The Joys of Teething

Teething...the wonderful 2 year ordeal that all children must unfortunately go though (it is no walk in the park for parents either).

My daughter started getting her first bottom tooth several weeks ago. Shortly thereafter, her second bottom tooth started to come through. They are ever so SLOWLY making their way through, but it seems to be taking forever!

Pain Medication

I really don't like the idea of giving my daughter pain medication. I never have. When she had her immunizations, I would only give her one dose afterwards if she was in pain. On those occasions, it was pretty obvious that she was in pain and giving her pain medication to settle her down seemed like a no-brainer. When it comes to knowing when to give medication for teething pain, it is a different story.

How do you know?

Unfortunately, babies can't talk. If they could, our job would be SO much easier. When it comes to figuring out what is wrong, it seems like a complete guessing game at times. Throughout the teething process, Lilah has never seemed distressed during the day and usually doesn't want to have anything to do with a teething ring. At night, it is a different story...I think.

It is so hard to know whether she is just really fussy because she does not want to go to sleep, if she is going through a little bit of separation anxiety or if she is truly in pain. Some of the signs that seem to indicate teething pain are when she is chewing on her blanket and/or fingers in a way that is not typical or when her cry is a little more distressed. Another sign is that it feels a little different when she is nursing. By 'feels a little different', I mean it can hurt. She tends to suck more aggressively and it almost feels as though she is mashing my nipple which I am sure simply makes her gums feel better. If she is exhibiting these signs, I will consider medication if it is preventing her from falling asleep.

I bought an all-natural teething gel because I would rather give that a try than drug her up every time I think she might be in pain. Given that the teething process takes roughly 2 years, one could potentially go through a lot of pain medication if it was given when it wasn't completely necessary. I have also given her Infant Tempra on a couple of occasions after first trying the teething gel alone. The pain does seems to come and go. She will seem very unhappy for a few nights and things get a little rough and then she will be fine for a week or so (which just makes it that much harder to figure out).

Sadly, there really isn't anything we can do to speed up this process. As parents our job is to love and comfort our children at these times and be VERY patient. Just when you think you have things figured out and you have established a good routine, something else comes along, like teething, to blow it out of the water!