Quadratooth

Joanna's fourth tooth made an appearance yesterday!  There's a corner that's not all the way through the gums yet, which has made for one cranky baby.  I took a frozen waffle, tore off bite-size bits, and let her chew on the chilly deliciousness.  Success!

Natural Teething Remedies

Jo's third tooth finally broke through her gums on Friday!

Oliver's first four teeth had come through all at once.  In fact, he got one on the bottom, followed by one on the top before the other bottom one came through. So, when Jo's first two teeth lower came in a couple months ago, I assumed her two upper teeth were close behind.  Nope!  We waited two months for this bad boy.

I'll tell you one thing that's similar to her brother, though: Joanna doesn't teethe well.  All day Friday and Saturday, she wanted to nurse.  Jo usually doesn't care about nursing much, but for two days, she just kept smacking her head on my shoulder and sucking on my skin.  Let's just say we've taken a few steps backward in the weaning process.  She also started shrugging her shoulders, as if her ears were in pain.  I was actually about to ask my mother-in-law, a physician's assistant, to check her ears for infection when the tooth finally broke through.

Teething isn't much easier the second time around.  It got me thinking about first time parents.  I remember how tough it was figuring out what to do to help my baby.  Most of us are very reluctant to use medication to treat gum pain, especially when our babies are very young.  I've asked around and came up with a list of natural teething remedies.  Some have worked better than others for my kids, but all children are different, so try them out to see what works for you.

Green Onions
One of the nurses at the health department swore by this remedy.  She told me it was the only thing that worked for her babies.  She told me that she washed some green onions really well and then stuck them in the freezer.  Once frozen, she handed them to her baby to chomp on.  I tried this remedy with Oliver at an age when he put anything and everything into his mouth.  He would not chew on the onions.  Jo chomped away and seemed to enjoy it, but it quickly lost its rigidity.  After a few minutes, I chose to take it away from her rather than have to fish out pieces of onion from her mouth.

Frozen Wash Cloth
I'm not going to lie to you.  I learned this teething method back when my last dog, Bailey, was a puppy.  When puppies are teething, they chew up everything.  This worked for her, so I reasoned, why not try it for my babies?  Run a clean wash cloth under water.  Ring it out so that it's just damp, tie it into a knot, and then stick it in the freezer.  By tying it into a knot first, it stays frozen longer.  Hand it to your baby to chomp on, or, if they're too little or don't like touching the cold cloth, just hold it yourself.

Thumb Knuckle
You're not going to always have something handy for your baby to chew on.  When you're in a pinch, just wash your hands and let your baby chomp on the bottom-most part of your thumb.  Babies can bite hard, but I've found that the fatty part of my thumb and that bottom knuckle can take the pain well.

Corn Cob
My friend told me her boys loved chomping their gums on empty corn cobs.  I was so intrigued by her suggestion that I went out to the store and bought some corn that very day.  After we cooked and ate our corn, my husband took a knife and scraped off the remaining bits of corn from the cooled cob.  He also cut off one end that was pretty flimsy.  Once we were confident our baby wouldn't be able to break off any pieces of the cob, we gave it to her.  Oh my.  I'm pretty sure this was the baby equivalent of winning the lottery.  She wouldn't give her cob up for anything.  I can't say for sure that it helped with any teething pain, but, at the very least, it distracted her from it because she cared about nothing but that cob.  Since then, we've given her a scraped cob every time we've eaten corn on the cob.  She's always overjoyed.  In fact, she recognizes corn cobs now, and she kicks excitedly and yells at us in anticipation during dinner when we serve corn.

Frozen Waffle
Would you believe that I first heard about this idea back in the 90s, watching an episode of Home Improvement?  I gave Oliver a frozen waffle when he was still quite little to help with teething pain, but he gummed hunks of waffle off.  I kept having to fish the pieces out of his mouth to prevent choking.  I nixed the waffle idea until he was a bit older.  At about a year old, the frozen waffle worked like a charm.  We'd give him a waffle straight from the freezer, and he'd eat it as is.  Chewing the frozen waffle helped numb his gums and gave him relief.

