Oh hi. Turns out we may have a pretty tangible reason (& you know I always love a reason) why Captain Adorable has turned into Captain Rage. Upstairs AND downstairs teeth!
The one upstairs isn’t as advanced as downstairs. The one in the bottom gum you can actually feel and see a bit of the tooth pushing through. But oh my goodness does it hurt!
I have some teething rings in the freezer, as well as a damp washcloth- but are there any other tricks that I can use that will make this rite of passage go any easier? I’ve got a call into his doctor (because, yes, I AM that new Mama) to make sure I do everything as right as I can.
And also- and this may be a stupid question- but now that teeth are involved how will our breastfeeding relationship change. Or to be more direct: is this going to hurt me???
I really am so glad to have an explanation for the reccord number of poops and the fussy, cranky, all day drama baby. I just hate that he hurts so much.
{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
We love tylenol and motrin around here (no motrin until 6 months, btw.)
As far as BF, we did fine with the initial barely-there teeth, then C tried to bite a few times, which was met with a startled “Ouch, that hurts Mama” and pulling her off. Nipped it right in the bud (no pun intended.) E doesn’t have enough tooth yet to bite, but will use the same on her. They adjust their latch, and sometimes you’re a little sore from that, but biting’s not a big deal around here.
Wow! Teeth already huh?
Drugs. Find out from the doc how much Tylenol he can have, go buy tons of it (the generic works just as well and is much cheaper), and dose him religiously. Motrin works a lot better, but he’s too young for it. Hyland’s teething tablets are supposed to work well, too. They’re homeopathic and pricey, but a lot of my friends swear by them (I haven’t noticed that they work so well on my kid).
I don’t have much biting advice, as we were done with breast feeding before he started teething, but my mom and aunt both told me to flick his cheek if he ever bit/chomped/tried to mangle me. They claim it’s a miracle cure for boob biting.
Tylenol works wonders for teething pain. My son liked to gnaw on a Zweibach biscuit when his teeth were coming in.
When babies are in pain they can’t drink a martini or yell at their wives. The only option they have is to nurse desperately as if their very lives depend on it. You’re really their only source of comfort at that age. How’s THAT for putting the guilt and pressure on?
There are some OTC ointments that you can rub on babies’ gums to dull the pain. The old timers recommended dipping your finger in brandy and rubbing a little on the budding tooth but that’s frowned upon now.
I don’t remember being bitten very much when I was breastfeeding but I remember feeling very depleted and bored and somewhat like a cow. That’s why I weaned him at five months. I was tired of pumping while I was at work and feeling like my body wasn’t my own anymore.
Good luck.
Awww, poor baby. I would cry too if I had new teeth coming in!
Tylenol. Also the evil teeth-numbing goo in small quantities if it gets REAL bad. But too much of it can make your baby grow an additional head. heh.
If he like to chew on a frozen wet wash cloth, that’s good. Frozen bagels can be good (watch that he doesn’t chew off a big hunk as it gets soggier). Others have suggested frozen fruits, but I’ve never tried that. Good luck!
oh, and nursing? I think it gets worse when the top teeth come in. My boys drew blood at times. Yeah, lovely, eh? But they learn, and then it only hurts now and then. Just gotta get past the biting stage. Yeech!
Er, I’m writing for a FRICKIN 3RD TIME because I just realized that W is not old enough for bagels or fruit yet. Keep those in your back pocket for when he’s the ripe old age of 6 mo+.
We use Hylands teething tables. They are homeopathic and seem to take the edge off enough for baby to be not quite so angry all the time.
As for nursing, yes, he may bite you. When this happened to me I would gently flick my finger on baby’s cheek and say “no”. That ususally took care of the issue.
I second the Hyland teething tablets. If it’s a particularly bad day, Motrin works better and lasts longer than Tylenol.
Hyland teething tablets never worked for us, but many moms swear by them. Worth a try! Nothing helps my son but Motrin. My memory agrees with a previous poster, though, in that you can’t give them Motrin until they are six months old.
