My daughter Sophia sprouted her first two teeth (bottom incisors)sometime between 4 and 41/2 months old. The thing is I knew she would be an early developer because she seemed to be developing quickly in other areas. I'd noticed her bottom rice grains around four months. Her second tooth came in shortly after. During this time breastfeeding was a breeze but I'll talk about that in the next post.
>>Fast forward
Last month at 7 months I could feel her
top two teeth coming through. So, one morning I was surprised to see four instead
of two. The top two middle ones (central incisors) and the ones along the sides
(lateral incisors).
Well, me being me I'm not sure why I felt anxious. Maybe because I’d enjoyed breastfeeding so much that I wasn’t looking forward to
any pain or discomfort. Or that the weather was super warm and she was already on the fussier side. Or maybe because she had breezed through the
first two with little discomfort and I wasn’t sure what these four would bring. Anyway, anxiety has me a tiny bit in its grip 😬 but I'll survive. I'm also using this teething chart that I've adapted using Affinity Designer. On the blank lines I'll write when her teeth comes through.
Signs
So, Sophia’s signs of teething were very obvious to us. She experienced
lots of drooling, swollen and tender gums, biting, fussiness, disturbed sleep, and feeding irritability. She didn’t break out
with any rashes on her face or buttocks. Her diapers pretty much stayed the
same as far as poop💩 goes. So grateful for that🙏!
Comfort during teething
We helped Sophia get through the pain by using something cool to bite on.
This could be a cool cloth, bite ring or food. We also used some numbing baby
drops on a Q-tip. Numbing drops are the bomb when used correctly. Incorrect application can lead to numbing the tongue and throat which could lead to suffocation.
Caring for baby teeth
As soon as Sophia’s first teeth
completely came through I started to gently brush them twice per day using just
water and a small toothbrush. Now that she has more teeth we’ve added a drop of
toothpaste. Her bedtime routine is pretty simple.
Sophia has her dinner (5:30 pm) before we do so when daddy comes home he gives
her a bath, clean diaper, body lotion,
PJ's. Then she joins us at the dinner table and gets her bottle while we have dinner
(6:00-6:30 pm). After we brush her teeth and wipe her tongue (water
& cloth), sleep sack, story time and in
bed by 7 pm. Sometimes she
would get a dream feed or some water to remove any food left on her teeth that can cause tooth decay.
What we don’t do
· Use her bottle as a comforter
and we do not let her sleep or nap with a
bottle or pacifier in the mouth. (She usually spits it out anyway)
·
Add sugar to her baby food
·
Throughout the day she only
drinks water because we don’t believe in giving baby’s
sweet drinks including fruit juice. Milk and water are the most
tooth-friendly drinks.
Now that she has six teeth we're really looking forward to preparing soft bite size finger foods. I can't wait to experiment with different finger foods and to see her feed herself. It's going to melt my heart😍. If your little one is showing signs of teething don't freak out but take it one day at a time. If you have any tips please leave below.
XOXO, Niki
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