oh teething, we will conquer you! or not. but we will try.

We have now successfully made it through seven rounds of teething from the time Levi was four months old… and we have five teeth to show for it.

How does that work, you ask?

Two starts (with an edge poking through and everything) that proceeded to move back up and disappear… only to again come in (to stay) later. For one of those, it came in a week later… For the other, it came through two months down the road after two separate agonizing weeks of drama.

Can we all say “frustrating” together now???

Word.

But now with a few rounds under our belt, I’m a little less intimidated by the teething process… and a little more able to roll with the punches.

Have we mastered it? By no means.

But we can (usually) see it coming now.

The only problem, with my little guy at least, is that it looks a bit different each time. But with some careful observation (and many a prayer under my breath) I’m proud to say that I'm learning the ropes.

It seems with Levi’s bottom teeth – they come in without much pomp and circumstance: maybe a few fussy days and a little interrupted sleep.

And then there’s the top teeth: runny nose and cold, fever, crying at the drop of a hat, too many night wakings to count, loss of appetite, Crankiness with a capital “C”, unusual daytime sleep patterns… and the list goes on. And on.

For whatever reason, it seems Levi’s top teeth cause a lot more drama than the bottom ones. And those rounds of teething are the doozies. The latest for example:

{Poor little bubba. Not only was he miserable… But mama insisted on taking photos of the misery too. What can I say? I was learning how to use our new camera. And for the record, he's better now. I'm not posting about current misery... These photos are from last month.}

As difficult as teething is for everybody, of course I'm so glad that Levi is developing normally - teething and all. (Let's not forget to count our blessings here folks.) 

And now, some of the things I’ve found that help with teething:

1. The perfect teether. I know, sounds like a given, right? But we have this one little blue fish… and I’m telling you, it’s magic. Levi can happily chew on that thing a billion times longer than anything else that could possibly hold his attention at this age. LOVE the fish. (Who knew that $4.95 would equal $1M when it comes to finding the perfect teether?!) If you experiment and offer a few options, then you're bound to find the winner for your little chomper.

2. A cold (frozen) washcloth. Take a clean washcloth, roll it in a tube, tie the ends together, dampen it, and freeze. I guess it’s the combination of the cloth and cold that does the trick.

3. A clean, peeled carrot. It needs to be a big enough carrot so that they can’t bite little pieces off (chocking hazard)… But give bubs a cold carrot to chomp on--and presto--some good, natural relief right there folks. The yummy carrot flavor is a nice little bonus and helps keep bubs interested a bit longer.

4. Mesh feeders with frozen fruit. Levi loves holding and chewing on those little mesh feeders filled with fruit. I pop one in the freezer until it’s semi-frozen and then let him chomp away. (I use it in the highchair – it’s messsssssy! But oh so fun.)

5. Pain reliever drops. I know, duh. (What does mommy want when she has a headache? And why would it be any different for a hurting baby?!) Using a small dose of infant pain reliever does wonders. As long as you follow your doctor’s orders, the instructions on the box, and your mother’s instinct, infant pain reliever will be your friend and help you get through those few long nights. Even better, it will help your precious baby get through those long nights. Let's not forget they they suffer even more than we do.

Dear friends, this list is by no means exhaustive. That would be boring. And pretentious. I’m just listing some of my top tricks so that you can fill in the blanks. What has helped you and your little ones get through teething?

set on conquering,

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
do not reproduce without written permission