Ease Discomfort When Your Child Is Teething

You got pregnant. Amazing. You took home this perfect little thing nine months later. Congrats. You then found your groove with their feeding, changing, and sleeping routine. Good for you. But now — they're teething. Wait, what? What do you do? How can you help them along in this important step in their infant journey? What are the symptoms? What aren't the symptoms? Breathe, mom and/or dad. We got you. It's all below.

Common Symptoms

Around their 6-month mark, your little bundle of joy will start cutting teeth. While they're the cutest thing you've ever seen, their reaction to their pearly whites showing up is not. Common symptoms include:

• Fussiness
• Trouble sleeping
• Irritability
• Loss of appetite
• Excessive drooling

And when your baby is irritable and losing sleep, that means you probably are too. So treating their uncomfortable symptoms quickly and effectively is very important. We all need our Zs. Mommies and daddies too.

What To Do

Recognizing your baby is teething is step one. Step two — is remedying the discomfort. The below at-home tips are some ways to help numb the pain and divert your baby's attention away from the teething.

• Rub baby's gums
  • A little pressure on their gyms with a clean finger or gauze can go a long way
• Keep it cool
  • Cold, not freezing, helps their pain — so consider a chilled washcloth or rubber spoon they can gnaw on
• Teething ring
  • Solid, rubber, chilled ones are your best bet
• Hard foods
  • Depending on their age, a chilled and peeled veggie (carrot, cucumber, etc.) could help
• Dry the drool
  • Soak up the saliva with a cloth and apply a moisturizer as needed to avoid irritation
• Over-the-counter remedy
  • Consider a baby pain reliever to help their crabbiness, but be sure to avoid all products with benzocaine

Be Aware of What Symptoms Aren't Related to Teething

Now that you know what symptoms to look for and what treatments to try, you should also know which symptoms are commonly mistaken for teething. According to the ADA, those include:

• Fever
• Diarrhea
• Rash

A higher temperature is pretty typical, but a consistent fever is not. Check-in with your pediatrician immediately if your baby is experiencing any of these symptoms while teething.

Parental instincts and good sense will go a long way in identifying and treating your baby's teething. Don't worry; a few long nights are entirely normal. Finding the right solution for your baby should help them, and you get back on your normal sleep schedules.