Straight From the Bottle

Frozen bagels have always worked for my kiddo, especially when those sons of bitch molars were coming in.

Have you tried frozen grapes in one of those mesh food bags?  

the only thing that is working for us over here (Myer is 7 months old and has EIGHT teeth already) is little wet washcloths in the freezer.  LOTS OF THEM.  Take one out, let her chew on it until it's room temperature, re-soak it, and stick it back in the freezer.  

Myer is still so small, it's the only thing he can really hold and control well enough to chew/suck on.  

I stopped breastfeeding because of the blood in the bra situation.  And I am an AVID supporter of breastfeeding.  When it comes down to it, though, I'd rather submit to formula than have no nipples.  Ha.  Weep.

This will probably get a giggle...

I take Austin's socks that he's outgrown, boil them, then dip them in chamomile tea then freeze them.

He really likes it and I think the chamomile helps to calm him.  But at night, that's a different story...  still not sure what to do there!  

You are going to be skeptical of this, but I PROMISE it is making a huge difference with my daughter (7 months) who is getting her third tooth right now.  She screamed and screamed for the first two (a little over a month ago), and before the third started coming in, we got her an amber teething necklace:

hyenacart.com/inspiredbyfinn

I just put it on her when we received it two weeks ago and all of a sudden yesterday realized she has a tooth poking through, but she's her usual happy self!  

oh, man!  i feel your pain, except in the boob area.  zoe had 3 teeth at 5months and i nursed until she was almost 9 months.  yikes!  i use the same stuff your friend recommended (which by the way contains belladonna, so don't use too much!) tylenol for infants was also our friend, but some people don't like using tylenol.  zoe hated holding 'cold' things, so handing her a cold washcloth was out...  she's got 10 teeth with two molars poking in right now and i must say that teething has been the worst part.  good luck.  try to rest.  mike and i fight too, when i'm tired.  and fighting is draining....

I have no advice, teething was a nightmare for me too. When my guy's two bottom teeth were erupting, at about 7 months, he chomped down so hard on my nipple that he actually bit a tiny piece off. Now, my right nipple looks like the tip of a new tube of lipstick.

How do the bagels work? I would love love love to give one to my babes to gnaw on but I am super paranoid due to the gigantic choke-worthy pieces they both chewed right off of the teething biscuits I tried. They have only 4 teeth each but they want to chew! They eat tons of other food but I've been afraid to give anything but the teeniest little dice.  Thanks for your help!

The only suggestion I have to add is that the mesh feeders are helping my little ones. I put in frozen peaches/melon and let them at it. I also stick the teething crackers inside the mesh and they like that for awhile as well. I also put a few ounces of water in a bottle, turn it upside down in the freezer so the nipple gets frozen and let them suck on those when they get impossible. Good luck!

Hyland's Teething Tablets also are miracle pills. I don't know how or why they work, but they do.

i will agree with the commenter who said wet washcloths in the freezer.

WHISKEY... for yourself, not for Fable. Unless you are REALLlllllyyyy old-school.

Are baby girls eyes turning brown like her big bros??

Nina was on the motrin and I made her teething cookies. Here's the recipe:

1 ½ Cups unbleached flour

½ Cup whole wheat flour

½ Cup of maple syrup

3 Tablespoons applesauce

Heat oven to 300. Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and stir until dough begins to hold together. Dust counter with flour, then transfer contents of bowl to counter. Knead lightly until the dough is smooth. (If the dough is difficult to handle, dust with a little more flour.) Roll out with a rolling pin until 1/3 inch thick. Cut into biscuits using an inverted cup and a clean soda-bottle cap (or your thumb) for the hole, or use a doughnut cutter. Transfer biscuits to a greased cookie sheet. Bake until barely browned, about 35 minutes. Let cool completely on a cookie sheet. They’re ready to eat now (under supervision, of course) They’ll harden slightly more if you leave them out overnight. Store for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container.

Is it Humphrey's 3 she's on? Nina will take those too and my mother gave them to me when I was a baby also.

