7 Signs your baby is teething & 7 ways to help soothe your teething baby || Ethan & Neve
There is no way to sugarcoat this. Your baby will get teeth and the likelihood is that for the best part of what seems like forever you and your baby will go through some tough times. It's distressing for the parents and painful for your baby. You may be lucky and have a baby that is not affected but, just in case that doesn't happen, here is an easy list that highlights 7 signs of teething to look out for and offers 7 easy and affordable ways to help to soothe your teething baby.
When does teething happen?
Teething typically starts between 6-12 months although babies can be born with a tooth, My auntie was! The first teeth to emerge are the bottom two at the front then the top two above a few months after that. The chart below shows which order you should typically expect the teeth to grow.
By the age of 3, most children will have a full set of 20 teeth, however like most growth milestones teething can happen at different times for different individuals, Ethan my son had only one bottom tooth until he was about 14 months old.
How do I know if my baby is teething?
Teething presents itself in many ways, some babies will suffer from a lot of symptoms and some will sail through the teething phase unaffected. It doesn’t seem fair, but it's just the way it is, unfortunately. What you can be sure of is that your baby will get teeth at some point so here are seven helpful signs your baby is teething to look out for.
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Excessive drooling - A common sign of teething is excessive drooling. This can start as early as 10 weeks of age and will continue throughout the teething phase and can quite often result in the need for many changes of clothes. Drooling from teething can also cause a rash around the mouth, chin and neck.
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Crying and irritability - Babies will often become irritable and may cry more often or become easily agitated. Even the happiest of babies. Usually, this will be in the weeks before a tooth will appear, but also expect a lot of crankiness as the tooth bud pops through.
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Biting - A teething baby will have an increased interest in biting anything and everything. Teeth that are close to erupting can cause pressure on a baby's gums and babies will instinctively look for something to bite down on to relieve the pressure.
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Disruptive sleep - The likelihood is that your baby's sleep will be affected during the teething phase which can cause a lot of stress for you and your baby. Your baby is going through a substantial growth period and maybe in quite a lot of pain. The main impact will be the inability to stay asleep or fall asleep which results in a tired and cranky baby (see point 2).
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Loss of appetite - A sure sign your baby is teething is a significant change in your baby's appetite. They are probably eating less and maybe even refusing food. If teething is impacting your baby’s ability to eat you may want to try offering chilled soft foods like cucumber or watermelon, yoghurt or smoothie with banana and blended oats. It's also important to make sure your baby is kept hydrated whilst teething (due to the excess drool) too.
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Red flushed cheeks Not too much to say on this really as it’s visibly obvious. A teething baby will have a small area on the cheeks usually along the top gum line that will appear to be red and flushed.
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Rubbing of ear -You may notice that your baby is pulling at their ears or rubbing their ears as those teeth start to emerge. Nerves in the ears and cheek share the same pathway as the gums and pain from a new tooth emerging may show itself in this area.
How do I deal with this teething phase and how can I soothe my teething baby?
Good news, there are lots of great products that you can use to help you through the teething phase, I've listed a few of the best ones below. These are all tried and tested and seem to have worked well when my two little ones were teething.
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Silicone Teethers - These are brilliant, the soft and durable silicone will help to massage those sore gums and can easily be cleaned. Here are some of our bestsellers.
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Massage - Gently massage your baby's gums with a clean finger, be prepared for some resistance to this one though!
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Sugar-free pain relief - A paracetamol or ibuprofen pain relief can be given but please refer to the medicine guidance for full details of the dose and how to use it.
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Cold muslin - Run a muslin under the tap and place it in the fridge to chill. Your baby will love to chew and suck on this to help ease the pain.
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Teething necklace - Grab a teething necklace for you to wear, guaranteed your baby will love to grab and chew on this. The best part about this is you get to choose something that you like and there are some lovely ones out there now that you wouldn't guess are teethers. This is my current favourite.
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Soft silicone spoon - A silicone spoon is great for your baby to bite down on and the soft silicone won’t hurt those sore gums. Why not add some chilled yoghurt on too.
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Wooden teether - Your baby will love to bite down on a wooden teether and the wood will help the tooth bud to pop through. These wooden teething rings are made from naturally antibacterial wood so won’t cause any nasties to get into your baby's mouth.
In conclusion, teething is one of the first milestones you will endure as a parent and it can be a tough one. It is, however, a phase and it will pass. The best thing you can do is what you are doing, seek out helpful information, find tips on how to cope and be prepared. Stock up on items suggested before your baby starts to teeth so when those flushed cheeks present themselves and your baby is particularly cranky you have products to hand and can offer comfort and support. You may also want to go back to basics and offer a skin on skin cuddle like when they were newborn but keep this one in the bag until you need it in the middle of the night.
Good luck x