I forget where I originally read it – and darned if I can find the link now! – but I heard that babies stick out their tongues right after the first tooth comes in.

We’d been feeling Ashley’s first tooth right below the surface for more than a week. We were lying in bed, she had just finished nursing and I was ready to read her a bedtime story, when she stuck out her little tongue.

“Let me see that” I said, putting my finger in her mouth. And there it was! For two days, I still couldn’t see it but I could feel it.

Her second bottom tooth came in on Mother’s Day. Today, the first top tooth is lingering just below the gum – I thought I felt it surface this morning but I was mistaken.

Teething may begin just a short time before those first central incisors show their cute little tops or, if your child is like my daughter, it could begin very early and seem to go on forever. She started teething at about three-and-a-half months; her first tooth didn’t show up until almost seven months on the dot.

Teeth typically follow this pattern, with the bottom teeth in the set usually coming in first:

• Bottom central incisors

• Top central incisors (these come in anywhere from immediately after the bottom teeth to a month or two later)

• Two additional bottom incisors, followed by two additional top incisors

• Four back molars

• Four canines

• Four additional back molars

There are 20 teeth in a set of baby teeth, and by about 24 months, they will usually all come in – a happy moment for parents when teething is finally over!

Signs of teething include:

• Drool – lots and lots of it!

• Chewing everything in sight. Babies put nearly everything in their mouth – it is one of the ways they explore their world. But if they really start to gnaw down on everything they get their little hands on, they might be teething.

• Refusal to eat (Would you want to nurse or eat if your mouth ached?)

• Frequent night-waking after baby has been sleeping through the night

• General fussiness (Again, what kind of mood would you be in if, quite literally, hard objects were poking their way through your gums!)

• Tugging at the ears

Many doctors say that a low-grade fever and/or a stuffy or runny nose are not signs of teething but may be a sign of infection. By all means, follow your pediatrician’s instructions and if you are concerned about a fever, call the doctor. However, I have noticed that my daughter gets a stuffy nose – her cries sound nasally and she sniffles a bit – every time a tooth has come in and also when her other teething symptoms seem worse. She hasn’t run a fever while teething yet, which I’m sure would be more of a concern.

Since pain in the mouth often radiates up to the ear, and infants can’t really tell the difference, a teething infant may also pull on her ear. However, this symptom combined with a fever could also indicate an ear infection. Trust your instincts, but err on the side of caution if you suspect there’s more at play than teething!

Moms — what sort of teething symptoms have you noticed and how long after that did your baby’s teeth come in?

Well, it’s about time. As my baby girl hurtles towards her first birthday, I was starting to get a little worried. For months, she’s been drooling, chewing her hands, everything a baby does when teething. I had well-meaning friends smile knowingly (or thinking they were knowing) and say, “Ah, she’s teething, huh?” I just smiled politely and sighed inside. But I really was getting a little self-conscious about my baby’s gummy grin. She’s already a wisp of a child, and I was pretty convinced she was also going to need dentures. (I am, in fact, missing two teeth naturally; I thought maybe she was missing all of them.) My mom made it worse. She’s not prone to old wives’ tales, but she did relate to me that my sister took my niece in to see a specialist because she was teething so late and it  was supposedly a sign of something… Maybe I should consider doing the same? But, thankfully, my fears are alleviated.

Just after she turned 11 months old, I noticed my daughter kept sticking out her tongue. It was kind of cute. I wondered…hoped, but a week passed and nothing. And she makes it really hard to look in her mouth! But on a Thursday night I was with some friends who commented on her tongue sticking out. I checked; no teeth. But on Friday morning, there it was! A tooth! But not just any tooth–the wrong one. I think my girl is the first I’ve seen who didn’t get one of her bottom center teeth first. Gone are my favorite images of my baby boy who proudly displayed his bottom two teeth for everyone who would admire them. I love that look. So, my little girl got one of the side bottom teeth. My husband and I made a bet on which would come in next. I was putting money on an upper tooth–on the other side. Jack-o-lanterns are kind of cute, right?

