How to Stay Sane/calm During This Teething Storm

I like to use fruit popsicles when my son is teething. He likes the sweet and bites on it too. Or I freeze gogert and give that to him. The night stuff is the worst. I am sorry for you both.

Poor girl and poor Mom!

I'm with Jessica P on the Motrin. Tylenol is a pain reliever, but Motrin is an anti-inflammatory. That will be what she needs for her swollen little gums.

My son likes a hand held massager of mine that vibrates. He will put that in his mouth for so long and let it vibrate on his gums. Needless to say I don't get to use it for my back massages anymore.

Good luck!! I hope you find something that works miracles!

I would try Motrin as that seemed to work better with my son than Tylenol. Tylenol just didn't seem to do anything. You can also try a clean, wet washcloth to suck on (you can chill it in the fridge). My son really liked chewing on the cloth. Good luck!!

Sorry your baby girl is having such a rough go at this! When my daughter started getting her teeth, her symptoms weren't so bad, but when she was very uncomfortable my husband and I found that lots of distraction in addition to pain relievers (hylands teething tablets + tylenol) was helpful. She wasn't too "clingy" but we found that if we focused on her pain, she focused on it too. If we tried to play a new game, sing a new song, take out a "forgotten" toy...it really helped her "work through" her pain. Maybe taking her out for a walk in the beautiful weather (finally!) or to a park where she can be distracted might be helpful? Change her environment, give her some of the yummies other moms have suggested, and lots of kisses (which it sounds like you're already doing!).

Of course if all else just doesn't help, you should called your pediatrician first thing in the morning and ask for help! They might have something to suggest for the rough nights.

Best wishes...hopefully the next ones won't be so bad.

PS-Chamomile tea is a wonderful relaxant, it is tasty when iced too!

Sorry to hear all you are going thru. I would suggest trying ibuprofen (children's motrin or generic brand). it last longer. I can't even imagine how it must feel to have all those teeth come in at the same time. My daughter was much like your son, but she still dealt with many of the symptoms you describe for your daughter plus horrible diarreha.
My daughter loved to chew on frozen wash cloths. If you use baby wash cloths, they freeze really quick and are soft to chew on. Wet them, roll them up, and freeze.
Have you had your doctor check that she isn't having an ear infection? I only say that because of the loss of balance.
I hope things improve for you all soon.

Many friends of mine swear by Hyland homeopathic teething tabs, widely available (I got mine at the Walmart pharmacy). But I should warn you that occasionally a child is allergic to these - my daughter was - and will react by vomiting almost immediately. Chewing on a frozen soaked washcloth seemed to give both of my babies temporary relief when the teething got bad.

Good luck. Remember that to save your own sanity, it is okay to lay you baby down in a safe place and walk away for a few minutes, stuff cotton balls in your ears, and take some deep breaths. I didn't have to live through multiple tooth eruptions, but I did do 3 solid months of colic, and taking breaks is essential for your survival. Is it possible to leave the little one with your husband for half an hour each evening and take a walk with your 4-year-old? That way he gets a little one-on-one time and you both get away from the screaming. I did this with my then 3-year-old when my son was going through colic hell, and it gave me a chance to connect with my daughter without having to shout over the screaming, hurting baby.

Keep up your courage. This will pass.

Oh Hoeny I feel you pain. My son had this same problem. He had 4 teeth until he was a year old, and then all of a sudden he started getting 4 or 5 teeth at a time. If you have a rocking chair, it helps immensly. I had to do that alot just the motion seemed to soothe him. We used infants ibprofin. That is what his dr. reccommended. That seemed to help a lot too. Theres not really a lot you can do for her. Hold her, cuddle with her, and try to be patient. Its so hard, but thats all you can really do. There is an end to this though, so hold strong. I hope she gets to feeling better

I have a 13 Month old girl who is going through the same thing. I find that pain relief is the only way. I usually give her tylenol during the day, not more than once every 4 hours. At night I give her Ibuprofen, I find that it lasts longer, so she gets a good night sleep before the pain comes back again in 6 hours. The teething comes and goes. She got her front four teeth first, and now she's getting her molars, which are especially painful.
You can also try giving her more frozen things to chew on. At meal time my daughter likes to have a frozen mini waffle appetizer. The tiny cold frozen waffles are nice and cold and they are tasty (to her).
I find teething is very difficult to handle, because you don't really know what's wrong, and most of the time you feel like you are just guessing about what your child needs.
Like most things with parenting, this too shall pass and something equally or more challenging will take it's place.
Take care, and know that you are not alone.
T.

Two words...baby motrin.

My son is going through this as well and we JUST went through getting FOUR teeth at once about a month ago. Tylenol DOES NOT work for him with teethers. I know they say to go easy on Motrin because of liver damage, but I only give it to him when he is teething and I give it to him every 7 hours (box says every 6-8) and it does the trick to help him get through the day/night.

Good luck and ((HUGS)). This is NOT an easy time for mom, either!!!!

