Teething Already?

I was, I must say, pretty shocked that the twins are already teething.  I thought I should be tracking their development as 3 months and a half, not 5.  I swear to God when I saw my babies drooling so bad, fussy, crying for comfort, they were also eating their hands like a piece of drummet (yumms), I didn't think that they were teething.

Yummmehhhh.

Well, well.  Guess what, they were.

Here I go again, I thought... You should read my previous teething entries with Kakak (Ayesha).  There were lodsa tears involved *grin*.  Well to be fair, I was a first time mother.  Ha Ha Ha.  What I forgot to mention in the previous posts, was Dentinox.  The teething gel.  The miracle drug.  Prescribed by Kakak's Paed to help soothe her gum.  When I lost the Dentinox, thennn only I went to the local pharmacy to get the same and was given Oral Aid because they didn't have Dentinox.

So this time around, the moment I recognised their signs as teething, and felt their (slightly) sharp gum, I asked Ah Bob to purchase Dentinox at the Multicare Pharmacy.  Told him that if they don't have Dentinox, Oral Aid would work too... and he did get Dentinox. 

Forgot how expensive it was, RM20.90 for one tiny tube. 

Did it work?  Yeppp.

Is it as bad as Kakak's?  Nope.  God is great.  He gave me two, two nicer babies.  Sorry Kakak, didn't mean it in a bad way.  The Amani Juniors (the girls are all named amani, remember?) were not (as) fussy. 

The little girl needs comforting.  Instead of picking her up, Mommy pick up the camera and snap snap.  Ooops.

An oral aid for your teething baby...

What you see in this very low quality photo snapped from my blackberry is an oral aid to help soothes my teething baby.  I've read about oral aid before and some pain killers that can be used, but I wasn't sure if they're available in Malaysia.  I also didn't believe in using medications for my baby.  My decision was to go the old way with my teething babe and just deal with it like I always do.

Until recently I got very sick.  I mean VERY VERY sick and my morning waking up from 3 am till dawn because she cries or screams because teething just hurt hur so very badly, I just couldn't take it anymore.  I cried with her.  I screamed with her.  It has gone very bad.  Hubby didn't get much sleep either, him being the good husband, also stayed up with me.

So while at was at my local doctor, I also signed Amani up to see the doctor.  I asked doctor, "please, do you have any oil or anything that I can rub on her gum? Or pain killers? Anything that'll work as pain relief, and safe. I can't take it anymore".  The doctor then said he would prescribe me an 'oral aid' which I can apply on her gum as many times as I like.  It has sedative so it will reduces her anxiety and irritability he said.

Tried the oral aid for 4 nights already, and she seems to be getting back to sleep fine whenever teething bothers her. 

I haven't googled about the side effects yet, if prolonged use.  I will add this later on once I have the time.  But it works for me now, and I will only use it as and when required.  As long as it works for now babe, Mommy's very sick.

Till then..
Sent by DiGi from my BlackBerry® Smartphone

Tak tido semalaman kerana teething!

Gambar Amani nangis masa 7 months

Tak tau nak marah gigi nak keluar atau nak marah siapa.  Tapi kesian my poor little princess, *sob sob*.  She couldn't sleep last night and was hoping that I could comfort her and ease her pain.  However there was nothing I could do to comfort her.  Tried the breast, cold ice, cold teether, and everything else I could think of.  I know the cold teether was quite comforting for a bit when she put it on her jaw.  But it didn't last long and the discomfort continued until dawn.

It's parts and parcel of growing, akan tetapi Ya Allah, Engkau kurang kan lah apa jua tahap kesakitan yang si comel saya alami.  Dan Kau berikan lah aku kesabaran untuk menghadapi pe'el yang dalam kesakitan itu masih mampu menyirapkan darah bonda.  Trust me.  There was lots of screaming involved (from her. Not Mommy).  

Ameen ameen ya rabbal al-ameen...

