Different stages of growth in a child can be very exciting and interesting, especially for a first-time Mum. Aside from hearing different stories about kids going through similar experiences, you are getting to experience it first-hand, and it's such a pleasure to watch your cute baby grow.
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Beyond the pleasure and fun, however, there is a situation of severe stress attached to this amazing experience. One stage of stress that parents often go through is the teething phase, parents often associate sickness with this phase too, and sometimes, it gets scary for some of us who have not experienced it before.
Tooth eruption is a developmental process where a tooth emerges from its crypt position through the alveolar process and gets into the oral cavity, until the final position of eruption. For a very long time, parents have associated different signs and symptoms with teething, according to them, teething comes with these symptoms diarrhea, drooling, red cheeks, rashes, running nose, diarrhea, fever, sleep disturbances, and limited food intake.
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The expected teething symptoms naturally tend to alleviate anxieties in parents. Babies usually begin to teeth when they are 6 months old, some begin to teeth earlier than this and some are older, do not panic if your baby begins to teeth before or after.
Teething happens when the tooth is ready to break through the gums, most babies have their primary teeth out when they are 12 months old and their molars when they get between 13-19 months. By the time a baby is 3 years old, he should typically have grown all his teeth.
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The symptoms that accompany teething are not the same for all babies and may include; coughing, change in sleep pattern, rubbing the cheek or pulling the hair, crying, fussiness, drooling a lot the desire to chew on anything, and change in sleep patterns.
To help your baby handle teething discomfort well, you can do these few things to help manage the situation.
Provide teething toys for your baby to chew on, a nurse advised me to refrigerate a pacifier and give it to my baby to help soothe sore gums. Freezable teethers which may get too hard or too cold may hurt your baby's mouth and need to be avoided.
If your child is already taking solid foods, you may provide cold applesauce or yogurt. There are also teething biscuits that help relieve symptoms, but you must watch your baby carefully while eating it, so chunks do not break into his mouth and lead to choking.
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Helping your baby gently massage his gums could provide relief, but you have to ensure your hands are neat before proceeding with such an act. The act of breastfeeding can also help teething babies feel better, nursing can help soothe the teething process, but in other cases, a baby may feel even more pain and discomfort on their gums whilst breastfeeding, so a bottle will be a better option.
Teething gels were more common before now, parents could get it over the counter and rub it over the baby's gum, but this is not also recommended because it may get excessive and the baby swallows it, swallowing the gel may completely numb those areas.
Children experts also frown against teething necklaces as they pose a serious risk of strangulation. If the necklace breaks and the beads are swallowed, it is usually very dangerous.
When your child begins to grow teeth, hygiene is very important and even before the teeth show up, the mouth should be cleaned with a wet washcloth or piece of gauze at least once daily.
Conclusion
Teething can cause serious discomfort, but it shouldn't make your baby sick, so if there is a sign of vomiting, diarrhea, high fever, congestion, or high fever, report it to a medical expert immediately.
For Further Studies
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7229391/
https://ufhealth.org/conditions-and-treatments/teething
https://www.uhhospitals.org/blog/articles/2019/07/how-to-relieve-your-babys-teething-pain-safely
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/when-do-babies-start-teething#seeing-a-doctor
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/teething-symptoms-remedies
Hi, I am Tobi, a writer, speaker, relationship blogger, and lover of good music. I love making friends and learning from people. If you want to hear me speak on relationships and general life issues, you can find my YouTube channel where you can watch any episode for free, please do not forget to subscribe, friends. I sincerely appreciate every love I get from here, Kindly do well to keep them coming.