Thank Heaven for Tooth Number Eleven

On Friday, January 28, I went out with my friends after Oliver went to bed. Andrew stayed home, and his friend Drew came over. Oliver woke up every 1-2 hours, screaming and crying. We had no idea what was going on because he always sleeps through the night.

The next morning, I felt his gums, and I could feel a bulge on his bottom right. His top two molars had come through recently, so I knew he was getting his bottom one. I also knew that teething is only supposed to last about five days. We had a week of sleepless nights. Oliver would go to bed at 7:30pm and get up at 9pm, 11pm, 2am, 4am, before getting up for the day at 5am. It was rough. A few of those nights, we gave him a bit of generic infant Tylenol (dye-free), and it would help him until about midnight, but then the wake-ups would continue.

Most mornings, his nose would be stuffy. I figured it was a side effect of drooling and fussing and crying at night. Of course, most pediatricians swear that stuffy noses are not a side effect of teething. He's also been shoving his fingers in his ears and mouth nonstop. He doesn't have a fever, so I felt fairly confident that it's not an infection.

Andrew's not good at feeling the gums. I'd feel them every day and update him, "I can feel the point of the tooth through the gum, but it's not through yet!"

Well, today, I would like to say, the gum has split! I can't feel the tooth yet, but I can see the dark hole where the gum is split. I should be able to feel the tooth tonight or in the morning.

So, to all the pediatricians out there who say teething doesn't cause stuffy noses and only takes a maximum of five days, I would like to say, "Shove it." Oliver teethed for thirteen days, and he had a stuffy nose when he woke up.

It's a relief to know the tooth is here. I'm looking forward to interrupted sleep and a less crabby toddler! I'm also glad I won't have to see him writhe in pain anymore (at least, until the next molar decides to make an appearance).

Those Teeth Keep Coming

Oliver's been working on cutting his upper canines for a couple of weeks now. These ones are driving him crazy! I like that I can see the canines through the side of the gums. They're getting close to the gum line now, so I think they'll pop within a week. Hopefully, that'll give our little guy some relief.

He has his bottom central incisors, and I'm starting to suspect that the other bottom incisors are on their way in as well. He keeps feeling that area on his gums.

At the WIC office last week, he was teething like crazy and quite crabby over the forthcoming canines. The nurse who helped me told me about a trick she learned from a friend--green onions. She told me to wash them well and freeze them solid. Apparently, babies love chomping on them, and then the cold helps numb their gums. I had green onions at home, so as soon as we got back, I washed one and put it in the freezer.

When it was ready, I proudly handed it to Oliver. He thought I was crazy and dismissed it without so much as giving it a single chomp. Why is it this kid puts every speck of dirt, crumbs, and paper into his mouth, but as soon as I want him to try something, he won't? My little boy has a mind of his own; that's for sure.

Third Tooth!

Never have I updated my blog so many times in one day, but Oliver's top right tooth just came in! He officially has three teeth.

Oliver the Jack-o-Lantern

Oliver's teeth aren't coming in typical order! Yesterday, his top left one started to pop through. This means his bottom right and top left are in. Ha!

Tooth!

Oliver's bottom right tooth erupted from his gums today!

Teeth for Real This Time?

Oliver hasn't been sleeping well since Friday night. I thought it was from the vaccinations he'd received on Thursday. He slept very well Thursday night but was cranky throughout the day on Friday and cried throughout that night. Saturday night was the same, only he was screaming as well. At 11pm on Saturday, we took Oliver to the ER. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to go at first. What would I say? He didn't have a fever or anything. Still, Oliver is not usually a screamer, and I felt something was wrong.

The pediatrician at the hospital was so nice. I liked her a lot. She checked Oliver everywhere and examined every finger and toe. She was slightly concerned about his skin. She said she's reluctant to diagnose it as eczema yet but that we should keep an eye on it. Ollie's pediatrician had also questioned me on any family history of eczema (Grandma Jo had a mild case, and my sister, Julie, had a mild case). It makes me worry, but it also makes me feel good that neither of them diagnosed him with it. The pediatrician at the hospital said the rash on his body was not hives nor eczema, and it went away shortly after. I think it was from stress because that's what my skin does when I get stressed, too. In the end, she deemed Oliver a healthy baby but told me to come back if he developed a fever or any other new symptoms.

