Growing, teething and the Twitterverse

My beautiful Little Lady E is all of 4 months old. The time since her birth in May seems to have disappeared in the blink of an eye. She’s growing so fast. Gone are her wrinkly newborn looks, and in are her filled out, chubby, rounded baby rolls. Her beaming smile and contagious giggle (which always result in hiccups) melt my heart. She can roll over, do mini push ups and is even trying to crawl (although she only manages to turn in circles and looks like she is skydiving on the ground).

She seems to be in a rush to do everything! Slow down please, mummy wants to enjoy those baby days!

For the last week or so she has been teething. We have no actual teeth yet, just rough swollen gums, rosy red cheeks and a baby chomping on anything and everything she can lay her hands on.

Big E is only just short of 3 yet my memories of him teething seem to have been replaced by misty eyed rose tinted recollections. I know he didn’t get his first tooth until around 7 months and had pain from around 5 months, but my mind I had recalled it as a much less fraught time for him than Little E is having.

My long suffering husband had to remind me that Big E did indeed have a painful time. I would lie awake in bed all night with him cradled in the nook of by arm. ‘Twas the only place he would settle. He had Calpol coming out of his ears and we went through tubes and tubes of Dentinox Gel. Funny how my memory has glossed over those sleepless nights. I am obviously losing my marbles.

To help my rosy cheeked Little Lady we have been using small amounts of Calpol intermittently and teething gel regularly, which only seems to have any effect when she is tired. Otherwise her pain is soothed with plenty of mummy cuddles. Much as I’d love to snuggle her all day, I also need to give my attention to Big E and his adventures in potty training. What should I try?

In my desperation, I sent out a cry for help on Twitter. Within minutes I had responses from far and wide. Twitter is great like that. There is always someone out there who can offer advice, suggestions, make you giggle or just say, “Yep been there, know how you’re feeling.”

For me, the advice of other parents is greatly appreciated. There is a lot to be said for experience. These are the suggestion that the Twitterverse offered up:

* Teething Powders/Granules – Ashton & Parsons, Nelson’s Teetha
* Teething Gel – Bongela, Dentinox, Anbesol
* Calpol for pain relief
* Ibuprofen for pain relief and to reduce swelling of sore gums
* Teething rings/toys – Cold from the fridge
* Cold damp flannel/muslin to chew on and rub against gums
* Frozen Banana (6 months +)
* Frozen fruit in a Munchkin Feeder (6 months +)
* Cold raw cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, apple (6 months +)
* Ice lollies (6 months +)
* Bickiepegs (6months +)
* Amber teething necklace
* Cuddles, rocking & distraction

There were so many ideas that I’d forgotten! Now, since Little E is only 4 months old I’ll be putting a few of these suggestions on the back burner, but there are plenty I can take on board. Hopefully, someone else out there (Hello) may find these useful.

In the meantime I’m off to the chemist to get me some teething granules…..
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Many thanks to the following lovely Tweeps for their help and suggestions:
@Claire_SnugBaby, @Soapnglory, @FionaFlaherty, @Muddling_Along, @silentbeauty, @LivingwithKids, @AngelHales, @Lindy_, @samwilloughby, @voiceovergirl, @KatyHarwood01, @MischiefKids_UK, @SiobhanFaughnan and @littlesunflower who gave me a link to a teething guide from her website and also very kindly posted me an Amber Teething Necklace.