Being a parent, you will be excited to see your baby teething. Keep in mind that that teething is very painful for the baby, and it will cause the baby many issues such as difficulty with sleeping. This article will help you find ways to soothe the pain and help your baby sleep better.
Table of Contents
Symptoms and signs of teething
1. Drooling
Teething will make your baby drool more than usual. If you notice this, it could be a sign of your baby teething. Keep a napkin or towel next to your baby to wipe the drool.
2. Biting
Teething is painful, and when you apply pressure on the teething area, the pain is more bearable. This is why teething babies tend to chew and bite on almost anything they get their hands on. It is their instinct to do so.
3. Crankiness
All that pain from teething will put the baby in a bad mood. Fussiness and irritations are expectable while teething.
4. Losing appetite
Nursing, while the baby has sore gums will cause the baby to feel more discomfort, which will lead to loss of appetite.
5. Restless sleep
All that pain will affect the baby’s sleep, and you will your little one waking up more frequently during the night.
6. Baby pulling ear and rubbing cheeks
You might notice the baby pulling the ears and rubbing the cheeks. This happens the cheeks, and the ears share a nerve pathway.
How to help your child with sleeping during teething?
The baby’s sleeping schedule will be disrupted due to teething’s pain, and that is a fact. Below you will find few tips on how to help your baby sleep during this phase.
1 Provide your baby something cold he/she can chew on
The cold will numb the nerves and will soothe the pain. Teethers are toys the baby can chew on while teething. The pressure created while chewing will provide relief from the pain. If you can’t find any refrigerator-friendly chewing toy, you can compensate with a frozen cloth. Never freeze the teething toy because it will get very hard and thus can hurt your baby’s gums and teeth. They need to be chilled, not frozen. Make sure you are near your baby when he/she is chewing on a toy in case a choking hazard happens.
2. Massage the baby’s gums
Use your finger to massage your baby’s gums. This should ease the pain and help your baby sleep better. If the baby happens to wake up during the night, you can again massage the gums and put him/her back to sleep. Focus on massaging the areas where the teeth are coming in. Needless to say, that your fingers need to be clean before you put them into your baby’s mouth.
3. Give your baby chamomile tea
The chamomile tea should reduce any inflammation, also promote relaxation and help the baby sleep. This tea will provide the teething baby some relief and help him/her sleep better. You can give the tea at room temperature or mildly warm through a feeding bottle. You also soak a clean cloth in the chamomile tea, then cool it in a freezer and give it to your baby to chew on. Bear in mind that chamomile tea should be given only to babies older than 6 months. It is best to consult your doctor before you give your baby this tea. The tea must not be hot, as such, it will hurt your baby. You can also massage the gums with your fingers dipped into the tea before the massage.
4. Try feeding the baby with cold foods before bedtime
As we said, the cold helps with soothing the pain in the gums and having a full stomach should induce sleep. Before bedtime, you can serve your baby some cold yogurt or cold vegetables and fruits. Do not forget that the fruits and vegetables should be age-appropriate for the baby. You can buy a mesh feeding bag, which is used to safely start babies on solid foods. This way, you will reduce the risk of the baby swallowing a too big piece of food and possibly choking on it.
5. Produce a calm environment for the baby
Setting a sleeping schedule for the baby will adjust his/her body accordingly. Having a bedtime routine will automatically make the baby sleepy when bedtime is approaching. The subconscious will signal the baby that it is time to sleep when he/she sees that certain activities are being performed in a certain period. This is similar to the formation of habits. The routine consists of the usual stuff like taking a bath, putting on the pajamas, reading books, singing, or holding the baby in your arms until he/she falls asleep.
6. Breastfeeding can be soothing as well
Breastfeeding is soothing for the baby. When the baby starts teething, he/she might press harder on your nipples, which will cause you pain. To avoid this, you can massage the baby’s gums before you breastfeed him/her. Breastfeeding should calm the baby and induce sleep.
7. Using pain-killing medications
If you have tried every other method and none of them has worked, your last resort is pain-killing medications. They should help with the pain and help the baby sleep calmly. Make sure you have consulted your doctor before you go and give your baby any kind of painkillers. The over-the-counter products are not appropriate for this situation. There are medications specifically made for babies and little children. Adult painkillers must be avoided! Your doctor will tell you which kinds of painkillers to buy for your baby.
I bet you curious how long the teething pain will last.
There is no specific timeline of how long the teething pain will last. There are cases when babies feel pain for many months before the teeth come through. While other babies only feel pain when the teeth are making their way out through the gums. It is different for all babies. Still, the pain should go away once the tooth has come out of the gums. First, you will see the front teeth coming out, usually in the baby’s first year, and the molars will come out after the first year.
Some cautionary advices
Always be careful when your baby is chewing on something, no matter if it is cloth, toy, or food. The choking hazards are a real thing, so be careful. If you think about using painkillers on your baby, always talk to a pediatrician first. If you happen to have the teething toy on a string which is around your baby’s neck, make sure you take it off before he/she goes to sleep. There is the possibility of the toy getting stuck in something and strangle the baby when he/she moves.
Many parents use crashed aspirin to rub on their baby’s gums as a relief remedy, but this is very dangerous, and we strongly recommend not to do it. If your baby is pulling his/her ear while teething a bit too much, go to a doctor because the baby might have developed an ear infection. Lastly, try to stay away from over-the-counter gels and creams on the baby’s gums as relief medication.
