For those of you who have little ones, I’m pretty sure we can all agree that teething is no joke. It’s never a fun time for any involved parties, and the only thing we can do is persevere and power through.
A few nights ago, Akira was having a really difficult time. Not only is he still not sleeping through the night, his gums are swollen with little teeth that look like they are just beneath the surface but not cutting through yet! Poor little guy. I can only imagine how uncomfortable he must feel. I mean, you know it’s bad when you wake up at 5 in the morning and can’t fall back asleep because all you want to do is gnaw on something for relief.
That’s exactly what happened over the weekend. Let’s just say that the sleep training that I was set on continuing came to a screeching halt at the realization that his night wakings weren’t necessarily because he was hungry but that he was just in pain. Nursing comforts him, and I knew that it would help lull him back to sleep. So, I held him and caressed him throughout the night until he would fall back asleep. And finally at 5 o’clock in the morning, he just didn’t want to sleep anymore. He was awake, miserable and cranky. Jesse took one for the team and woke up with him while trying to soothe him back to sleep, and I got some much-needed shut-eye for a few more hours.
I tried to remember what teething was like the first time around with Anaïs. To be honest, I don’t remember it being so bad. I feel like one day she woke up and there were two little teeth on the bottom. She didn’t really show any discomfort at all, so this go around is an altogether new experience!
So, I would love to know: What are your go-to teething remedies? Do the amber necklaces work? Baby Orajel? Crushed cloves? A frozen washcloth? Breastmilk popsicles? Nothing? I’ve heard of all of the aforementioned relief tips but still have yet to try any of them. I would prefer to go the all-natural, holistic route instead of resorting to actual pain medication, but I’m open to hearing your tried-and-true antidotes to the pain that is teething.
At this point, I am really hoping the teeth just cut through sooner rather than later, so we all can resume life as we know it with a bouncing happy baby boy. For the time being, send advice my way and wish us luck that the next few days (and hopefully not weeks) go more smoothly for all of us!
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