I lost the bet. The next Friday I was at a friend’s house and she laughed about the tongue again. Teeth? I checked; no new teeth. But then Saturday morning, what do I find? Not one, but two new teeth! Weird. So  she got three teeth in one week. And by the hair on her chinny-chin-chin, she’s technically NOT a late teether.

All of a child’s tooth buds grow during the first trimester of pregnancy. Most babies won’t cut any of those teeth until about 7 months (depends which source you check), and 99% do have a tooth by age one. A child isn’t considered a late teether until 13 months (again, it depends who you ask). At that point, some doctors may check for symptoms of some other problems that can be associated with lack of teething, such as poor nutrition, gum problems, or thyroid issues. The most “common” medical condition that occurs with missing baby teeth is something called ectodermal dysplasia (abnormalities of the skin, hair, teeth, etc). But there are only about 7000 people in the world with that disorder.

There’s no truth to the idea that the earlier teeth come in the smarter the baby. And it’s not true that climate or childhood illnesses after the timing of teeth, either. But generally, the timing of tooth eruption is apparently hereditary.  My mom told me last week that none of “us kids” had teeth before we turned one. (Now why didn’t she tell me that a couple months ago when she said my sister went off to a specialist?) My girl has already beat the odds, and is odd in getting three lower teeth first. The only discomfort my little girl showed was some bad sleep the last couple weeks. Poor baby. I didn’t do anything to help.

Not that there’s much you can do. Lots of remedies are available, and lots of “home remedies” have been passed around. But most of the experts today pretty much say the same thing: something cool to chew on is about the only thing that really helps. Lots of moms swear by topicals to numb the gums, but I remember using some of them myself when I had braces as a teenager. The small amount I managed to get in the right place–not on my tongue and lips–barely helped before it washed away in half an hour.

We’ve come a long way from the old days. Since they thought teething actually killed babies they were pretty desperate to pass around helpful hints. Things like wiping animal brains on the gums (maybe Orajel doesn’t sound so bad), applying leeches or even blistering and cutting the gums were supposed to help. Some would scald the back of the baby’s head!  Germans would slap the baby across the face at the first sign of the first tooth. It was supposed to help the rest come in easier. (I think I’d rather have uncomfortable teeth.) On the more benign side, they let the dog lick the baby (that helps with a lot of things, doesn’t it?), or carried the baby around the outside of the house three times, or breathed on her after coming home from church.

Maybe in a hundred years they’ll laugh and say, “They used to give their babies frozen bananas! Hahahaha. Isn’t that weird?”

A lesson I’ve learned the hard way, is that sometimes, once Baby sleeps through the night, he is not necessarily programmed to do so forever. His patterns may go through more changes as he continues to change and grow, especially during his first two years.

I have vague memories of our older boys, sleep habits, especially those first couple of exhausting months, but now that we’re starting over again with our latest edition, I am reminded (all too painfully) that sleep disturbances can reoccur as a baby develops.

I like Elizabeth Pantley’s ‘No-cry sleep solution‘, from which I’ve only read excerpts. Once our baby slept all night long, I happily tucked Pantley’s book away on the book shelf, next to our other parenting books. Now I find myself staring at this book through bleary eyes, again.

I spoke with the pediatrician last week, out of desperation and frustration. I wanted to be sure I wasn’t missing some hidden cause for baby’s night-time waking. Her concerns were pretty much the same as mine. This is a basic checklist when trouble-shooting about baby’s sleep troubles:

• Is he hungry/has he had enough to eat during the previous day/evening?
• Is he experiencing pain or discomfort due to teething?
• Is he experiencing pain due to reflux, a common ailment in young babies, which is similar to heartburn in adults?
• Is he breathing easily or are his nose stuffy, causing interruptions in his sleep?

At bedtime, does he fall asleep while nursing, bottle-feeding or sucking his pacifier (and therefore, need one of these in order to fall back asleep when he awakens at night)?

• Is his sleep environment comfortable: not too hot, not too cold, not too dry?

