6 teeth down and 5 teething remedies

I’m happy to report we are long past the days of up every two hours, which I thought we’d never escape. I decided to give her some time to see if she’d put herself back to sleep instead of rushing in her room right away and viola! After a few nights she stopped calling me in to nurse her back to sleep. remedies 

But there are some exceptions.

When a baby is acting a fool, not sleeping through the night, or just plain driving us nuts, we parents usually like to blame it on one of two things: Growth spurt, and teething. I automatically assume it’s one or the other when Lil’ J is working my nerves or not sleeping. But truthfully, she doesn’t feel as good when she’s cutting a tooth, so I’ve been working through ways to help her to feel better. Here’s what has worked for me in no particular order:

1. Ice cubes in a wet towel: My yoga instructor told me this trick and it was my “AH HA!” moment. She’s not a big fan of the cold chew toys but she loves ice. I would give her ice cubes in the past but they’d slip and slide all over and she couldn’t keep a grip on them. I put an ice cube in a baby washcloth wrapped with a rubber band, and get it wet with cold water and tada! A homemade teething toy, which she tends to hang on to.

2. Baby Orajel® Naturals: I used Orajel when my wisdom teeth came in and it was a lifesaver. I looked for a baby kind to use as a last resort when Lil’ J was cutting her first tooth, but stopped using it after awhile when I read about some of the active ingredients. But they recently came out with a new natural kind I like that’s dye-free, paraben-free, alcohol-free and benzocaine-free. It seems to work as good as the other stuff and I feel better about using it.
3. Amber necklace: A friend of mine gave us their amber necklace because her little boy has most all of his teeth. The chemical makeup of amber is supposed to have a natural pain release that works through the skin. I’m not positive of it’s effects but it seemed to help when she’d wear it. Problem is I’d take it off at night and I’d have misplaced it by morning. I can’t find it at the moment.
4. Tylenol: Another last resort for me was good old pain relief medication. If she just seemed to be hurting, running a fever and inconsolable I’d bust out the drugs and give her a dose. Shoot me.
5. Cuddles: Last but definitely not least, snuggling and nursing my little girl always seems to help her feel better. She loves mommy time and usually in my arms, everything is better. This usually means my arms are looking extra toned by the time the tooth comes through, so I guess it’s a win-win.

So there you have it, Lil' J's 5th and 6th teeth (he ones next to her two font teeth) just made an appearance and we actually hardly noticed. So maybe it gets better? Or maybe it's just wishful thinking. Let me know if you have other suggestions I've left off to try next time.

This post is sponsored by BabyCenter in conjunction with the BabyCenter Blog Network. As usual, these are all my own opinions.