How to Soothe a Teething Child

After having 3 kids and trying everything under the sun I have found a few tried and true ways to help a baby or toddler with teething.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Teething Rings
• Washcloths
• Flavor Ice Popsicles

1. The first thing you can try is putting those teething rings that you always get as gifts in the freezer and have them ready for when your child needs them. These work well for infants since you hold them and put them in their mouths for them.

2. Another thing to try which works well for toddlers is taking a washcloth and getting the corner wet and sticking it in the freezer. This allows the child to bite down on the washcloth without it being painful on the gums. Plus the toddlers like to suck the water out of it once it starts to thaw which to them, makes teething kind of fun. Just make sure you are using a clean cloth.

3. The final teething suggestion is a favorite of mine and my kids-give them one of those Flavor ice Popsicles that you cut the plastic top off and they push up out of the wrapper until it's done. They usually come in boxes of 100 and have like 8 different flavors. It helps with the pain and they usually forget about it anyway by the time they finish the popsicle. It's guaranteed to be a child favorite!

Tips & Warnings

• I suggest you not use traditional popsicles for teething because they are usually too big for toddler mouths, which defeats the purpose, and they are much messier and melt and drip all over the childs' clothes. The Flavor ice pops are much neater. You can also try using Baby Orajel on their gums but because babies and toddlers drool so much when they are teething that the numbness tends to spread further than the affected gum and the child's mouth feels funny to them and may bother them more than help them.

[klnygaard]

on 7/27/2008 Great ideas!!!