Most of these problems can be easily tended to. If Baby is hungry, you may need to work harder at filling his belly during the day. Our pediatrician suggested feeding our little guy cereal at four months old, then slowly introducing other solids and working up to three meals a day fairly quickly. Sometimes our Baby is interested and sometimes he ‘poo-poos’ his meals by turning his head away and fussing. Figure out which foods are your baby’s favorites; our little man prefers oatmeal, sweet potatoes and apple sauce at this stage.

Reflux should be diagnosed by a doctor, and yes, our baby has suffered from it. He used to arch his back and cry when he was eating. The doctor prescribed Prilosec, twice a day. My hunch is that he has outgrown this but we are continuing to give him at least his evening dose, until he evens out and sleeps again.

If Baby sounds stuffy, use saline drops and a bulb syringe several times a day to help clear his little nose. A cool mist humidifier is a good idea.

(Signs and remedies for teething can be found in an earlier post I wrote, as well as in a recent post by a fellow blogger.)

Our baby’s problem right now is the toughest one to solve: We made the mistake of giving him a bottle in the middle of the night a few weeks ago. Now he’s back in the habit of ‘nibbling’ in order to fall back asleep. He seems to be getting up every three hours for a nibble (he used to sleep 7-10 hours, through the night).

We will weigh our options and try to re-train him to sleep. I prefer gentler methods, such as Pantley’s, but out of desperation, am tempted to let him ‘cry it out’ just a little bit. Mommies and daddies need to function for the rest of the family. We have to go to work to earn a living, run errands, cook, clean, help with homework, sit through (and sometimes coach, as in the case of my husband) soccer and baseball games. We need our sleep in order to accomplish all of this. Our baby is old enough to start ‘crying it out’. I’m just not sure if I’m tough enough to let him.

I’ve turned to the trusty Dr. Sears, now that our perfect little 4 ? month old has stopped sleeping. He slept anywhere from between 8 and 10 hours at a stretch from 2 to 4 months of age, and now there are nights where he is up every 1-3 hours. Yikes!

I know he?s been teething or at least pre-teething from these tell-tale signs:

1. He puts everything, including his fist (and sometimes his foot!) in his mouth.
2. He drools constantly.
3. He has diarrhea and a bit of a rash-the first rash he?s had since he was just a few weeks old.
4. He?s fussier than usual (What happened to our mellow little guy?).
5. He?s not sleeping well (last night was particularly rough).

Teething remedies suggested by Dr. Sears are giving baby a chilled teething ring, frozen wash cloth, although I?ve found that a wet-not frozen-washcloth helps, too; A frozen bagel or banana, and rubbing ice on baby?s gums. I haven?t tried using ice but I will try today, when I see my baby fussing and stuffing his fist in his mouth again.

Infant?s Tylenol or Motrin (ibuprofen) can really help. I?ve given some to my little guy at night, hoping that he?ll sleep-and let us sleep-better.

Yesterday I bought some Baby Orajel to rub on his gums. Dr. Sears, however, says to use teething gels/pastes with caution. First, wipe gums with a clean, wet cloth, then apply gel only to the area where baby?s gum is bulging. The drawbacks are:

1. These gels taste terrible.
2. It is easy to use too much
3. If it spreads in baby?s mouth and into her saliva, her tongue and even lips can become numb.
4. Baby may swallow some of it (Yuck!).

Other typical teething symptoms are a cough from excess saliva, drool rash on chin, face, lips and chest (a lanolin ointment is a good treatment for this), and a fever below 101. (It?s probably a good idea to call your pediatrician if baby?s temperature runs above 101).

Good luck to everyone trying to get through the difficult days and nights of teething! (Yawn??).

Here is what you will find when you look for information regarding your baby biting you while nursing:

Be sure not to giggle because your baby will think it’s a game.

Hug your baby close so she has to let go to breathe.

Gently poke your finger in his mouth and prop his mouth open.

Now please allow me – a seasoned breastfeeder – to interpret this sage advice.

Be sure not to giggle because your baby will think it’s a game. Translation: Try not to scream when your baby suddenly clamps down on your nipple. It’s going to surprise you and will probably hurt like crazy. You will rue the day you bragged about your baby’s early development of teeth. Optional: Try not to cry over the absurdity of your baby biting you after you’ve spent all this time nourishing her with your own body.