Oh dear. I can sympathize and hope that it only lasts a few days before she feels better, poor thing! Have you tried infant Motrin? A lot of doctors say it works better and it also lasts longer. Tylenol cuts the pain, but Motrin actually takes down the swelling, as well. Also, my doctor says you can alternate between Tylenol and Motrin giving them one or the other every three hours (check with your doctor, but that's what I do with my son when it gets really bad). Also check with your doctor about the correct dosage as my son can take a lot more than it says for his age as he's 28 lbs (16 months). Good luck and I hope you see all those teeth soon. Unfortunately my son teethes for a long time before we see anything. Ugh. I don't know which is worse. :-p

You have gotten some good ideas that I will try myself. Cold carrots to chew on, teething tabs, and a cute electric toothbrush. My 19.5 mos. old has a fire engine one and he keeps it in his mouth and the vibration helps. I rinse it every so often and have to distract him to get it away. I had to teach myself to nap when he's napping on those days so I can handle the teething. Sometimes he's going through a growing spurt on the same days. Ugh. When his dad gets home, after hello and hugs, etc. We get him settled for a snack in a safe place with hard crackers or cookies. Natural vanilla wafers are good. It helps him and we go unwind and talk about our day then I go walk the dog alone. I get to regroup for the Mama mama and crying. Distraction works good. Going to the cabin or a park to throw pine cones in the water, digging with sticks, running up or down hills or across a field picking flowers and pointing out different bugs. The fresh air helps us both and seeing him interested in new things makes it easier to deal with his melt downs. Then he's so tired it helps him sleep through the pain w/ a little medicine. Having a cup of chamomile tea is nice. Hang in there, you're doing great.

I found that infant motrin helped my daughter for much longer than tylenol. I discovered it when my doctor told me to try it when she had a ear infection. My daughter will be 15 months old next week and I know what you are going through. I'm a teacher and I have had some nights that I came into school like a zombie. The day of our field trip, I had gotten two hours of sleep. Now she's sleeping from 9:30 to 7:00, but I know was soon as more teeth come in, we'll be going through the same ordeal. My daughter only has 6 teeth so we have many more days to go. Good luck.

My oldest daughter was like that when she was younger and teething. My cure for it was an at home remedy passed on to me from generations of older, much wiser women in my family and I have used it for all three of my children. It sounds absurd, trust me this I know but it works. Take a dime, drill a small hole through it close to the edge. Make sure that the edges of the hole are smooth. Take a ribbon, it can be any ribbon, run it through the hole in the dime. Tie this ribbon and dime on your daughter's neck close enough so the ribbon can't twist and tighten and far enough around the neck that it will not choke her. Then just leave it there 24/7 until she cuts her teeth. The silver that the dime is made from helps with the circulation of the blood so that it is less painful on the child. I know that it all sounds absurd and that is what I thought until I had my now 7 year old daughter that was born cutting teeth. I now have a 9 month old son that is going through the torture of cutting teeth. He has one on just like his older sisters did. He has no fever, no snotty nose, and little to no pain. He just cut four teeth together.

Melissa,

Unfortunately there is not a whole heck of a lot that you can do for either of you. Getting 1 or 2 teeth at a time is bad enough but a bunch at once is so much worse. However, I do have a few things that you might have tried but you didn't list:

1. Popscicles/Frozen Juice Bars. The cold helps to numb her mouth and at the same time she gets a "treat." An added bonus: during these hot summer months she gets extra fluids.

2. Ibuprofin. I noticed that you are giving her Tylenol. Have you tried giving her ibuprofin as well. When alternating with the Tylenol you can give it more frequently so that there is less of a period of time in which the meds wear off. The ibuprofin will also help with the swelling in the gums (the tylenol is pain/fever only) which tends to be a major cause of the pain.

Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck!

N.

Both my kids got the teething drops from PCC. They are homeopathic and work like a charm. I know whole foods is carrying some of that stuff to, but depending on where you live you might need to order it online.

http://www.hylands.com/products/teething.php

You will not be sorry you tried it and in the interum I would take pedialyte and make small popsicles so they wouldn't be getting the sugar and I felt better about giving them more than 2-3 a day.
Good Luck!
T.

Hi Melissa
Go to your local health food or herb store and pick up a bottle of Oil Of Clove put some on a Q-tip and gently rub it on the gums. That will stop the pain, Dentists use it in place of other numming agents and you can get it with out a script. I used it with all my children. one coshen do not over use, and it will dedden all the mouth if to much is used. Do not use a finger to apply, that can add germs and the child might just bite down.

Good luck

I agree with the others on the teething tablets. I gave them to my daughter when she was teething and they worked immediately. She would fall to sleep as soon as they dissolved.

That's REALLY hard. My heart goes out to you.

Get some of the teething rings that you can put in the freezer. They are a lifesaver. Then you can alternate between cold ones, as one gets warm, get another out of the freezer.

The other thing that really helped is a homeopathic remedy called "Chamomilla" which are like little sugar pills you put under the tongue. This remedy is especially useful for a cranky baby in pain. Worked wonders with my daughters.

