The dictionary definition is “the process of growing or cutting milk teeth.” In real life the definition is a little longer, and a lot less straight forward.

Teething : The act of cutting first teeth, in the process of which parents loose their minds, babies are driven mad with pain, there is an excessive production of extremely explosive nappies, many litres of drool & lots of outbursts of inconsolable crying.

It’s one of the first big hurdles you need to go through as a parent. Every baby will start teething at different times, there is no normal protocol, just estimates, so your really going into this one blind.

Ella started teething very early on. She constantly had bubbles around her mouth, pulling at her ears, lots of drool & loved a good chew on anything she could get her hands on, especially your nose. “Awh is she teething?” is all I’d hear, my response was always “no she’s only X weeks!” In my mind, teeth wouldn’t be something we had to worry about until she was at least 6 months old, so imagine my surprise when I saw that little white toothy peg in her mouth at 21 weeks!

Teething has taken its toll on us already & we’re only 1 tooth in! Ella has been waking in the night for a little cry and a cuddle, she’s soaking through countless bibs each day and she’s getting irrate when she can’t fit her whole fist in her mouth to chew on. As a first time mum you don’t really know what to do for the best, or what way to help ease your baby’s pain, we’ve tried a good few products which I’m going to share in this blog to try & help some other mamas out. These are just some of the methods we’ve tried, there are plenty more out there, but until Ella started teething I had no idea of the products out there, and which would be worth the money.

When Ella first started showing teething signs my Mum nipped down to the herbal shop to pick up New Era teething tablets, she used them for both my brother & I and she swore these would be the answer to our problems! The girl in the shop didn’t stock them and had to order them in, so in the meantime we tried Welda chamoille tablets. They are tiny little granules that come with a scoop, so apart from being a bit of a pain to get into Ella’s mouth, and helping her rid herself of unwanted gas via her bottom, I’m not sure what, if any effect they had on her gums! We are currently using the New Era tablets, they certainly help ease her pain and calm her down when she’s having a wee unsettled episode. I’d definitely recommend them, and as they are a herbal remedy I’m not worried about any nasties that could be in them. They come in around £8 for a tub of 240, Ella would maybe have 3 or 4 on a bad teething day, so they are quite reasonable & long lasting!

Ella has had so many teethers, water filled ones you put in the fridge, gel filled ones that are soft to chew on, plastic ones with multiple textures to massage the gums, I can’t say she’s enjoyed any of them any more than her fingers or the sleeve of her cardigan! We’ve also tried a matchstick monkey. Of all the teethers we’ve tried, this is the only one Ella has stuck with. It’s perfectly sized for tiny hands, enabling them to grip & guide the teether into their mouth, also helping them develop their fine motor skills! We have the original teether in pink, which has a great gel applicator, made of super soft silicone to help massage your baby’s gums. It’s a little pricy at around £10, but so far it’s got daily use, so I think it’s worth it!

Anything made from that lovely soft silicone seems to do the trick for Ella, I was lucky enough to win a teething necklace, its made from 5 silicone beads on nylon string with a safe clasp. Mine is from @ROSEBUDSCHEWELRY on Instagram, check it out, Laura has some lovely teething jewellery & makes it to the highest standards with top quality materials, so I have no doubt about the safety when I’m wearing my necklace. I only started wearing it the week Ella’s tooth arrived, but it really helped ease her pain, and gave her something else to focus on, grabbing the beads and bringing them to her mouth, working each bead along her gums. I find distraction really helps with teething troubles, toys with noises, playing on the mat, reading a book or singing and doing actions. The distraction might only last for a few minutes but it’s a few minutes she wasn’t getting upset or really struggling with pain.

Now for the real medicinal methods. Calpol, bonjella, brand names every parent of a teething baby knows! My Doctor advised me that teething gels were pointless, she said they just get swallowed and have no effect whatsoever on the gums, as a baby’s mouth is too wet for it to stay on the gums long enough to absorb. Very good. Tell that to a mother who will try anything to help her babys poor gums, so £3 later here we are. I find that applying bonjella to the head of the matchstick monkey and letting Ella apply it herself gives her longer periods of comfort compared to me just rubbing it on her gums. I don’t know if the bonjella actually helps, but it’s a cheap method to try and if it doesn’t work its not a big loss!
Calpol on the other hand, is actually medicine. Honestly I try to avoid giving Ella Calpol if I can, but some nights she’s in so much pain, her crying is inconsolable and I’ve exhausted all other methods to try and comfort her. It’s kind of a one fits all medicine, teething, temperature, sore tummy, you name it, a wee spoonful of Calpol will fix it.

So there you have it, teething. The pain is real. And it lasts, teething can happen anytime from 4 months onwards. Do what’s best for you & your baby. As parents all we want is for our babies to be happy & healthy, and we do whatever it takes to make that possible! Teeth come in pairs apparently, so as we continue on this journey with Ella, if we find any other great methods we will up date the blog, and if anyone has any other ways to ease teething, help a mama out and do get in touch!

**As soon as those teeth come through to register your baby with a dentist & start cleaning their teeth, especially before bedtime.**