Teething
Every baby handles teething differently, but teething is something that every child has to go through and will continue to teething for the first few years of their life.
The following is the general order of the eruption of primary teeth:
Central incisors: 6-12 months of age
Lateral incisors: 9-16 months of age
Canine teeth: 16-23 months of age
First molars: 13-19 months of age
Second molars: 22-24 months of age
The first six to eight teeth tend not to bother most babies too much. A few babies will struggle with teething before they get their incisors or molars, but they are a lot fewer than what you hear about.
Usually, the bottom front teeth come through first, followed by the top front teeth. These first four teeth are the smallest and don’t cause too much discomfort to most babies, and I often describe them like having a blind pimple. It’s irritating, you may want to touch it all the time, and it’s mildly uncomfortable and sore, but generally doesn’t warrant pain relief. The first few teeth are akin to having a blind pimple for most babies. The smallest teeth erupt first to allow your little one to feel and tolerate this change/development. As your baby grows larger teeth will erupt. The first molars come through at about 12 to 14 months, followed by the canines at 16-18 months and the second molars at 18-30 months. Teething can start as early as three months and as late as one year. Many toddlers will continue to teeth until around 2.5-3 years old.
Symptoms
The movement of new teeth in the jawbone and as they push through the gum can cause some discomfort. Most of this discomfort is in the two days preceding the too eruption, although this should stop as soon as the tooth has broken through the gum.
Some babies may have a hard time with the emergence of some or all of their tooth eruptions, whereas others will sail through the experience.
Symptoms of teething include:
• pain
• swollen gums
• red, hot cheeks
• excessive dribbling
• nappy rash
• changes to sleep pattern
• and/or appetite increased tendency to chew objects
• general irritability
Treatment
There are several things that you can try to help relieve the discomfort of teething:
- Infant teething gel containing a mild local anaesthetic dulls the pain.
- A homeopathic remedy such as chamomilla. Remedies specifically for teething are available from pharmacies, supermarkets and health food stores. A qualified homeopath can provide more individualised remedies in stronger potencies if required.
- A chilled teething ring may distract the child whilst helping to soothe their sore gums.
- Chewing on a cool damp face washer.
- Eating soft cool foods like yogurt, avocado, cool mashed bananas, mango or other fruit
- Chewing on hard biscuits, frozen bananas or chilled raw carrot can help but should be given under careful supervision (in case a large piece breaks off in the mouth).
- Appling a little pawpaw ointment or aqueous cream around the mouth and chin can help prevent soreness from excessive dribbling. If your little one is an excessive dribbler, try to wipe your baby’s face often with a clean, soft cotton or bamboo cloth to remove the dribble and prevent rashes from developing.
- Use infant liquid paracetamol if and when required.
A common question I get asked is, should I wait until after my baby stops teething before starting sleep training. My answer to this is always that we are not sleep training. When using the Lullababy program, we are not technically sleeping training your baby. Rather, we’re teaching them positive sleep and routine associations and helping them become more independent in their sleep and settling. In answer to the question, should you put it off? No, I don’t think that you should put off teaching your baby how to sleep while teething or going through a developmental leap
The thing is, your baby is always going to be doing something new, they are going to be teething, for most of the next two years. If you keep putting off something that is a skill that will benefit them while teething, then you will just keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. I have found babies on my program tend to teeth better and go through developmental leaps smoother once they are sleeping better. So don’t put off sleep teaching until they are over teething. If you realise that your baby is teething after starting my program, I recommend that you manage teething the same way you would any other time. Use teething gel for pain relief if needed, cool fruits, cool things to chew on and all the usual things that help comfort your baby while they’re teething.
How did your baby go with their sleep while teething?
