So it’s happened. Your angelic baby has turned into some strange kind of ‘Changeling’ that no rocking or cuddling will settle, and it’s awful. One of the worst things a parent has to go through is seeing their child in pain and not being able to fix it and teething is one of those monsters.

What exactly is teething? 

Teething is when a baby’s first teeth start to break through their gums. This can happen anywhere from 6 months to 10 months, however sometimes it can be earlier or later than this!

How to recognise the signs?

• Irritability
• Excessive drooling
• Biting and gnawing
• Red or flushed cheeks
• Baby rubbing their cheek or pulling their ear
• Low fever
• Nappy rash

How to help to ease teething pain.

Sometimes rubbing your child’s gum with a clean finger can ease the pain temporarily and — some relief.

Using something like the ‘My Feeding Pal Feeder’ from Accessories4Babies. Fill it with Banana Blue and pop into the freezer. The cool feel will be a pain relief, as well as encouraging your child to bite down onto the Feeder which also eases pain.

Make sure to dry the excessive drool. This can cause a rash which will lead to further irritability and be very uncomfortable.

If they’re older than 6 months, healthy hard foods like breadsticks or apple batons may help.

If none of these help, contact your GP or PHN for advice on some over the counter medication that is suitable for your little one, such as sugar free teething gel.

Some random teething facts!

Teeth usually appear in pairs!

All children are different, but normally teeth erupt in pairs, one of left and one on the right.

Teeth fall out in the same order they come in!

One of the odder facts about teeth is the rule of thumb is that they fall out in the same order they came in!

Some babies are born with teeth!

It’s not very common as it occurs around 1 in every 2,000 births, but it can happen!

It’s more common for girls to get their teeth before boys.

It generally agreed that girls tend to develop a small bit faster than boys and growing teeth is no exception!

Not all teething is painful.

There are times when a child does not suffer any discomfort at all during the teething phase. Unfortunately, more often than not, this is not the case though.

For more information, check out out blog post on the importance of dental health.