Teething Troubles!!!

Little Bear is teething, and he's teething hard.  Two nights ago my poor baby was miserable, and for those of you who don't know...  miserable baby = miserable mommy.  It breaks my heart to see him so upset. It's also frustrating to have tried so many different strategies and your baby is still not himself. Add in wee hours of the morning and it's worse.

I've  been up researching everything from symptoms of teething to ways to sooth him.  I figured I could put my research to good use and share some of the things I've found.  Please take all with a grain of salt. I'm not a doctor nor do I claim to be.  But here are some things I've found.

Symptoms:

Dooling
rash on cheeks/chin (usually from the drool)
gum swelling/ sensitivity
biting and chewing
refusing to eat
sleep problems
irritability
coughing
other cold like symptoms
pulling at ears
Low grade fever
Diarrhea

I think it's important to point out that not all of these symptoms have been proven to be linked to teething... But many of you will agree that they are.

My first Munchkin had a fever, drool, and diarrea (TMI?) Little Bear is going through it with drool, chewing, refusing to eat, irritably, coughing, fever, and he's pulling at his ears, and trouble sleeping.    My poor baby. Some days/ nights are worse than others. The following are some strategies I've found online, some I've tried, some I haven't.

Cold bottles
Teething rings/toys
Teething gel
Infant pain relief drops
Cold or frozen washcloth let baby chew on it
There is always the handy finger (one of my son's favorite)
Cut a banana into strips and freeze, let baby chew
There's always infant pain relief... Tylenol or motrin (or similar)
Some more natural remedies include teething tablets from Hyland or Borion
Formula frozen like an ice pop
Unfinished wooden toys

With everything, common sense plays a big role... Be sure you monitor baby closely, and be very careful about choking hazards.

You can find some more useful tips here and here

With boy number one I only used a few teething toys. As I mentioned before he didn't teeth very hard. With boy number two, I've tried cold bottles, cold teething toys (I think he likes this best), oragel(This didn't really work so great so I've stopped using it), my finger, infant acetaminophen drops for fever and pain. At night the infant drops worked well for me, Not everyone is into medicine but if it makes my baby feel better, I'm all about it! He also likes to chew on the cold washcloth... He didn't like holding the frozen one.

Fresh from the fridge!

The very first night I couldn't console Little Bear, I didn't realize his teeth were bothering him. I tried nursing, then a bottle, walking, rocking, and even just patting on the back and nothing worked. When I finally got him to sleep he shortly woke up again crying. By the end of the night we were both in tears and I had snapped at my husband.

The next night I was prepared with some Pepperidge Farm cookies (hey shouldn't I be rewarded for staying up all night?), along with infant drops, and cold teethers waiting.  Fortunately for both of us he had a much better night, and only woke a few times and was easily soothed back to sleep.

At this point both bottom teeth have poked through so I think the worse is over.  I hear that each new set of teeth come in easier... lets hope so.