Give her a child-sized toothbrush to chew on...always supervised, of course!

My friend threw in a couple bottles of Hyland's Teething Tablets with her gift to Jack during my baby shower. She said her family had been using them for all the teething babes and they swore by them. They do indeed work like a charm and saved my ass from the brinks of insanity many a night.

I also agree on the frozen washcloth and frozen bagel options.

I 3rd, or 4th (maybe 5th?) the washcloth in freezer idea. (Have a 4 month old, that has started the lovely teething process, luckily she's not into biting me yet) We like to fold the cloths into long rectangles, she can get them in her mouth easier and it makes them a little thicker to chew on.

I also recommend the amber teething necklace someone else mentioned. Sounds incredibly hokey, but I think it has definitely helped.

baby biting boobage = i SO SYMPATHIZE.  fuck baby teeth.  fuck them right in their goddamn face.

my poppymonster is in the midst of teething hell also.  top coping methods that seem to (at least sometimes) work:

stick your finger into a bottle nipple and let her chew on it!  p seems to love how is squeaks on her gums, and the nipple will protect your finger from those pesky chompers.

again, the frozen washcloth.  you can totally soak it in chamomile tea, also you can add some bach's rescue remedy or camilla drops before you freeze it.

as a couple people have mentioned, the amber teething necklace - biscuit wears one and although it's hard to tell if it really does much, it sure looks darn cute!

and, when we are all so miserable no one can stand it anymore, good ol' trusty babycrack (tylenol).  i try to keep it to a few times a week at most, but it clearly works - goo practically slurps it out of the dropper and then gets all blissed out for like several hours.  if you don't want to give her a real dose, i've even heard it works topically - you can just rub a couple drops onto her gums.

good luck, darlin!  i hope things get better for ya soon.  and good luck to all those other mamas with teethin' kiddos out there!

I second the "child sized toothbrush", preferably the nubby kind as opposed to the bristle-y kind.  The bumpkin took his to the sitter's house today as he would not put it down after tooth-brushing last night or this morning.  

I have not tried Hylands, but have tried Gentle Natural's Teething Drops - they appear to have a similar list to Hyland's but no belladonna in them.  I'm not sure if its Momma-placebo or what, but they seem to calm him down.  Significantly.  Which is good, as he waited til he was 8 1/2 months to get his first tooth...and now we have the upper middle two AND the upper eyeteeth (excuse me, but WTF?  Eyeteeth?  At his age?  Are you kidding me?) all attempting to crowd in on the picture at once.  UGH.

Frozen mango pieces in the mesh is the favorite at our house right now.  

And I'm thanking my stars that he is not a biter.  

i have a remedy, but its not for everyone.  when my husband was little his mom inherited a teething dime that was blessed by a gypsy woman.  

so all you have to do is get a dime, find a gypsy woman, convince her your not crazy, get her to bless the dime, punch a hole in it, throw some twine on it, and volia!  

teething solved!

if you don't have that, i would recommend the teething tablets and/or motrin and/or orajel and/or rubbing lavender oil on the gums.

hylands teething tabs or arnica tabs.  3 in the  mouth....works every time.

Frozen Waffles!  They worked wonders...both my kids loved them.  They are cold and soothing, hrad but edible and thoses little square pockets catch drool like a charm!! LOL!!

you are not just imagining that the Hyland's stuff works.  I tried everything with my crazy teething baby, and Highland's tablets were the only thing that helped her sleep.  

Good luck!  I just did the happy dance because my daughter's last baby tooth came in last month.  We'll hopefully get a few months off before the next one starts teething!!

