city had the 3rd highest rate for babies needing to have their teeth pulled due to decay, check here for more such facts. Sorry what!? There’s a part of me that thinks she was making it up but jeez, if that’s true I am shocked that that is even a thing. And how?! Anyway, a friend of mine asked me when I started to brush his teeth and the answer was as soon as the first one broke through. I think it’s another one of those things that you need to fit into your daily routine and so the sooner you start doing it the easier it is to get into the habit.

It’s obviously not a particularly easy task. But one of the first things I attempted to teach Tayo was ‘show me your teeth’ (the perks of being a second time Mom… You discovered all the tricky tasks with your first born so you are better prepared for tasks such as these) find out here on tips to brush a toddlers teeth. I would say the phrase and then show him mine in a big smile whilst making a noise… I chose a short of blowing air through my teeth sound and low and behold after a couple of weeks, he did it back to me so now when we brush I say the phrase and there they are, ready and waiting. But I have to be quick because he doesn’t stay like it for long, I do what I can and then give him the brush to chew on which I hope finishes the job. You can also buy the soft finger toothbrushes if you find that easier.

When

What teeth do they get and when? Tayo’s been pretty typical so far. He started with the bottom two incisors followed by the top two. The bottom two arrived around seven months and the top ones around nine months. And just last week his top two lateral incisors have broken through and are making good headway. But as with everything to do with babies, it’s important to remember that they are all different. When Leo was a baby I remember him having a little friend who was 14 months before he got his first tooth and Tayo has a friend who will be one in a couple of weeks and his first tooth has only just started to erupt. It’s amazing the things they can still eat without their teeth. I also know a baby who got his first tooth at 12 weeks! As always if you’re concerned you can speak to your health visitor.

Remedies

I hear so many success stories about gels and granules but nothing seems to settle this little boy. Having said that though I do still try a few things in the hopes that one day they might. He categorically will not have gel on his gums any longer and I’m not brave enough to try and get it on past all those front teeth. We tried granules which he seemed to quite like but they made very little difference to his discomfort.

The best thing we’ve found is to use Ibuprofen (and at times paracetamol in between if it seems to not be helping too much) and the teething toy. He goes to bed with his Taggie which has small rubber teething tags as well as the material ones and also the Nuby toy I mentioned earlier.  This is all in the hopes that when he wakes up in the night, if he’s in discomfort he will reach for one of the other to try and ease his pain. He also has a dummy and he often chews the side of that. For him, chewing seems to be the best relief. He doesn’t seem to enamoured with frozen or cold teething toys but he does seem to settle with a cold yoghurt or cucumber. I am going to try some frozen banana now that he’s taken a shine to it in it’s normal state.

One other thing I do when he is unsettled at night is rub his forehead. My Osteopath showed me how to use a bit of moisturiser and rub in an upwards motion from between his eyebrows going round and down past his temples and finishing by his jaw. He’s not always cool with me doing the whole thing but he seems to enjoy just having me stroke his forehead in an upward motion between his eyebrows.

Everything is just a phase

He definitely seems to go through phases and his restless sleeping definitely coincides with when I can see new teeth on the horizon. He seems to get quite red and swollen gums when they’re on route so it’s quite easy to see coupled with all the symptoms. When it’s bad he generally wakes from midnight, on the hour, every hour until 6 or 7 when we give in and get up in an attempt to distract him form his discomfort. So it’s pretty tough on everyone but the most important thing I try hard to remember during my 3am frustrations is that yes, I might be tired but I’m not in pain or discomfort like he is. And I do get frustrated. If you’re ‘guilty’ of shouting For F**cks Sake into your pillow before heading out of your warm bed to tend to your baby for the fourth time, you’re not alone. I am Queen of the FFS’s.

This period of parenting is hard and it can be extremely exhausting and it can feel quite isolating; like you’re the only one up and down all night but I’ve learned that there are so many of us struggling with teething babies. So I hope this post has been slightly useful and that the pin attached can serve as a reminder of some things you can do to help remedy your babes discomfort. And remember, everything is just a phase. 

How are you finding the teething journey? What remedies have worked best for your baby? Any top tips that I need to know that I might not have tried yet? I’m intrigued by teething jewellery. Have you ever tried that and is it practical or is it worth it now that Tayo’s pretty much walking and I don’t have to carry him so much? As always… Tell me ALL! 

 

{Signs & Symptoms}

teething signs and remedies