Teething in babies is one of the important milestones in their life. Although teething is a painful phase, this can be eased out as well if it is been understood properly. Hence, this blog will help you to understand the "Teething in babies" in detail. It includes all basic yet vital information related to the teething phase that every parent should know.
Teething is said to be the occurrence of the first tooth in your baby's gums. The teething in babies starts at the age of around 6 months to 9 months. Although it has been also observed in some of the cases that teething has actually been started at the age of 9 months or even later. Then onwards teeth eventually grow and make the primary set of teeth.
Most of the parents ask that their 3 months old baby is drooling too much, is it a sign of teething? The answer to the same is 'Not exactly'.
From the age of 3 months onwards, a baby starts exploring his mouth and plays with its saliva (which is a new thing for him), therefore he/she loves to play with it; so drooling happens.
In a typical situation, the first tooth which appears in babies is the lower central incisors (the middle teeth of the lower front) and by the age of 3 years, a baby should have his/her a complete set of primary teeth or milk teeth.
Primary Teeth or Milk teeth are the set of 20 teeth which are not permanent. In each arch of the gums, there are
2 central incisors
2 lateral incisors
2 canines
4 molars.
Following is the image of Children's Primary Teeth which can be used for reference.
So, if your baby is going to have its first tooth, then it may not be an easy phase for him/her. There are certain common teething symptoms which indicate the budding of the first tooth. These teething symptoms are as follows:
Drooling - This is an early symptom of teething in babies. While teething, mouth produces excess saliva which comes out of the mouth and infants loves playing with it. However, make sure that your baby's mouth is clean and dry even during this drooling stage. Please remember, do not rub or wipe saliva with wet facial cloth or wipes, rather use a clean and soft cotton cloth.
Red and inflamed swollen gums - As the teeth are emerging out of the gums, gums have become tender and swollen. And factually, they become painful too. Hence, to comfort your baby from the pain associated with swollen gums, give a gentle massage from your properly cleaned forefinger. The pressure which is been given at the time of massage relieves your baby. Alternatively, you can also give water teether to your baby to play as well as to chew. However, you have to follow some cleaning and hygiene instructions too with Water teether but it is safe. If you are willing to buy one for your little one, you can click the link here - Water Teethers for Baby.
Biting everything and chewing too much - Due to the swollen gums, infants tend to bite almost everything which they take into their mouth. They start chewing their favourite toys, fingers, and even they bite while they are taking a feed from their mum. This particular pattern and activity help them to relieve themselves as they get pressure on the gums.
Mild rashes around the mouth area - It happens due to drooling. As more saliva is produced, it leads to some rashes around its mouth, chin and neck. Therefore, do not rub the mouth of your baby with harsh hands, and even not too often.
Irritable and cranky behaviour - Due to all above-mentioned symptoms of teething, anyone may become cranky and fussy and therefore the baby will do as well. To give comfort and soothe to your baby, snuggle him/her more often and spend more time with him. This will help your baby to relieve from this discomfort and pain.
Apart from the above-mentioned common teething symptoms in babies, there are some other symptoms too that are not so common but sometimes been observed. They are Diarrhoea and Teething Fever. Here Diarrhoea happens due to excess saliva production, which is when swallowed may disturb the gastric system of a body. Secondly, due to the swollen gums, a baby tends to put everything in his mouth and that object may not be clean always. Hence due to several encounters with these unhygienic and uncleaned objects, intestinal infections are more obvious which results in diarrhoea.
On the other hand, teething fever is not actually a true fever - a body temperature over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Here, you may notice an elevated temperature of a body but it does not become a major cause of concern.
How to relax a teething baby?
We all understand that teething is a painful and unpleasant phase of a baby's milestone, still, it can be handled easily if one tries the following ways to soothe a teething baby.
When teething starts in infants, their gums become swollen and tender. As a result, babies feel discomfort and uneasiness. As a result, babies feel restless and uneasy. To soothe a teething baby, give the child something that he can use to suppress the gums. You can give him/her any water-based teether or even any vegetable, which is quite tough to chew. In this case, you may consider giving raw, cleaned and peeled carrot. Make sure the carrot stick is neither too short nor too long to hold. Furthermore, you have to be quite vigilant when you give carrot or any other vegetable to your child to see if it does not get too dirty due to its prolonged use. In the case of water teethers as well, there are certain instructions to be followed at the time of its use. They should be properly cleaned and kept in a refrigerator for making them cool, before their use.
Gently massage your baby gums with your cleaned forefinger. It will give them relief from the pain due to the swollen gums.
Remember do not give any teething ring or teething necklace to your baby as it may choking hazards in your baby. Furthermore, it does not have any effectiveness too.
Apart from the basic home remedies to relax a teething baby, there are some good medicines available in Homoeopathy. Consult with any good homoeopathic doctor nearby to your location and get the prescribed medicine for your little one.
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