If it makes you feel better, I have *never* had a problem with my son biting me with his teeth, and he is almost 17 months old. Hopefully you’ll have the same luck!
Hyland’s teething tablets work really well for my little munchkin. They seem to have a nice calming effect and help her sleep better while she’s teething. They are in the vitamin aisle at wally-world, not the baby aisle as you would expect. They’re in a small light blue and pink box.
And as far as the mouth full of teeth and breastfeeding go… you’re nipples will get used to the extra scraping just like they got used to nursing in the first place. Good luck!
Oh yes, it will hurt if he bites. Hopefully he will only bite a couple of times. Otherwise, it won’t hurt.
I probably did the wrong thing when Erik bit me. I screamed and slapped his head. He only did it a couple of times.
I also second Hyland’s teething tabs.
Peeper’s only had teeth for about a week, and they are on the bottom, so I’ve not been bitten seriously yet.
I’ve read, though, that you should try not to react strongly, because it can either scare them into a nursing strike (my LLL leader said that happened w/one of hers) or (WORSE!) they think it’s funny when Mama yells, so they learn how to make it happen again!
All that said, most of the world nurses their kids for several years and they all have teeth. It’s just a bump in the road along the way.
Teething can really suck sometimes. My girls, luckily, were mainly good with it, but they did have their moments. I used baby orajel and teething tablets that dissolve under the tongue.
Another vote for the teething tablets. We get “Little Teethers” because they are cheaper than Hyland’s. But you know how on Alias they would shoot bad guys with the tranquilizer gun and they would fall in a heap? That’s what the teething tablets do to our little guy, at least sometimes. Chills him right out. You’re not supposed to give a baby Tylenol for more than five-seven days in a row and you can’t exceed the maximum daily dosage, so we save the Tylenol for bad days and rely on the tablets.
Go for Hylands before you go for Tylenol. Tylenol actually reduces the level of glutathione, a very important antioxident. Avoid it at all costs. esp. if you’re getting him a shot while he’s teething.
we did those frozen teethers.
Once he hit 6 months, we let him gnaw on frozen veggies. We never did fruit because we wanted to get him used to veggie flavors before fruit flavors. they both work in those mesh chew thingies. broccoli was particularly loved over here.
Hylands also makes a teething gel. less scary stuff that orajel. its homeopathic. You can also get homeopathic arnica in liquid safe to consume form. i’m forgetting the name of the brand we used, but if it comes to me I’ll let you know. I literally rubbed it into his gums. Rubbing was good too. lots of rubbing.
The front teeth are a PIECE of CAKE compared to molars.
breastfeeding – first time he bites, you do NOT react, and pull him off. tell him ow, it hurts, and he’ll stop.
good luck.
Tylenol (as W gets older – past 6 months) alternate with Motrin. Drugs are your friend.
Beware of some of the homeopathic tablets as they can contain ingredients that are not so safe for babies.
You’ll often find teething rings hurled in frustration and rage – Razz-berry teether is good – anything hard to chew on.
As for nursing, he bites you once, you pull off and say Ow. Repeat as per necessary – don’t be too harsh as he can react badly. And just think that there’s only about a year more of teething to go!
I second (third, fourth, fifth?) the Hylands. As for nursing… if his latch is good (tongue over his bottom teeth/gumline) he shouldn’t be able to get you with those. Bub got teeth at 3 mos, he had tops and bottoms by 5 mos, so I had to be *really* carefully and watch for him to loosen his latch. For a while I kept my finger right there and as soon as he looked like he was done or loosened up his latch, I swooped my nipple outta there.
Hi,
A midwife advised me not to shout or flick etc as it could put them off feeding, and they don’t really know what they are doing. She suggested that if they bite rather than pulling them off to actually push them in towards your boob whilst saying a firm no- this will mean they have to let go in order to breath!! Thus being less painful for you instead wrenching them off mid bite and also unpleasent for them which hopefully means they won’t do it again!! Obviously she only meant for a couple of secs as you obviously don’t want them to actually stop breathing.
