Wednesday, September 19, 2012

A teething baby


Today, I wanted to talk about teething! It's such an exciting time for us parents, but not so exciting for our babies. I always wonder how much cutting a tooth hurts? When I think about how much it hurts when I have tooth pain, I can't imagine being a baby, not being able to communicate while being in that kind of pain! The best we can do is try to figure out what works best to ease whatever pain our babies are in. These are the things that work for my baby.
Here is a pile of some of the things I use for Ocean's teething pains. In it, we have homemade teething oil, chamomilla homeopathic pills, teething necklace, organic teething toys, & ice cubes!

Teething Oil & Homeopathic Pills

I tend not to use homeopathic pills that have a combination of things in them, such as the Hyland's Teething Tablets (although I have heard from many people that they work great.) So far, I have had great success with straight up chamomilla pills. I only use these if she seems to be in a lot of pain, fussing and crying. The teething oil, on the other hand, can be used often and as needed for pain. I make mostly all my own "medicine", so I made Ocean's teething oil as well. I wanted it to be something that I was completely ok with the list of ingredients. (I would also like to add, that my daughter is exclusively breastfed, so this is fine for EBF babies.) The ingredients in this oil are completely safe if made correctly. (As always, with everything, first talk to your naturopath about anything you plan to give your baby and ALWAYS test on yourself first before giving anything to your baby). 

Teething Oil

*Note: In the above picture, I have Aura Cacia brand Clove oil. Do NOT use this oil in this recipe or on anything you plan to take internally. I just took a picture with this oil, because I was out of my doTERRA oil. Only use FOOD GRADE essential oils for internal use. The two brands I recommend are doTERRA & Young Living, because both sell food grade oils. You will need:

Unrefined, organic virgin coconut oil
Food grade clove oil
Food grade vegetable glycerin

To purchase my teething oil, visit my Facebook page Siren's Apothecary Shop.


Teething Toys

Under the Nile has a bunch of great organic toys to choose from! Ocean's two favorites were in the wash at the time of this picture which are the organic green bean and organic carrot. She loves those best because they fit best in her little hands and mouth. 

Teething Necklaces

My daughter has both the hazel wood teething necklace and the amber teething necklace. How these necklaces work is that they have to be in constant contact with your babies skin. They were not made to be chewed on! When in contact with the skin, the oils from the wood and amber tree resin can soak in. Amber necklaces have naturally occurring succinic acid which reduces inflammation in teething babies.  Hazel wood, on the other hand, is naturally alkaline. This works in neutralizing your child's acidity, thus relieving teething discomfort. I like to alternate these two necklaces. 

Breastfeeding 

Although difficult at first, breastfeeding usually helps soothe a teething baby. You just have to teach them from the beginning that biting hurts mommy. My daughter only bit me a handful of times before figuring out it wasn't ok. I simply said OW, which startled her, and stuck my pinky in her mouth to detach her from the breast. I don'y agree with hurting a child in any way, so I would not take the advice of those who say to flick the nose, pinch, etc. Baby is just trying to eat, be gentle :)


Ice & Ice Teethers

Most babies love ice while teething, but usually straight up ice is too cold. I sometimes wrap a piece of ice in Ocean's organic swaddling blanket while at restaurants or on long car rides and this seems to do the trick. One of her favorite toys that I found is the Natulo ice teether. The ring is maple wood and the cloth part is organic cotton that you can stuff ice cubes inside. She LOVES this thing. It's a little expensive, but I definitely recommend it. When I am at home, I use alkaline RO Ice cubes. Another thing, which would be even better, is giving your baby breast milk ice cubes. I've never used a pump yet, otherwise I would have tried this already.

I hope this post helped someone! Happy almost Autumn Equinox everyone!


15 comments:

  1. I hope she gets through the teething period quickly.

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  2. What an informative post! My little bean is only 2 months old, but I'm already thinking about what natural remedies I can use to help ease his pain during the teething stage. I love your daughter's name, BTW! I always wanted to be a mama too :)

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    1. Thanks for checking out my blog! Always nice to meet other great mamas :)

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  3. Oops! Forgot to add my blog url - lamamavegana.blogspot.com

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  4. Great information that I will refer back to. VASF Babe hasn't started growing any teeth yet and no indication of any pain. He's definitely my latest kid with all of that, which I'm actually glad about.

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    1. I hear some kids have it rougher than others. Maybe yours will be blessed :)

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  5. “The best we can do is to try to figure out what works best to ease whatever pain our babies are in.” – You are correct, Carissa! The teething phase is one of the most grueling times for babies. Because of the swelling and gum soreness, they become cranky and irritable. One thing that we can do is to make them comfortable at this phase. Aside from breastfeeding and teething toys, you can gently massage the gums of your little ones using a clean finger. Gently run through your clean finger on his gums to soothe the soreness and aching.

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    1. Thanks Chalice! Mine dwfinitally likes chewing on my fingers whenever she can :)

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  6. " My daughter has both the hazel wood teething necklace and the amber teething necklace." - Same here;) I have two - HealingHazel hazel wood necklace and AmberForBabies amber necklace. Last one seems to be more effective though.

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    1. Weird cuz I felt like the hazel wood worked better with Ocean. I guess different for everyone huh?

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  7. Just saw that you wrote some nice things about the Natulo IceTeether. Thank you, I'm happy your daughter loves it!

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  8. I also wonder how much does the teething hurts. We can not feel it, we can just help to our babies.

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