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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies II: Teething

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Teething

After your baby reaches the age of six months, you may notice the precocious tyke trying to whittle the crib with his mouth. This is the age when he begins to gnaw on just about anything within gumming distance. It's not only a tender age--it's an age when gums are tender and teeth are pushing through, and all this eager-beaver gum work is an aggressive way to help teeth break through the gums.

"Teething is really more fretful than painful," says Lewis Leavitt, M.D., professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison. "The baby may be very fretful, but usually he's consolable."

Tell that to junior! As those new choppers are pushing through, your child may fuss and cry for hours on end. Parents can't do much to change the scenario, but they can do a thing or two about those overworked gums. Here's how.

Become a crooner. "Probably the best thing a parent can do is to soothe his child," suggests Dr. Leavitt. "A good place to start is by singing or humming to the baby while holding him." Rocking in a rocking chair at the same time can also help soothe and distract your teething child.

Cool those gums. Chewing rings and teething toys do help a child who is teething, but they seem to be even more effective when they've been refrigerated.

Anything that's cold and hard to bite will help," says Becky Luttkus, head instructor of the National Academy of Nannies in Denver. "A wet washcloth placed in the refrigerator not the freezer--is an excellent choice. The best choice is a white rather than a color-dyed washcloth--that way, baby won't get any dyes into his system."

Try a rubdown. Simply massaging the baby's gums with your finger is easy and often helpful. And if you place a small gauze pad on your finger, you can kill two birds with one stone--you'll relieve teething pain and help clean the baby's mouth, says John A. Bogert, D.D.S., executive director of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry in Chicago.

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