The best teething tool i've found for kids is the banana brush www.amazon.com/.../B0010LR812  

be prepared for the insane amount of drool that it creates though.

also if your going to use children's tylenol or motrin/advil  Which I highly recommend especially at night, the best way to do it is to alternate which ones you use to prevent over dosing.  they say you can give them the recommended dose every 6 hours i believe but what you should do is give them the recommended dose of tylenol first and then 6 hours later the recommended dose of motrin and then 6 hours later start the cycle over if the pain continues.  www.babycenter.com/404_whats-the-difference-between-acetaminophen-and-ibuprofen_12376.bc    

And just incase you didn't know tylenol is acetaminophen and motrin and advil are both ibuprofen.

goodluck

Frozen Waffles.  They're cold, soft, chewy AND they come with built-in drool catchers!

1.) Hylands Teething Tablets

2.) Baby Tylenol

3.) LOTS of nursing and cuddling (I was completely AAAHHH-get-him-OFF after a few days of this)

4.) This brillant device (I found it at the drugstore): www.onestepahead.com/.../160.html

There's Hyland's Teething Tablets that you can try-can be bought at any natural food store.  Also, it's good to keep nursing because breastmilk is a natural pain reliever.  Breastfeeding does help everyone get through these tough teething and sleeping times.  I rather my babe sleep with me so I can get a good night's sleep than be a grouch and lousy parent and spouse.  Just my two cents. =)

Michael doesn't like chewing on frozen things, so I would give him a pacifier to chew on.  I still do because his second set of molars still haven't come in yet.  At night it was all about the Tylenol.

Oh god, my little guy is going through this too. Tylenol is awesome, but I'm interested in trying teething tablets. What sometimes works for us, especially if he's really tired, is giving him a frozen pacifier. Squeeze all the air out of the nipple under water and kind of suck the water in when you release the nipple. Freeze them nipple down and voila. Careful though, they can get drippy, and that water is COLD.

Stop breast feeding! She just smells you. I use to soak up towels of formula or regualar milk and place them in my bra or just over my boobs so my son couldn't smell the breast milk! Just stop already. Give her a bottle or sippy cup to suck on. And yes, homeopathic remedies rock! Hyland teething tablets have what you mentioned. And for sleep, a few drops of Rescue Remedy found wherever you found the homeopathic remedy should help. A few drops under her tongue and in her bath, yes her bath before bed should do the trick. Good Luck!

Advil/Motrin.

Frozen baguette chunks (bagels would work, too.)

(Frozen washcloths gives me the willies just to think of that squeak, and Rowan hated them.)

And when she bites? BOP HER ON THE NOSE. She'll cry, but she'll learn. I made it to 17 months. (Not bragging, just a fact.)

Good luck! I am dealing with 2 year molars now. They also suck big donkey.

The Hylands teething tablets also have that belladonna in them. I think that's why they work (or seem to work for others-not us!) so well. Teething is hard, and nothing really works for us, not even Motrin. I just have to stick it out (like the last few days) until it finally pops through. But I have heard really good things about the amber teething necklance, I would try it!

what?? nobody wrote any advice?? i'm just starting to deal with this and I totally agree I need help, i also bought the homeopathic and it "seems" to get better "SEEMS"

:/

We have the Hylands teething tablets and have used them but I don't seem to get as much luck with them at times that everyone else is having. My son seems to think that they are candy or something and loves to eat them but I only give him two. Maybe I will have to try three next time. We also use baby tylenol when it gets real bad. The part I hate the most is he just gets real mean... His personality is totally different for a little while and then presto! one day he wakes up and is back to being sweet, friendly little Aidon. Geez! He doesn't bite too often so that's good.. although he's been chomping on toys more lately... He was trying to eat a matchbox car the other day. lol Good luck with Fable. And don't worry.. pretty soon she'll be back to normal.... Oh and we got our Hyland tablets at Target. Just go to the pharmacy and ask for them. They often keep them behind the counter. I don't know why... We get ours for under $5

We always used Camilia- there's a bit more chamomilla and a bit less belladonna (which is a type of drug so we wanted less of it) Boiron is the company which we bought- it was in our pharmacy with the vitamins and such.  It's a liquid in a capsule you just shoot down their throat and it's worked like a charm for everyone I've recommended it to.  

