Teething - what to do?

M

mummybee

Registered User
My baby (7 mths soon) who used to sleep fine when I put her down at 8.30pm has now started to wake up in 40mins intervals screaming in pain and gnawing on her knuckles. She has sprouted two bottom teeth 2 weeks ago. I ahve to nurse her to settle her each time she wakes, and with 5-6 wakings per night, I am totally sleep deprived and cranky to say the least.

Wonder if anyone out there who has gone through teething pain with their babies could give me suggestions as to (1) relieve pain and (2) make her wake up less at night. I am using Bonjela and Brauer's teething relief (homeopathic remedy). She absolutely hates Bonjela which is perfectly understandable as it stings and I have been told calgel is better as it doesn't sting. anyone using calgel and know where i can get it from? Bumps and babes run out of it. Also, both remedies i use provide temporary relief only. anything that lasts the whole night? I tried giving her infant panadol but she hates the taste so much she vomits every time i give it to her.

i am desperate and absolutely at my wit's end....
 
Hi mummybee,

My 7 month old has also been teething for weeks now but still no teeth. I am fortunate that it does not bother him during the day, only night time.

I do use sugar free calgel - it has an instant effect if the pain is not too great. However it does numb the gum area so it may affect baby's ability to nurse afterwards, although my son has no problem with this. At most we have not needed to apply the gel more than twice per night.

For the really painful, loud, teary cries we use calpol which takes a little longer for him to stop crying but allows him to sleep longer. We've only ever used one dose a night and try not to use this too often 'cause not sure about any effects of long term usage.

Both are available at bumps to babes.
Hope both our babies teeth come through quickly!
 
Hi mummybee,

I've just seen your message on the other thread.

Ideally I would like not to pick him up, but in reality I always end up doing so since he can never settle himself back to sleep.
If he is just fussing and not in great pain, I will wait a few mins before picking up and try to rock him back to sleep. If he continues to cry, I'll apply calgel.
If he wakes suddenly with the loud piercing cry, I pick him up immediately and if he doesn't calm down, I will give him calpol.

There are different views on whether you can spoil a baby, but you just have to do what you are comfortable with. However I do find if I pick him up and/or apply calgel/calpol, everyone gets back to sleep sooner.
 
When my son was teething we would put the teething ring (water filled type) in the freezer/fridge and then let him gnaw at it to numb the pain, I have also heard of moms using ice chips. If that did not soothe him, then I apply some orajel, which thankfully was not often. Hope this helps.
 
Teething is very hard on baby and on mommy. While teething rings are very helpful as is any other safe, hard chewing object, the best way to relieve baby's pain is with an infant pain reliever. I use infant tylenol from Canada(do not give baby's aspirin or adult medications) , but I'm sure you can buy infant panadol or get a prescription from your doctor for paracetamol. It's the same stuff they give you for baby's if they have pain or fever after a vaccination shot. Make sure to follow instructions carefully.

My baby nursed more when she was teething and I think that the sucking can help (for other babies it makes them feel worse). After the tooth came through she went right back to normal feeding times, so I don't think it hurts to give a little extra comfort. They say that adults would not be able to stand the pain if we had to go through teething.

HKfornow recommend freezing a water teether, but they just recalled the water filled teethers in Canada because the water inside can have bacteria that your baby could swallow if it breaks. We had one and I stopped using it once I heard about that. It's better not to use them just in case.
 
Hi mummybee. I find Calpol helps take the edge off the pain. Maybe you couold give your baby a dose just before 8.30pm and that might see you through a little longer.
 
