I was compensated with free product in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own and not influenced by Nuby.
I have a love-hate relationship with teething babies. After all, I love that big, toothy grin my kids give me after months of gummy smiles. But, I think breastfeeding teething babies is the worst form of torture.
Just this week, I was jolted awake again after nursing my youngest back to sleep. It took everything I had to not scare everyone else awake with a loud shriek. Thankfully, my baby only has two teeth right now, so she didn’t draw blood. But with two more teeth coming in, I am overly cautious in offering her my boob. Can you relate?
Signs and Symptoms
The first tooth normally erupts between four and seven months old. You will know when your baby is teething because they will suddenly turn into this irritable and miserable monster. Some of these symptoms may include:
- Changes in Sleeping or Eating Patterns
- Drooling (which can cause a rash on their face)
- Biting and Gnawing
- Low Grade Fever
- Ear Pulling or Cheek Rubbing
- Diarrhea
- Swollen, Tender Gums
Thankfully, there are a few things you can do to help soothe your baby’s gums. Here are 4 failproof ways to comfort a teething baby.
1. Massage The Gums
Using a clean finger, massage your baby’s gums in a circular motion. I tend to do this right before bed when they are extremely tired but too irritated to calm themselves to sleep.
You can also offer a teething toy. There are so many teethers out there with different textures to help massage your baby’s gums. Our favorites are the ones that gently vibrate like Nuby Fruity Vibes or Nuby Vibe-eez. They are fun to chew on and always seem to provide the best relief.
2. Numb the Pain
Sometimes, the best thing you can do is give them something cold to chew on to temporarily numb the gums. My mom swears that her best parenting hack was giving her kids ice cubes in a wash cloth to chew on. To do this, put a couple of ice cubes in the middle of the cloth, wrap them up, and secure it with a rubber band. Then, dip the ice cubes in some water to make the cloth nice and cold.
Another thing you can try is to put a couple of pieces of frozen fruit in a mesh feeder. This also helps numb the gums while your baby explores new foods. Caution: some fruits do get a little messy!
If your baby is younger than 6 months, or hasn’t been introduced to foods yet, you could make popsicles out of breast milk or formula.
3. Ask Your Doctor
Sometimes, we all have to resort to using infant Tylenol to get us through these tough times. If the above methods aren’t offering any pain relief, don’t be afraid to consult your doctor for advice on using medication to help ease teething symptoms.
4. When in Doubt, Snuggle it Out
The power of mom’s snuggles knows no boundaries! So put the laundry, dishes, and other household chores to the side and get to snuggling that baby!
When it gets really bad, I will often put my baby in the baby carrier and go for a walk. They almost always end up falling asleep by the time we get back home.
Thankfully, this phase doesn’t last forever. So take a deep breath and remember, you’ve got this!
Let’s keep sharing our mom hacks! If you have any awesome tips on helping comfort teething babies, please let me know in the comments!