It's a French country tradition to use day old (or just stale) French/Italian bread.  It starts off hard and helps the teeth break the gums, but softens as the baby slobbers on it. :)

Frozen fruit help as well and I know that lots of homeopathic stores have organic choices for pain / swelling relief for your ickle one.  Good luck!

Humphrey's teething tablets work wonders. I pop some where between 5 and a fistful into Lucy's mouth and they really seem to help. Frozen bagels were great, ice cubes made out of chamomille tea and a little fruit juice are great ( or put the mixture into popsicle molds) and Motrin works great too. Lucy liked to gnaw on things when the molars came in so my husband brilliantly pricked a teeny hole in a pacifier, squeezed the air out and filled the nipple up with water, freeze and give to baby. They can gnaw the bujeeezes out of it and then suck away on the nuk once the ice melts and the water drains. Sure, it is maybe not pediatrician reccommended but whatever. Mom's often have to make up their own rules.

Good luck, teething sucks!

I don't know if anyone has already suggested this but years ago (the late 60's early 70's) I was a La Leche League leader and the trick I always suggested for getting a baby to let go when they bit down is this: Instead of pulling the baby away from you (and almost ripping your nipple off) when he/she bites - which is totally the automatic reaction - pull him/her towards your body hugging close enough that their nose/mouth are covered. They will open their mouth to catch their breath and you can make a quick exit without leaving any body parts with the baby. ;-) Foolproof way to get the baby unlatched without further injury.

In my case, I found that just putting my boob away until the next feeding, and not making a big deal about it was enough to teach baby after one or two chomps that it's better NOT to bite the boob that feeds you. I did have a few episodes of biting just to have Mommy yell OOWWWWW ARRRRRR FAHHHHHH again and found that the less said by me the better. But whether or not that works depends on the age of the baby and their temperament. Mine didn't get teeth at all until after 12 months so I had free sailing for the first year. And after that they were old enough to get the "cause and effect" lesson so it might have been much easier. But I'm tossing out these two suggestions just in case they are new ideas for anyone. YMMV

Oh I almost forgot this - I remember reading a great book when my kids were going thru the non-sleeping night time clinging stage that around 8-12 months there is a period where the baby suddenly realizes that they are a separate being from you. Up until that time, they consider themselves and their mother as one unit and have no concept of Mom as a separate person. When they start to realize that is true, they go into a total whirl of separation anxiety and frequent waking - bottle fed or breast fed made no difference. The author had studied babies and not sleeping and had a lot of stats and brain scans to back up his theory (but then don't they all?). He was a well known child psychologist and I wish I could remember the name of the author or the book because it was a tremendous help for me with my never sleeping babies. 2nd child never slept for longer than 15 minutes at a stretch until she was 9 months old - *seriously*!! - if it weren't for birth control accidents she'd never have had any more siblings LOL

For me, understanding that it was an actual stage of brain development rather than a vengeful devil child wanting me to never sleep again kind of made me more sympathetic and helped me to relax a bit about it. I mean it's not like the kids don't pick up on your body language that you want them off of you (I remember feeling like my whole body was sunburned and if anyone (read dh) even tried to touch me it was "Getttt offffaaaa meeee" . And that makes them cling all the more - even the fully grown (physically anyway) and almost adult husband.

I used the Hylands teething tablets and they worked wonders.

No advice.  Just that I know how you feel.  Teething sucks.  At least it sounds like weaning is going better for you.  Nursing seems to be the only thing she wants to do when teething.

Hyland's Teething Tablets--I'll third, fourth, and fifth that suggestion.  They do, BTW, contain chamomille and belladonna:  www.hylands.com/.../teething.php

Again with the Hylands teething tablets. All baby teeth aside, I had my wisdom teeth out a few months ago and I popped a couple of those from my daughter's stash while I was waiting for the 'real' painkillers to kick in and I swear to god the tablets worked almost instantly.  I was amazed because I really didn't think they'd do anything at all, but I'm now a believer.  Run, don't walk to your nearest health food store.