P/S: Now Mommy feels like a zombie herself sebab tak cukup tido bermalam- malam.  Ditambah dengan perut tak sekolah yang asyik diarrhea, dan selsema tak sudah. Ermmm.... 

Teething experience

Or shall I say, Mommy's experience in dealing with teething baby?  First and foremost what I can say is it did involve a lot of patience, and tears! 

Amani started teething when she was four months old.  It was difficult.  It involved a lot of crying, sleepless night with endless crying, high fever, diarhea and drooling with rashes on her face.  I must be honest - as mentally prepared as I was for other things, I forgot teething.  For some reason?  How could I have forgotten that some day my baby will have teeth *smile*.  Mommy's getting old I guess. 



Photo courtesy of photostock
www.digitalfreephotos.net

Some information on teething...What is teething - exactly? 

As defined by Wikipedia - "Teething is the process by which an infant's teeth sequentially appear by breaking through the gums."

When do babies start teething?
As early as 3 months.  Yes, and could be as late as 12 months.  Every baby's or child's development is different so you need not worry :-).  Mine, now at the age of 11 months she already has six. 

Symptoms?
Well like I said every baby is different.  Let me tell you mine.  First of all, know that some baby doesn't even show any symptom!  Amazing, right?  Ayesha Amani became really really fussy especially at night.  Nothing could ever be right.  No teether could do her good except for biting her hands.  Believe you me, I had bought 5 kind of teethers and only the last one (which i bought at Ovo, The Curve for RM19.90) which she liked and worked for a while.  Yes only for a while.  She also had very high fever (39 degree celcius) and developed rashes near her mouth where she drools.  Due to the high fever she also had diarrhea for days!

How did I deal with it?
I couldn't, at first!  It was very emotional because this girl is the type that can't be consoled just like that!  I mean you can never tell her "it's ok honey mommy is here", and then hold her in your arms, feel your warmth and everything.  She is the type that needed effort!  The first night that she cried non- stop I couldn't handle it.  I broke down and cried and left her to cry in my arm, tried patting her back- didn't work.  People said try Gripe Water but my baby just won't swallow the thing!  She finally stopped on her own.  This was when I decided to prepare myself better.

The next day I looked up information on teething - simply trying to understand how my baby must have felt!  I needed to get the feel of it in order for me to manage the pain.  Apparently it is very painful.  Imagine even us adults can't really handle toothache.  These babies, even worse.  They can only communicate their discomfort through crying. 

I put her teether in the chiller so that when her gum feels uneasy and she starts biting, she has a cold teether (the fifth one I bought, remember) and it will stop her from crying.  But this doesn't always work.  Sometimes she just prefers biting on me, and I'd just let her if it stops her from crying - because crying leads to bloating! 

She also prefers hard stuff rather than rubbery staff.  For example if she found a hair comb, daddy's watch, it will be much consolation to her. 

At times when she had reached 6 months, I gave her cold fruit (not bite size but bigger because I needed assurance that she can't bite to cut and swallow the fruits).  Apples and pears worked for her.  Sometimes I intentionally gave her cold avocado.  Even though she cringed when eating, it stopped her from getting cranky. 

Other methods, suggested on the net didn't work on my baby.  She's a tough one this one.  Though I now understood her pain sometimes I still can't console her midnight crying.  I know I am comforting to her now though, that I can't leave her side when teething gets too painful and fever gets too high. 

Just to share on some methods found on the internet, among others, i)infants' acetaminophen (by prescription) , ii)Rubbing baby's gum , iii)Cold carrot , iv) Cold washcloth and so many more.  Look 'em up on Mr Google.

I think what's important is your patience dealing with fussy teething child like mine.  If you are impatience like me, patience will gradually grow when you try to understand their pain.  Besides, watching a fussy teething baby ain't that fun :-)

How did you deal with yours?  Mind to share?

DianaAbdulMolok