Teething - Stage 1

Little C has official cut his two bottom teeth. Some parents say that they hardly even noticed when their child was teething, for us this was partly true. His first tooth came and we wouldn't have even noticed if he hadn't caught me off guard and got my hand in his mouth. He was fussy but we thought it was just him getting bored with his toys. During the second tooth he was a bit my fussy then before but now that we knew why he was fussy we were prepared. My theory is not to give meds until I have no other option, my husbands is if he is in pain give it too him. We tried the teething gel and both me and the baby hate it. It gets very sticky on my figures after it hits his drool and he just screams. You would think the yummy flavor would make him enjoy it... nope. Yes, I did taste it as I wanted to know if it was sweet or not.

Little C loves the teething tablets and once I put them under his tongue he will stop crying. I believe from the way he acts that they work faster than the gel as well because once he had them he didn't fuss again for a while.

There are times when he is is a lot of pain and I want to give him a little more then the tablets. He second tooth wouldn't get through the gums for the first 2 days and they were sore and red. Times like that is when I gave him the Baby ibuprofen to get the swelling to go down. I love giving it to him at night, it helps relieve the pain enough to get him to sleep and then help him sleep for a little while.  He is very good about taking it so I have no tips on how to give it to a child that doesn't want it, my kid is just that good. ;)

Once the tooth was through I only had to use the tablets to relieve a little of the pain. Through The teething process I have only given him tablets at most two times a day (max is 4) and Ibuprofen a max of two times as well. I am sure when we get to the molars I will be hitting my max limit on the tablets. I hear those are brutal.

We have bought a few different things for teething to help before the meds come out and some have worked and others have not. One things that he loves is his teething ball. I got it on amazon for $5, which is a great price apposed to some other things we have gotten. It is a soft plastic that has numbs coming out on all sides. It is easy for him to hold himself and direct to the area he would like to chew with. when he is crying I like to squeak it in his face and the noise and the air makes him calm down and notice that it is there for him to play with. I will add that if you have dogs you should keep this up as it is just like a dog toy. My dogs never chew on anything but their toys as they are very well trained. This toy however confused them and they thought it was theirs and tore it up. Little C and I loved it so much that I did get another one, well worth even $10 dollars.

Another toy that he likes for teething is his toofeze. It has a thick soft plastic handle and a metal circle piece. Little C likes to chew on both parts, dipping the metal part in ice water is an extra bonus that I rarely do as he doesn't want me to keep taking it from him. This was a $19 dollar purchase on Amazon and I do like it but I would feel now after using it I would have only spent $15 on it max.

One thing he loves is his shoes (Flip Flops, no it is not a teething toy), it is very easy for him to hold and gives him a new thing to chew on.

I like to keep a little pile of the toys he likes next to me when I hold him, he often gets excited and flings his arms and his toys go flying. They are often across the room and its not a quick bend over and pick it up thing. It is such a pain to get up and down to get his things while holding him.

C also loves to simply chew on a wet baby rag. I would say it is maybe one of his favorite things. Some people freeze their rags but I think it gets too cold for him and he does fine without it being frozen. It works on multiple levels with him being hot from summer, being bored and wanting something to chew on.

Ours are from target :)

One purchase that I go back and forth on it being a good purchase is the Munchkin Food Feeder. Putting ice chips in the mesh (as they suggest) didn't work for us. It melted to quickly and the straight ice made his moth too cold and he was extremely upset after. I have put some gold grapes in it and he really like that but isn't coordinated enough yet to fully love it. He has a hard time holding on to the handle and keeping it in his mouth. I am sure that in a couple of month I will love this purchase but at 6 months its not my favorite. ALSO this is the one thing that you SHOULD NOT buy on amazon it is a $1.50 (or so) more on amazon than at target.

My worst purchase is the standard freezable rings that everyone has. Now I didn't buy them myself but I have tried to use them multiple times. He hates them not frozen and frozen. I thing a little softer plastic may work better but again my son just hate these all together.

We also purchased a mouth gaurd as my husband calls it, Tommee Tippee Stage 1 Chewther. Little C did not like this after it made him gag and throw up. NOT WORTH IT.