I always found medicine was best at releaving pain as well as the homeopathic crystals. Once older sticks of cucumber and frozen carrot good too – but watch to see that bits don’t break off and cause choking.
Quick aside, know it’s a little while yet but have you thought much about solid food yet – would highly recommend baby led weaning (see http://www.babyledweaning.com etc). I was very sceptical but it has worked really well for my little one. You would need to do bit of reading up etc so that’s why mentioned now but links quite well with teeth!!
Good luck with the teething!!
When I weaned P at 10ish months he had 8 or 10 teeth, but I don’t think he had bitten me once. I think he enjoyed breastfeeding too much to jeopardize it by biting.
Adam only bit me ONCE, I squeezed his little cheeks and gave him a firm “NO, THAT HURTS MOMMY”…it worked.
I have the teething tablets, haven’t used them yet, but baby orajel works very well, and it only take a teeny tiny amount rubbed on the gums.
It actually shouldn’t really affect BF too much as they suck with the roof of their mouth and the thrust of their tongue…
J. likes ice in one of those teething feeder things. (The mesh bag with the ring.) And I second the drugs….Tylenol!! Hugs to Captain Adorable.
As long as he doesn’t bite down, you won’t even notice the teeth.
Let him gum on a ginger snap. The spiciness of them seemed to help numb my boys’ gums while they were teething.
And, drugs…but don’t forget that you can give motrin and tylenol at the same time. They work completely differently to kill pain so they are asfe to give at the same time. Just remember that motrin can only be given every 6 to 8 hours while tylenol can be given every 4. Interestingly enough, since they kill pain differently, they seem to have a synergistic relationship and work much, much better together than separate.
I’m still nursing a 33 month old with a full mouth of teeth, so. . . hasn’t bothered me TOO much. When she did bite, I would pull her into my boob so it covered her nose and mouth, and then let her off when she opened her mouth. she only bites now if she’s falling asleep and falling off my lap at the same time.
Tylenol and motrin are amazing, and we dosed our daughter with them liberally. But they aren’t zero toxicity, so use them after other methods have failed. One thing we found that worked really well was to get an Otter Pop (or hippie fruit-juice equivalent) and make a tiny, tiny hole in it. She would gum at the popsicle frantically to keep the sweet nectar of HFCS and Red Dye #2 coming, and it both distracted her and numbed her gums.
tylenol, teething tablets and orajel. All at once if needed. LM only bit me twice. Both times I took him off, and he waited until the next feding time (or at least long enough that he’d get the hint). He didn’t like it, so he was generally good. The bottom teethers arent the ones to worry about — the top teeth are.
I also used frozen bananas in a teething pop thing. (They look like ring pops with a mesh net on the top.) Or a washcloth with an ice cube in it held in by a hair tye or rubber band. I will admit that there were times when the old school whiskey on the gums approach was very tempting! Good luck!
Whiskey
Or, you know, those other less pioneer suggestions the ladies above offered.
Good luck!
I found that TTG wants to feed more frequently when teething, especially during the night. At the beginning (1st tooth at 4 months) he did bite a couple of times. He was just a baby, obviously didn’t mean anything by it and was just experimenting to see what these new things in his mouth were all about, so I guess you could say we “did” nothing. They can’t bite and drink at the same time so I think they figure that out on their own pretty quickly.
He’s nearly 12 months now and has 12 teeth. If anything breastfeeding is a lot easier now. Having teeth has helped improve his latch, and of course he’s bigger and we both have a better idea of what we’re doing and it’s great!
I’ll also add that teethign makes his pee smell fishy and gives him a red bottom.
I’m a little late with the comment (vacation) – but just wanted to say that I’m sorry you’re dealing with disrupted sleep and crankiness due to teething. Every tooth has been a painful process around here, so I sympathize. The good news is, this too shall pass! (And be replaced by something else.) Also wanted to say that I tried lots of non-drug ways of soothing teething pain (Hylands, cold things, etc), to no avail. Tylenol and then Motrin, once she was 6 months, worked wonders for us.