Neither of the pediatricians felt teeth in Oliver, but yesterday (Wednesday), there was a drastic change in his gums. His tooth buds are raised more, and I can see a line in each bud that looks like the top of a tooth. Also, looking at the gums straight on, I can see the outline of teeth (where you and I have our tooth roots). I think the teeth have been coming up slowly throughout the week and bothering him, but that's just speculation.

Today, Oliver woke up at 5:30am crying. He was exhausted and kept rubbing his eyes, but he wouldn't go back to sleep. He spent the morning crabby and tired, but he wouldn't go to sleep. Finally, at 7:30am, we gave him some infant Tylenol (don't worry; it's not the recalled lot), and he's been sleeping ever since.

I hope it's teeth because, if it's not, there's definitely something bothering him. If he doesn't have teeth by Monday and is still crabby, I'm going to call his pediatrician and have her check him out again.

It's Official...

...Oliver is rolling over! I came into his bedroom at 5am this morning to nurse him, and I discovered him on his tummy. He'd flopped over sometime between 2am and 5am! As you might recall, on the Friday before last, Ollie rolled over from tummy to back twice (he hasn't done that since). He's going to be a rolling fool before I know it!

In other news, his teeth STILL haven't popped through. He goes through periods where the tooth buds don't bother him at all and other times where he gnaws on everything. Yesterday, I thought I could finally feel the tooth on his bottom left. I'm thinking it shouldn't be long now, but I've thought that many times before. I can't wait to see those teeth!

And Then There Were Tooth Buds

Oliver is teething big time! I'm not sure if it's good or bad that he's teething early. On the one hand, I'd pretty much always prefer to get the hard stuff over and done with. On the other hand, he's not really able to chomp (although he's getting better) or hold teething toys to his mouth for more than 2 seconds at a time.

I can see a couple of tooth buds on his bottom (see the photo!). They've been visible for a few days, but I don't think they're getting any bigger. The last week (since 5:30pm last Friday), he's been very cranky from them, but I think they've been bothering him off and on for a month or so.

Colleen came over on Wednesday and brought about a dozen different teething toys for him. He likes the one that vibrates, but he doesn't bite hard enough to make it vibrate himself. So I hold it up to his mouth and press down for him! Ha. He also has a teething book, a teething blanket, a teething elephant (that he loves, but not for teething), and some cute little teething animal toys. It seems to help. He was in a great mood Wednesday evening and only got up twice that night. Thursday morning, he stayed in his good mood, but by the afternoon, he was freaking out.

I busted out the frozen washcloth from the freezer. He hates it so much at first, but then it must start numbing his gums because he starts sucking on it. Oooh, and my knuckle is working really well. He'll really chomp on my knuckle.

I really hope his teeth pop soon. It's very, very hard to see him in so much pain. Yesterday, he would shriek as he'd chomp on my knuckle. It went as follows: Chomp, chomp, shriek!, chomp, shriek!, chomp, chomp.

Last night, after crying for about two hours straight, he went to sleep. He only got up once at night!!! Well, I guess he got up again at 4am. I woke up to him crying softly, and it brought tears to my eyes. I went to his room. He was wiggling a bit, but he'd stopped crying. I watched him as he fell back asleep (he didn't even need me!).

This morning, he was in a great mood for about an hour, but he started crying again. Now, I'm not one of those moms who can listen to her baby cry and think, "That's his hungry cry." Almost all his cries sound the same to me, except his cries of pain. This morning, he started doing his pain cry. I cry, too, when he does that. I just rubbed his gums (which, by the way, is hard to do because I know it hurts him more at first before it starts making him feel better). Eventually, he fell asleep from that, and now he's napping away.

My poor, poor baby. I wish his teeth didn't hurt him so much. I hope so badly they pop through very soon.