Although teething is the natural process which tends to
happen during developmental stage of your baby’s growth, it is never a pleasant
thing for the baby. The babies start getting 20 of their primary teeth erupted
around the age of 6 to 9 months. The eruption of these teeth causes your baby
to bite, gnaw and rub their ears. Due to this teething, the babies may suffer
from loss of appetite, disrupted sleep and swelling and pain in the gums. These
are the signs which can bring the mood of your baby to the lowest point.
Since it is the common natural process, parents usually go
to the dentists to ask about the ways to manage teething pain in their babies.
Due to the very reason that it’s a natural process, you don’t need to consider
medical attention for the pain due to teething unless it starts causing
problems like diarrhea, rashes and/or fever. What you have to make sure here is
that your child remains comfortable. Having that said, a few things are worth
mentioning in this regard.
Give your baby cold items for gnawing
It is quite natural for your baby to bite on anything during
teething because it comforts their swollen gums. You can turn this habit of
your baby into a way they can get comfort. For instance, you can give them
chilled teething ring or anything which they would like to bite on. Make sure
that it’s cold. These chilled items are going act like cold compress in order
to provide relief from pain.
Gum massage
Another way to provide relief to your baby is to massage the
baby’s gums. You will have to use your finger for massaging the gums. Make sure
that finger is clean. There is no need for the application of any kind of
numbing agents. However, you can use one after getting recommendation from your
dentist.
Over-the-counter medication
You can actually use over-the-counter medicines for the
relieving the teething pain your baby is suffering from. The type of pain that
can be relieved can be mild to moderate. The medicines you can use in this
regard may include acetaminophen or ibuprofen but you have to make sure that
dosages are appropriate from the perspective of your child’s age. In order to
relieve the pain, you have to make sure that you are absolutely not applying
any kind of alcoholic solution because it can do more harm than good. If there
is the need of application of numbing agent, you can go for benzocaine but make
sure that you get it prescribed by the dentist before you apply it to the
baby’s gums.
Finally, it would be even better if your get advice from your dentist instead of doing things on your own. Although you can stick with
the safe methods, you have to make sure that you are in contact with your
dentist before you consider using medication for pain relief.