Baby is Teething. Mommy is tired and cranky.

Cranky Teether

My brain is so fried right now it will be a miracle if I can write a coherent post today.  I have not felt this sleep-deprived or sapped of my energy since Monkey was a newborn.   Around 5 months, her bottom front teeth started coming in.  She was cranky and she drooled a lot.  It was a nightmare trying to get her to eat or sleep.  But the teeth came in, and then she was fine again.  She’s up to 8 teeth now and every new tooth was easier on her than the last.  By the eighth, she was barely showing any signs of teething.

That was before the molars started coming in…

Molars.  Another precious gem no one tells you about when you’re having a baby.  Why aren’t babies just born with teeth?  Okay, okay, that might make it less appealing to breastfeed.  But I can’t help feeling sorry for my little Monkey.  Molars aren’t pointy at all so they just slowly break through the surface of the gums by force, flat and thick as they are.  My husband is one of the few people I know who actually had room in his mouth for his wisdom teeth and describes the pain of those teeth coming through as chewing on broken glass for a week.  I hope it’s not as bad as that.  But I can’t help but think that it is.

Here are some signs that your baby might be teething.  Loss of Appetite (who wants to chew when your gums hurt?), Major Increase in Drooling (which in turn causes rash around mouth, coughing, and watery stools), Inability to Sleep (And they will SCREAM bloody murder at you when you try to leave the room!), Clinginess (not sure if that’s a word, but my usually independent Monkey needs to be held and hugged constantly), Biting (it feels good, they are not acting out), Low-grade Fever (this one is debated-I say they are just all hot and bothered!), Ear-Pulling, and more.  Also the immune system is lower so they are more apt to pick up common colds and viruses.  Just what they needed, right?

Monkey has pretty much all of them right now and I can’t wait until she is back to her happy little self.  Yes, it is hard going on less sleep and putting up with her crankiness and neediness all day.  But I can deal with that.  What I can’t take much more of is seeing her in all this pain.  There are some things you can do to help ease the pain, but it won’t go away until the tooth breaks the surface.  Once it does, everything is better IMMEDIATELY…like magic! Until then, you may want to try…

Baby Motrin and Baby Tylenol (we don’t like using medicine all the time because it isn’t the best for little stomachs and livers and seems to lose it’s effectiveness if used too often) We try to wait until night when it is the worst. Motrin is great because it lasts 8 hours as Tylenol only lasts 4.  And you wouldn’t believe it, but like clockwork, 8 hours after we give Monkey her Motrin and put her to bed, she wakes up on cue, screaming in pain.  Frozen Teethers. Monkey has been rejecting hers lately, but it worked well for her other teeth.  I have also heard frozen waffles are great because they can snack on them when thawed and the big pockets catch all the drool.  I will have to try it!  Baby Orajel We actually have not tried this yet, but I am off to the store in the morning to pick some up along with some Hylands Teething Tablets.  I will let you know how these work.  I have friends that swear by them! Cold, Soft Foods Don’t try to forcefeed your baby when their teeth hurt.  Try to offer applesauce, yogurt, cold pasta, pretty much anything cold and mushy.

Other than that just lots of hugs and patience.  Try to sleep when they sleep.  Now I need to start taking my own advice and hit the sack.  Praying these teeth come out soon so my little one doesn’t have to suffer much longer.

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