Hug your baby close so she has to let go to breathe. Translation: Hug your baby close and worry that you’re going to smother her to death because she still isn’t letting go. Pull her away and wonder why in the world biting you is more important to her than breathing. Frantically beg your baby, “Okay, let go already!”

Gently poke your finger in his mouth and prop his mouth open. Translation: Prepare to marvel at your baby’s amazing ability to stay clamped on your nipple even though you’re trying your best to pry his mouth open with your finger. Optional: Prepare to have your finger bitten.

If you only ever experience a little nibble from your baby while breastfeeding then you should consider yourself lucky. My boy bit me so hard that I would up with multiple breast infections and eventually had to wean him because I just couldn’t take it anymore. If you do find an effective way to get a baby to stop biting while nursing then please let me know. Personally, I never figured it out.

The “teething stage”, or scientifically termed “deciduous eruption stage”, of development somewhere between six and nine months after birth. The first teeth typically to come in are in the bottom front, followed by the top front, and finally the back molars. Teething can typically be a very painful and troublesome time for infants as they are too young to understand why they are in pain. They are still developing essential motor skills to help them aid and soothe their pain, generally referred to as “chewing.”

The other solution that I have found quite effective is to attach a pacifier with a ring on it. (Like the old fashion ones with the ring on the back instead of the stud) to a flexible cloth covered stuffed animal or similar thing. A bunch of pipe cleaners covered in a quick stitch piece of fabric to prevent your infant from poking themselves with a wire is a good idea, or any kind of soft posable item that you can loop through the ring to make it easily accessible to your baby. We used one of the dollar flowers in the dollar shop (plush) at Target and folded the end over the ring. This makes it easy for her small hands to grab the stem of the flower and maneuver the ring or pacifier to her mouth instead of struggling to find it when she drops it as she can not turn over or sit up on her own. This is a great tool for her at night when she is having pain and she can use it when she wants it and regulate her own pain with the modified pacifier. Any further questions about this or for pictures of what I did please feel free to email me with questions at Squarecatdesigns@gmail.com

One of the best things I have found to help with the pain of teething is a homeopathic symptomatic teething tablet put out by Hylands. These tablets are usually found next to the usual Orajel (which she hates) and general pain killers like Tylenol. These tablets are 100% natural and have no side effects. They are small soft tablets that you place under your child’s tongue and dissolve almost instantly. Because they are all natural they can be administered 2-3 times an hour and are long lasting and almost instantly kill pain, relax her from frustration and when given with a warm bath, help her sleep all through the night without pain. I highly recommend this product to any mother with small infants suffering from teething problems.

While most babies that begin this process are around six months to nine months old, these children usually have less problem holding teething rings and less struggle with basic motor skills. My daughter started her teething process at the age of three months, which led us to try a variety of different methods to help aid her with the pain and the frustration of her developing motor skills. While my daughter can firmly grasp things, and most of the time can get the items to her mouth, she has difficulty turning items such as round teething rings in order to fit them in her mouth and this inability usually results in crying and frustration.

When both my kids had colds recently, their symptoms seemed to linger- to start to get better after a few days, then worsen again. We ended up seeing our pediatrician, who recommended giving them honey to treat their sore throats and coughs.

I later found out that honey has been rated the best cough remedy by a Pennsylvania State University?s College of Medicine doctor, Ian Paul, M.D. It coats the throat, fights irritants, is rich in anti-oxidants and causes salivation, which prevents dry coughs. While not recommended for infants, honey can safely be given to kids aged 1 year and up.

Give ? teaspoon to kids who are 1-5 years old and one teaspoon to older kids, ages 6-11.

Other natural cold remedies include steam via a vaporizer or from a hot shower and elevating children?s heads while they sleep, by putting rolled up towels or stuffed animals under their mattresses. We all know to drink plenty of liquids for colds and other ailments. Frozen liquids, or frozen juice pops, help hydrate kids and feel good on sore throats. You can always make your own popsicles with an inexpensive plastic popsicle tray, juice or other beverage, and popsicle sticks.