Seriously, green onions.  They're just the right size for them to hold and something in them naturally numbs the gums.  Crazy I know, but here's You Tube PROOF of my happy teething daughter a couple of years ago:

www.youtube.com/watch

wow! great advice!! thanks Rebecca for asking.. now i'm gonna try almost everything I read here :)

TEETHING GRANULES!!

Can you get anything like this over there?

www.boots.com/.../Ashton-Parsons-Infant-Teething-Powders-20-pack_1674

They're like a powdery-granules thing so you can put them WHERE YOU WANT on their gums and it makes a bit of a powdery paste that stays where you put it.

Answer to my first-born's (and mine!) prayers.

Frozen blueberries.  My son goes through them like candy.  They feel good on the gums, and while the purple juice may freak you out, it hasn't actually stained anything yet.  Other than his fingernails.

After I read about Belladonna it was a no-go in my book so all teething tablets were out for us... as was the baby orajel since I was afraid I'd use too much and since baby's are already super drooly from teething I didn't want any choking problems!  We had a teething toy that vibrated when it was bit.  It freaked my all my sons out the first time they used it but it felt good to bite down on it and the vibrating soothed their gums. I also gave baby tylenol if they were running a low grade fever with their teething usually right before bed!  Best of luck with finding something that works for you guys :)

Frozen celery sticks.  They're perfectly stringy so it's less likely to break off a piece and choke.  I also use carrot sticks but Effie just has bottom teeth so far.  So glad you brought up this question, I'm taking notes on all the recommendations.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned jerky yet but it worked wonders. I have to say a huge THANK YOU to the other mommy blogger that I got the idea from. My daughter had 4 of her 6 teeth come in at the same time and it's the only thing that worked for her. She has two more that popped through today so we're up to 8 and she's only 10 months. Lord help me it's been constant since 4 months. I've tried cold carrots, the frozen fruit mesh things, frozen rags, teething tablets, tylenol, motrin and the popsicles that you buy in the box as juice and freeze. I leave them in the plastic and give it to her until it melts. Nothing worked like the jerky. I gave her a big piece that she could in no way fit in her mouth and let her at it until she got a piece off then took the small piece away and let her chew some more. It's a bit messy but then again so is that awful fruit in the mesh thing that I promptly threw in the trash rather than try to pry banana out of every crevice. Even the brand new dishwasher couldn't get that dumb thing clean. I probably would have had better luck with the washing machine. The only other thing that she liked was ice water from a straw. She never got the tip the cup up motion to use a regular sippy cup so I bought the kind with the silicone straw and put ice water in it and she loves it. I've had a few of those bleeding nipple moments and I feel your pain. Good luck!!

I hate to be all judgy here - but belladonna?? Seriously??

Belladonna is EXTREMELY poisonous and can cause memory and cognitive deficits in children - stick to medicines that are tested and proven safe!!

That being said, ibuprofen and frozen pickles did it for mine! I used whole half sours and froze them. The saltiness and ice helped numb him and the hard pickle kept him busy with the sucking and gnawing, without worrying about choking from slices or small pieces being bitten off.

A huge big thank you to CONNIE. I clicked on her name hoping she had a blog where I could tell her thank you there..but it was not.

Anyways, my 1 year (today!) boy is a horrible horrible sleeper and anytime teething comes around it is even harder and more horrible. I often feel like we, as first time parents, must be missing something and doing something very wrong.

Nothing works for my boy. We tried Hylands and nothing. So, we chug through and keep hoping. We do a major happy dance when our boy does 3-4 hour stretches. Our usual night can have hourly wakenings. Sometimes brief and sometimes not.

Late to this party, but in response to the people who find the belladonna freaky...in homeopathy, there is so little of the "active" ingredients in the pills that it may even be undetectable.  They are added but then split, and split again, and again...so you basically end with sugar pills. Those who believe in homeopathy think that the pills are "charged" with the properties, or inverse properties, of the original ingredient, but the ingredient itself is essentially gone. I don't believe in it- I believe in Tylenol- but the pills are entirely safe.