Teething
Teething is a time we all dread as parents. On the one hand it is wonderful when our children grow some teeth and they can eat more foods, on the other it can mean a very unhappy baby with even more lost sleep for the parents.
A baby will cut their first teeth at around 6 months to a year but it varies greatly with all children. The incisors (the front teeth) generally appear first and will usually cause less pain than the arrival of the canines and molars. A child will normally have all it's milk teeth by the age of three.
Teething Symptoms
Some babies teethe with little or no symptoms and some suffer with a lot of pain. Note that teething is not an illness and as such your child will not suffer from fever or diarrhoea, this would indicate something else is wrong. If your baby is irritable and has some or all of the following symptoms then they are probably teething -
- red cheeks
- dribbling more than normal
- crying more than normal
- disturbed sleep
- general irritableness
- chewing anything they can find
Pain Relief
If your baby is in pain then some extra cuddling and attention will not go a miss. In addition to this try -
- Rubbing their gums with a teething gel.
- Give them a teething ring that has been cooled in the fridge
- Give them un-sweetened cold drinks and foods
- Calpol or Nurofen for Children
Don't forget that once teeth start to emerge it is time to protect the teeth with brushing twice a day.
NOTE:
The health section of Parenting.co.uk is not to be used as a substitute for your GP; if your child is ill then seek the advice of a qualified doctor or other health professional without delay.
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