For stomach aches and nausea, real ginger will help (vs. store-bought ginger-ale, which does not contain real ginger!). You can make your own ginger ale with real ginger, lemon rind, honey, boiling water and seltzer to taste. Slices of ginger may also be steeped in hot water to make ?ginger tea?.

Young children, including my own, often have toilet ?issues?, especially when potty-training. Mineral oil worked when my 2 ? year old son was painfully?umm?backed-up. Fresh fruit, particularly apricots, pears, peaches and dried fruit will likely bring relief to this problem. For young babies without teeth, boil a prune in water and then puree it.

Check with your doctor about recommended amounts of flax-seed to relieve constipation, but this can work well for kids ages 2 and up, sprinkled and mixed into foods like yogurt.

For teething pain, frozen foods are a great idea. A frozen stalk of celery or asparagus can reach to the back teeth. A frozen bagel works well for front teeth.

Who knew piggies could help with colds, teething and constipation? Chances are you?ve snuggled a tiny foot in the palm of your hand, next time use the ancient therapy of reflexology to help your baby find comfort.

Before you begin:
Nails should be well trimmed so as not to scratch delicate skin. Watch your baby for signs of discomfort, if they resist then try again later. There is no need to press hard against the sole of their foot, slight pressure will be sufficient.

Begin at the heel and gently press the pad of your thumb to the bottom of her foot, inching your way up to each toe in a line and giving the corresponding toe a gentle rotation and squeeze. This is called ?thumb walking? and is the first basic step in reflexology, helping your baby to relax before you begin the treatment.

Try these techniques to help with:

Teething:
So cute when they finally pop out, those tiny buds can bother even the calmest baby. To relieve discomfort, gently rub the top of the base of each of toe up to the knuckle for up to five minutes.

Stuffy head:
Red noses belong on reindeer, not on babies. To help your little one clear up congestion, rub each toe in turn. Applying gentle pressure, run your fingers up the top of their foot, following the muscles to mid-foot for as long as your baby will allow or to fifteen minutes, two to three times a week.

Constipation:
A baby?s digestive process is a funny thing. One minute they?re exploding all over the furniture and your mother-in-law and the next they?re corked up tight. To help a sore tummy, rub a line bisecting the foot between the ball and heel, right to left. Press against the soft dip under the ball of the foot of the baby?s left foot, rotating your thumb gently.

To finish your treatment, run your hands over their foot and give a soft squeeze. Oh heck, go ahead and nibble a toe too-who could resist?

Teething in babies can be a real pain, for both the baby and the parent. But once those pearly whites are in, the “fun” isn’t over.

Babies and toddlers need to have their teeth brushed regularly, and should see a dentist before their first year.

Many people think that worrying about brushing isn’t important since the baby teeth will fall out anyway. But most children don’t lose all of their teeth until they’re older than 10 years old. Having decayed teeth will not be a pleasant experience for your school-aged child. Also, baby teeth are important for maintaining proper spacing for permanent teeth.

If tooth decay (also called dental caries) sets in, the teeth may eventually need to be pulled (not to mention the pain that having severe decay will cause). The pain and trauma of tooth decay and extraction is far worse than daily brushing.

What if your child does get tooth decay, despite your best efforts?

First, don’t beat yourself up. Parents have so much going on, and we all do our best. Furthermore, some tooth decay is due to problems in the womb, like taking antibiotics (which may be necessary sometimes). Some people are genetically predisposed to tooth decay. Processed foods, which the majority of us eat, may be the culprit also. In studies of other mammals, tooth decay becomes a problem only when the animals are fed human-altered foods.

Whatever the cause, if you notice holes in your baby’s teeth, get him to a dentist. Before doing anything drastic, it may be necessary to get a second opinion. Don’t be afraid to do this. Early and frequent checkups will help catch problems, hopefully before they begin.

For more information about baby tooth decay, check out the following resource:

http://www.brianpalmerdds.com/caries.htm

The information contained on this site is for educational purposes only and is not meant for diagnosis or treatment. Any information found on this site should be discussed with a health care professional. Use of this information should be done in accordance with the health care plan outlined by your health care professional. For specific professional or medical advice, diagnosis, and treatment, consult your doctor or health care professional.