by Vicki Davis

Created on: January 23, 2009

Babies can begin teething as early as 3 months of age and some do not get the molars until three years or older. This time span can vary greatly from baby to baby and means that you will spend a lot of months helping your child cope with teething pain. When this first begins your child will likely not have the means to communicate with you and it will come across as a fussy, grumpy baby. Some signs you can look for is excessive soothing, biting, vigorous sucking, low grade fever, and even ear pulling. The youngest of babies don't understand teething pain, and they may even have an increased appetite as an attempt to self sooth. There are both natural and medicinal ways in which you can help sooth your teething baby.

The earliest signs of teething begin when the teeth buds are forming. These will not be visible, but if you feel your child's gums you may notice little bumps. Often a baby will get its front two bottom teeth first, with the top two teeth to follow. Most babies will not get back molars until around 18 months old, but the buds start forming much sooner.

In order to help a teething baby sleep through the night you can give them baby Motrin or Tylenol to ease the pain and reduce teething fever. In my experience the teething pain was the worst when the teeth "cut" or broke through the skin. While the buds are forming, or a completely "cut" tooth is growing in, there can still be discomfort, but this is typically less then when they are breaking through. As with any medicine be sure to read all of the labels, double check the dosages, and make sure not to give second doses without the allotted wait time, and check with your pediatrician if the fever or pain lasts longer than 3 days or seems excessive, they may actually be sick.

Another medicinal treatment is a topical gel to help numb the area. Be careful to put this only on the swollen, red, or irritated area of the mouth and avoid the tongue, it is also wise to use this after a feeding, so there is a reduced chance to drinking or sucking issues because of the numbness. There are also teething tablets that can be placed under the babies tongue and will dissolve and ease pain, one such brand it highlands.

When a baby is teething you could try to give them cold or warmed formula or breast milk the change in temperature can be soothing. In addition to cold or frozen teething rings you can take a wet wash cloth and freeze it and let them suck and chew on that. Often massaging around there mouth can help ease pain as well. Pressure of the painful surface helps to relieve it, so providing them a good surface to chew on helps as well. Also remember that as your baby gets there first teeth, they will not realize that there bite will hurt more, so watch little fingers when they try and bite themselves with their new teeth.

As a child gets older you can use Popsicles, frozen fruit, or ice chips. Sometimes all your baby needs is your love and affection, so sooth them with a song, hold them tight, and rock them to sleep. Let them know you are there even if you can't make their pain go completely away.

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