For teething pain, I would highly recommend Camilia, a wonderful homeopathic medicine for 1 to 30 months old children. I got them in Canada, but I saw them being sold in the natural food shop at the top of Wellington Street in Central (sorry, forgot the name of the shop) and the big shop opposite "Great"(?! I am not a shop name person) on the basement of Lane Crawford in Times Sqaure, Causeway Bay. They comes in little 1ml tubes. Whenever my baby has bad teeting trouble, I would twist open a tube and he would gladly suck the tube's contents and smile again in relief, almost immediately.:banana:
 
Hi,
I also agree with chamomila (same with camilia that hunhun said?),
my daughter took some homeopathic remedies when she'd gotten teething, but we are helped by professional homeopathic doctor finally, she will prescribe some remedies for her teething, she had several compliments together with teething, I noticed she improved her health too when all her health problems has gone.
You may buy teething tablets from pharmacy,
in Health Quest (Times Square) or
consult Homeopathic doctor Dr Rupal at IMI
Hope it helps you
Histamin
 
Thanks, everybody! BBC, I have gotten the calgel equivalent (Bumps to Bebes run out of it) called Dentiton from Mannings. My baby prefers it much more to Bonjela - you are right, it is more gentle on the gums and not sting.

I have also bought Calpol. I am a tad worried about Calpol as it is not colour-free and my baby is allergic to certain additives. I simply don;'t understand why artificial colours are added to infant medication...not that they will see the pretty pink colour and open their mouth more readily! I bought another paracetamol-based medication called Disprol. These are soluble tabs with lime flavour. All all the paracetamol medication, I find Disprol easiest to take, and infant panadol having the foulest taste, even to me. No wonder my baby vomits each and every time I give her infant panadol.

Thanks, hunhun and histamin for chamomila. I realise it has more or less the same active ingredients as the Brauer's Teething Relief I am giving to my baby. Brauer's Teething Relief works nicely, though admittedly the relief wears off 1-2 hrs later. Incidentally, Health Quest on Wellington St has closed down. They only have the store in Times Square in case anyone reading this thread is interested in buying it. I have also tried Teetha, sold in Bumps to Babes but find it quite useless.

I do think I am getting with this teething business as the weeks go by. Last night I discovered a GREAT way to soothe my baby. Instead of cuddling her, I put her on my shoulder and rub her back. She is settled immediately and more importantly, falls asleep within 5 minutes, no kidding, and allows me to put her back down in her cot.

HKgirl, thanks heaps for assuring it is ok to "spoil" her. She is a much happier camper now that I am giving her the extra cuddles. I may be imagining things but she might have become "separation anxious" when we did the cry-it-out business last week. Totally paranoid when we put her down in her cot, previously her favourite place to be, and never wanted to leave my side during the day.

thanks again for all your advice. Crossing our fingers that her teething pain will pass very very soon..
 
Mummybee, glad your baby is a little more settled. I remember those sleepless nights with my first child and am about to go through it all again with #2! So deepest sympathies. But I wonder whether it has occurred to you that the night wakings might not be related to teething pain after all, or at least may be a combination of teething with other factors?

Very few doctors believe that teething actually causes pain for babies. I have to say that none of my daughter's episodes of fussiness have seemed to conicide with teeth appearing. I think a lot of parents want to blame a multitude of ailments on teething because they can't find any other explanation for those ailments. At the age of 7 months there are other suspects: indigestion or intolerance of new foods being one possibility. Needing more calories in the night due to increasing calorie needs not being met in the daytime is another suspect, especially if milk feeds have been replaced by solids which are lower in calories. There is also the theory that babies are more unsettled when they are going through a developmental "leap", and this accords with my own experience.

Separation anxiety is also usually increasing at this age, and it sounds like you're doing the "right thing" by providing extra reassurance, which will hopefully calm her down eventually.
 
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Hi JennyB,

I did initially think sth other than teething causes her to wake at night. But her loud screams followed by gnawing on her knuckles led me to believe teething is more likely the reason. My personal view is that different babies react differently to teething. Some, like yours, go through teething with no drama whilst others (mine and others in this forum) are obviously affected. Whatever the reason, my wish is that it goes away soon as my eyes are becoming panda-like due to lack of sleep.
 
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