“It gets better as they get older.” This is what you’re told when you have a new born and haven’t slept in days. What they don’t tell you is once you think it is getting better, your babies teeth are planning to make it worse than ever. For babies, teething is like being sick but 10x worse. It is painful and rough. It’s even worse for parents to see their baby in pain with no way to help. Or is there?
There are possible tips and tricks to helping the pain your baby is feeling when teething. Many parents get a teething ring. But did you try putting it in the freezer? This is an ancient trick. If you are uncomfortable with teething rings, you can give your baby an oversized frozen vegetable to suck on such as a peeled carrot. Another thing to put in the freezer/refrigerator is a pacifier. Any of these will do the trick of southing the pain and helping the swelling. (If you decide to put something in the freezer, only keep in for 5 minutes. Temperatures too cold can result in discomfort.)
Another tip is to keep control of drooling. Drooling can dry up and cause skin irritation around your baby’s mouth. The last thing your child needs is another reason to be in pain.
It is best to keep babies away from sugar while they are teething. These sweets can include ice pops and chilled juice. Sugar causes buildup of bacteria and during teething, it is important to keep your child’s mouth out of harm’s way.
At Oakwood Dental Arts, we see babies as young as a year old to check on their baby teeth and make sure their gums are doing well.