Most milestones for babies are happy and exciting ones:
first smiles and laughs, grabbing toys, and going mobile,
making parents beam with pride and joy!
Teething, on the other hand…?
We’ll just call that milestone a “necessary evil”.
While some babies breeze through teething practically unbothered, for most it’s simply no fun.
Most babies begin teething between 4-6 months, but signs of teething can appear as early as 3 months and as late as 12 months.
The order of teeth appearance can vary but typically follow a pattern.
Once you are sure your baby is teething, you can manage their pain better.
7 Teething Signs & Symptoms to Watch For in your Infant
1. Appearance of Teeth
The best way to figure out if your baby is teething is actually poke around in their mouth. What you are feeling for is a bit of a “ridge” along their gum line where teeth will eventually erupt, a clear sign of teething.Generally, the baby teeth order is that the lower bottom front teeth are the first to come in, followed by the two top front teeth. If your baby tolerates it, give their gums a gentle massage while you have your finger in their mouth. The counter-pressure helps relieve teething pain for a lot of babies – which is why they like to chew on things!
2. Excessive Drooling
One of the most visible baby teething symptoms is excess saliva. While it can be a bit messy, the excessive drooling that comes with teething does serve a purpose. Saliva contains antibodies that protect baby’s vulnerable gums from germs on the many objects around the house that will inevitably end up in his mouth. Diligently wiping the excess drool will prevent facial rashes, which some parents report when their child is teething.Tip: Instead of changing your baby’s onesie every hour, keep a cute drool bib on them.
3. Fussiness & Irritability
An unfortunate sign of teething is that most babies are just downright cranky. This can mean your baby is fussy, crying, irritable, and not eating as much.Try breastfeeding, snuggling or reading, or even distracting them with a trip to the park. If they are clearly in pain, provide a natural teething remedy solution like a teething toy. Chill a teething toy in the refrigerator to temporarily provide significant relief to the infant’s teething symptoms and signs.
4. Trouble Sleeping
As a tooth moves through the bone and gum in stages, it can be very irritating to your little one. At night, there isn’t much distracting him – just the pain in his mouth! – and you may experience a few sleepless nights as a result. While this is one of the hardest signs and symptoms of teething, know that it will not last forever.
5. Teething Cough
Another sign and symptom of teething is a cough, caused by the harmless drainage of all the excess saliva down the back of baby’s throat.While it may seem that your baby has an endless fountain of drool down the front of her mouth, plenty still drips down her throat – especially at night.
A cough is your baby trying to clear it out and is nothing to be concerned about unless they develop additional symptoms, such as a runny nose and fever, which could indicate a virus.
6. Putting Things in Mouth and Chewing
Chewing, chomping, gnawing, mouthing… whatever you want to call it, it is an instinctual response that babies have when they are teething. They will put anything in their mouth they can find to apply pressure to their gums to alleviate pain and, unknowingly, helping the tooth break through the gum.Keep your baby healthy with natural teething relief solutions, by having clean, safe teething toys on hand. Experts recommend staying away from plastic and liquid filled products. You may have to experiment with different shapes and materials to find a few that they prefer.
7. Pain
There is definitely a bit of discomfort when your baby is teething, and every baby will handle that teething pain differently. While some parents choose to use medication to relieve teething pain, others try to soothe teething symtpoms naturally. Nerve pathways in their gums, ears, and cheeks connect the teething aches and pains; so many babies will tug at their cheeks and ears.Having cold items that are safe for your baby to chew on is great to address their teething pain and distract them at the same time. Each baby is different and will respond better to some teething remedies than others. Baltic Amber has teething relief benefits from the healing Succinic Acid, and Baltic Amber teething necklaces have historically shown to be a favorite teething relief solution.
Many parents say that trial and error was the best way for them to learn how to remedy the symptoms of teething, and only you know what’s best for helping your baby through this difficult milestone!
3 Symptoms That Are NOT Caused By Teething
Though there are many side effects and symptoms related to teething, some symptoms are mistakenly attributed to teething when they are usually a sign of a virus or more serious illness.Parents are urged to monitor a teething baby closely if they have these symptoms, treat the symptoms separately from teething, and have your doctor rule out another illness.
These symptoms are NOT caused by teething:
These symptoms usually result from your baby ingesting bacteria on the objects they are putting in their mouth. To protect from getting sick, make sure that you have teething toys and teething necklaces readily available and wash them every night. Choose items that can be put in the dishwasher and sanitized under high heat. Though it is difficult, try to be vigilant about what your baby puts in their mouth and always wash your hands as well as theirs.
Soothe Away Teething Symptoms Naturally
Remember that teething won’t last forever, and with new teeth come new and fun foods to begin trying! Soon your baby will have a full set of teeth in her mouth, and the sleepless nights and buckets of drool will be a thing of the past.Kute Keiki can help you soothe away teething symptoms with our array of teething relief solutions.
Published from the Blog of Kute Keiki
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