God bless.

l\]I feel your pain. My 9m old cut her first two bottom teeth at exactly the same time so it was a hard week. I have to agree with the previous posters who said to use childrens Ibuprofin (Motrin...but generic works just as well as 1/3 the price). My daughter is cutting her first top tooth right now and a dose of Ibuprofin about 30 min before bedtime helps her settle down and go to sleep. If she wakes after it wears off, about 6 hours later, I just give her another dose and a drink from her sippy and she usually settles down and goes back to sleep. Tylenol doesn't help her at all. We used that for the first couple of days with her first teeth and it was a miserable couple of days. A friend suggested the Ibuprofin and that night she went to sleep in about 20 minutes vs. 2 hours with the tylenol. My Ped said I could start using Ibuprofin at 6m so you should be just fine.

I am so sorry!! There is nothing as bad and heartbreaking as teeth! Have you tried rubbing Benadryl on her gums? It takes the itch away. Put some on your finger, make it a little cold and that might help as well, then rub it all over her gums. Don't worry - you aren't drugging her, it's just topical at this point and should help. It worked for my son. good luck and hang in there! You're doing great!
E.

If I were you, I would try some of the homeopathic helpers out on the market. They help with the restlessness that the tylenol doesn't. There are 2 different ones that we've tried so far..".Camilia" teething which comes in little plastic vials, and Childrens Teething Relief by "Natrabio" Also there is a great natural topical analgesic as well called "Gum-omile Oil" made by Herbs for Kids. You can get all of these items at a Whole Foods market and probably anywhere else that carries homeopathic remedies. Our baby is teething young and only has 1 so far but we found the above stuff to be way more helpful than we expected. We found that we needed to use a bit more than the initial recommended dosage on the 1st 2 tinctures for them to be effective in a shorter amount of time. Both of them recommend that you give a small amount every 15 to 20 minutes until symptoms improve. We found that giving more upfront on the first dose produced better results(we were advised that it's perfectly safe to do this) Hope this helps you.

Have you ever heard of hazelwood necklaces for teething babies? They are an old native american remedy to help with teething pain. The hazelwood apparently has the property of absorbing the body's excess acid. We just discovered them and they have been a miracle for healing our 5 month's old eczema(they help with a variety of ailments from teething, to eczema, to acid reflux; all associated with excess acid production) and helping with our just turned 2 year old's teething (he's gotten like 10 teeth in the last 3 months including 4 molars..he was a late teether) The necklaces are designed to be safe for babies to wear in case that's a concern.The website where you can get them is www.hazelaid.com
Good luck...teething suck:(

Besides the teething tablets which work really well for most babies, try having a glass of ice water standing by with some of the smaller version of teething rings(I had a triangle, square and circle. Keep two rings in the water and switch them out every 10 to 15 minutes during the day.

Oh goodness! Hang in there - I know that it seems horrible and that it will never end - but it will someday! HOPEFULLY soon!

My daughter had 4 teeth that came in at the same time. What really did work for her were Hyland's Teething Tablets (and the Tylenol). I don't know if it is something that is actually in the tablets or just the fact that I told her that they were to make her teeth feel better, but she took them and they worked! She went to sleep (practically immediately) - and when her teeth hurt now (she's getting her 2nd set of molars), she asks for her "teeth medicine".

The first time I found the tablets was at a drugstore (like Walgreens or something). Up here, I can find them in the health food/homeopathic medicine section of our grocery store.

Good luck - and go ahead and cry with her - you'll feel better!

T.

Definatly ibprophin. My kids all loved frozen washcloths. They have a better texture and can get back in the hard to reach places better than teathing rings. They also get water into them when it's comming out of so many places.

First of all, I'm sorry. my son is 15 months old and he is getting 3 molars out. He throws trantrums and hits. bites my 3 year old daughter. There is only one thing I can advise you on, Tylenol did not work for me. The doses are too weak for the pain they are going through. I give my son 1 tsp (5ml) Motrin. It kicks in about 30 mins and it lasts longer. If during the 5/6th hour he is still fussy I give him tylenol or teething tablets. Try this, as I said I do not know if a doctor would recommend Motrin vs tylenol but it has helped me and my son.

Good Luck!

Years ago I found the sure fire cure for teething, go buy some Hylands Teething pills. they are a godsen. Nothing works better and I used everything from a cool wash cloth to whisky on the gums. Hope this helps.

Hi Melissa,

As a mother of four, ranging in age from 5-20, I feel your pain! Been there, done that. The best advice I can share with you is to alternate ibuprofen (Motrin or Advil) with the Tylenol. Your daughter needs an anti-inflammatory, not just a pain reliever because the pain is from her swelling gums. I think if you do this, you will see a huge difference. You keep each going in four hour intervals, but alternate them like this. Tylenol at 8, 12, 4, then 8 again. At the same time you are doing Ibuprofen at 6, 10, 2 and 6 again. This is perfectly safe and will keep the swelling as well as the pain at bay.

Good luck,

D.