One of the hardest times for new parents to endure is often when their babies are teething. Teething babies are in pain a lot of the time, and parents just don't know how to ease the pain. Of course it isn't an option - children do have to go through this. Parents though can learn a few things about how they can soothe their babies when they go through this.
Teething occurs in babies at around the age of five months, usually; sometimes, babies can start when they are as young as three months old; at other times, it doesn't start until they are a year old. It wouldn't be much of a problem is the process came and went quickly; as it happens though, teething babies have to endure the process for a full two years. Most children have all their teeth - 22 pearly ones by the time they hit three. How do you to help your child with all the pain and discomfort for such a fantastically long period of time?
Why should teething be uncomfortable? It's pretty understandable. The gums are soft tissue; and to have sharp teeth pushing through them, breaking the surface and coming through, can be painful, to say the least. The more teeth there are coming out at once, nor painful it can be. It isn't just the pain that teething babies need to worry about; there are other incidental effects too. Many children experience a loss of appetite, diarrhea, and even a low-grade fever and sleeplessness.
The process must go on, of course; but there a few things parents can try. Think about what it is that you wish to do when you have painful gums sometimes. You like to massage your gums gently. The same thing works with teething babies too. All you need to do is to wash your hands and rub baby's gums gently for a couple of minutes every hour. Using cold things to numb you baby's gums can be a particularly effective way to help you baby. You could put a banana in the freezer until it's beginning to freeze up, and then help your baby with it. The really cold banana helps numb your baby's gums and this feels good. Teething rings - discs of hard, colorful plastic are often quite a favorite. Babies love to bite on these when they experience the discomfort of teething.
If none of this works, you could take your baby in to the pediatric doctor for a prescription of acetaminophen or Benadryl to help with the pain and with the sleeplessness. Many mothers take the opportunity present in the discomfort that their baby feels at teething to begin to wean the baby. With all the pain and discomfort, it's just too difficult for a baby to breast-feed anyway.
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