Five Ways to Ease Teething Gums

When babies are cutting teeth, it can mean no sleep, and a lot of frustration for everyone involved. Babies who are cutting teeth are often irritable and cry a lot. They are in a great deal of pain in some cases. The following are five tips to help your baby through teething, and to make it easier for you.

Tip one: Know the signs of teething. Many of the signs of teething can also be signs of other problems, such as flu or cold, so knowing that it is teething, not just a cold, will help you be able to proactively manage your child’s pain. If you think they have a cold, you may not take the steps they need for relief.

Tip two: Cold beverages and foods can help them manage the pain as well as give them some of the nutrition they need. Often when babies are teething, they do not want to eat, or only eat sporadically because their mouth hurts. A good way to get them the nutrients they need, the fluids they need, and help with pain relief is to give them cold beverages, and chilled foods. Try giving your baby a bottle with ice water in it. In some cases they will not want to drink it because the sucking hurts, so move it to a cup, minus the ice cubes, and try again. Or, try chilled foods. Often babies want their food warmed up, but when teething, chilled applesauce, chilled fruits, chilled yogurt, etc. is really appealing to them. The cold helps to minimize the inflammation, and therefore provide some degree of relief.

Tip three: Pressure on the gums can help. When your baby is teething, they have razor sharp little teeth cutting through their gums. This creates a great deal of pressure on the gums, and can cause them to ache, or be outright painful. Putting some pressure on your baby’s gums can offer relief. The counter pressure of your finger rubbing the gums, helps the pressure of the teeth pushing through subside. Many people think that rubbing the gums will help the teeth poke through faster, this is not the case, but the counter pressure does provide pain relief so it is worth it.

Tip four: Chilled teething toys can help. There are all sorts of teething toys out there. The combination of cold and pressure, however, is often the most successful form of pain relief for baby. So, offer your child chilled teething toys, or make your own by putting an ice cube in a washcloth and securing it with a rubber band. Having something to chew on that is cold will give them some relief, and hopefully enough that they can rest, or will want to eat, or at the least not be as irritable.

Tip five: Pain medication. Often the pain for a baby who is teething is high enough that they are not sleeping, and cry all day. So, when none of the other methods offer relief, talk to your doctor about the appropriate dosage of an acetaminophen for your child. This will reduce fever, and cut through the pain so your baby can get some rest.