From about three months on, our little guy started showing signs of teething: the tell-tale fountain of drool, gnawing on everything and anything in sight, pulling at the ears, and general discomfort. By the time his bottom two teeth finally made their appearance, we had tried every possible natural teething remedy there is. Now we're just over the 9 month mark and with the top teeth starting to poke through, we're experiencing a whole new kind of pain that involves all of the above symptoms but coupled with extreme pain and a total sleeplessness (more on the whole sleep issue in another post). I'm hoping these top teeth come through soon so we can get over this not-so-minor sleeping hump! I decided to help fellow mamas out by listing some of the natural relief methods we've found to be helpful.
1. Sophie the Giraffe - the infamous Sophie. You can't go to a mom and baby meet-up without encountering at least 5 other Sophies. I don't know what it is about her but babes seem to love gnawing on her. She's helped us with minor discomfort, giving my man something to chew on. I appreciate the fact that she's made of all natural (non-toxic) rubber and food-grade dyes. Give her a good scrub before handing her over to your little one!
2. Freezer Teethers - I prefer the ones filled with water over that toxicy gel, and my little guy seems to get relief from them as well.
3. Frozen facecloths - Either soak them in water or in a cup of chamomile tea (chamomile works wonders for teething) and place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
4. Camilia (made by Boiron) - These one-unit doses made by a great Canadian company contain the wonderous herb that is chamomilia, along with Belladona and Ferrum Phsosphoricum, both anti-inflammatories. They work quickly and are great when out and about. While we found they worked fine for us at night in the beginning, they don't seem strong enough anymore. They are still a favourite daytime relief for me though, and I love that they come in a base of purified water, as opposed to lactose.
5. Hylands Teething Tablets - We ALWAYS make sure we have a stash of Hylands in the house at all times. We find these to offer some of the best pain relief, and our little guy knows it. You can place them under the tongue to dissolve (trickier for little ones) or in a base of a wee bit of water. We do the water method and spoon them into his mouth, and as soon as he sees the spoon, he readily opens his mouth, already anticipating the relief he'll get. Hylands has similar ingredients to Camilia, but I find Hylands to be more longer-lasting and also more economical than Camilia as they come with over 100 tablets in a bottle.
6. Pure Chamomile Drops - This is a new and amazing discovery for us. We recently had a homeopathic mix up some pure chamomilia for us. Because she is a registered homeopath, the drops are much stronger than something you can just buy at your local natural store. We give him a couple of drops when we start to notice his pain symptoms. You can give them again 10 minutes later if the symptoms don't subside. I mentioned we've been struggling with sleep lately (partially due to the teething) but ever since we've started on these drops, sleeping has been so much better! I love that they are natural and pure, and also go a long way. So far this is my favourite remedy!
Every baby is different and some babes aren't even affected much by teething (lucky parents!), while others have a very difficult time with it (we're in the latter camp). Different remedies will work for different babes, so it's a good idea to try them all out until you find what works best for your little one. I will add that on the very brutal nights we have broken down and give our wee man some infant Advil. I don't like doing this often, but if it offers him much-needed relief and all of us much-needed sleep, that is what's most important. We haven't found this to be a fool-proof remedy by any means, but it does sometimes help give us all a bit of sleep on those long and tough nights.
http://boiron.ca/en/products/children/camilia/
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