The teething process can be a very painful stage for babies. Thankfully, there are some key symptoms to help spot teething, together with a number of simple, natural teething remedies and therapies that can soothe your baby’s discomfort.
The moment your baby starts making a fuss or looking slightly pink around the cheeks, everyone assumes teething is the problem and will happily start advising you on various methods to tackle the issue.
Unsurprisingly, these affable assumptions, and accompanying barrage of advice, are not always a great help – not every whinge or yawn is an indication of teething, and nor is every treatment necessarily suitable.
Causes and Symptoms of Natural Teething
As the name suggests, teething is simply the process of a child’s teeth growing through the gum, which begins around the age of six months. While teething is a perfectly normal and natural part of your baby’s development, it can be a distressing time for both of you, as many babies find teething painful, or at least a discomfort.
Although it’s not always easy to tell if your baby is teething, the usual symptoms associated with it include:
• Red cheeks that feel hot to touch
• Diarrhea, often with accompanying diaper rash
• Disturbed sleep patterns, including difficulty getting to sleep
• A desire to chew on objects even more than usual
• An excessive amount of drooling compared to usual
Natural Teething Remedies and Home Remedies For Teething Babies
Here are a number of tried-and-tested home remedies for teething babies. See which ones work for you and your baby:
1. Offer your baby a clean finger to chew on
This is one of the best and oldest natural teething remedies for easing the discomfort of teething – the pressure of chomping away at your finger helps relieve the pressure of the tooth pushing its way through the gum. Not only that, but this is also good bonding time for baby and parent.
2. Give your baby frozen items to chew on
Rather than offering your finger, give your baby something frozen to chew on, including: breast milk, water or diluted chamomile tea placed in ice-cube trays and left to go solid in the freezer. Don’t give your baby the cubes whole, but crush them up first by placing them in a sterilized cloth and giving them a bash with a pan or rolling pin. You baby can then chew on the frozen chips.
3. Freeze fruit and place it in a mesh feeder.
Banana is especially beneficial when frozen in a mesh feeder, as it also helps to reduce diarrhea, which is a common side effect of teething.
4. Try the washcloth trick, with a twist
Place a piece of clean cloth in the freezer for a couple of hours, dipped first in either water or chamomile tea (which has the added bonus of helping to soothe and relax baby).
5. Have baby wear an amber teething necklace
Amber is a natural painkiller and a great alternative to over-the-counter pain relief; when worn on the skin, it releases healing oils that help your baby to stay calm and more relaxed throughout the teething period.
6. Mom can drink chamomile tea or take flower remedies
One the best natural teething remedies is for mom to drink chamomile tea or ingest other natural flower remedies. If mother is breastfeeding, the benefits of these herbs and flower will be passed on to baby and can help to soothe teething pains.
7. Apply Rescue Remedy or other suitable flower remedies to baby’s gums
Simply dilute Rescue Remedy (or other natural flower remedies) in cooled boiled water and rub them gently onto the gums to soothe the pain.
8. Try homeopathy
Chamomilla is recommended for babies who become irritable and make a fuss when teething, while Pulsatilla is suggested if your baby becomes clingy (Always seek the advice of a trained homeopath before giving a homeopathic remedy to your infant).
9. Try massaging your baby’s face around the gum area
Massaging is a natural teething remedy that can help relieve teething pain and ease ear and headaches that are often caused by teething.
This video shows you exactly how to perform a baby teething relief massage at home to relax your baby’s jaw, face, and head… addressing the discomfort caused by teething problems.
Which natural teething remedies have worked for your baby? Tell us in the comments below or on social media. We believe that baby teething remedies that are natural and generally plastic free are best for growing babies and toddlers.
Samantha Quinn
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