Effective All-Natural Teething Remedies for Soothing Your Baby
Teething bites! Even though it's a completely natural process it can be a distressing time for both of you, whilst your little one deals with the discomfort that growing teeth can bring. But how can you soothe your teething baby with out the use of chemicals & medication?
Here are some completely natural teething remedies that work, plus a few we avoid . . .
Signs & symptoms of teething:
Teething usually starts around 3-6 months & the first teeth to normally sprout are one of the lower, central incisors, with 20 milk teeth being grown by the time they reach 30 months old, some key signs to look out for include . . .
- Rosy red cheeks that can be quite warm to the touch.
- Drool, lots & lots of drooling.
- An excessive desire to chew, everything. . . is that the remote, I'll just pop that in my mouth!
- Difficulty sleeping, waking up a lot more but not for a feed or a change just to be comforted.
- Loss of appetite, due to mouth hurting.
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Irritability, sore gums are likely to cause a cranky, fussy baby, sure sign teeth are on the way.
All-natural teething remedies:
Rub your baby’s gums
Using a clean finger or a damp washcloth gently rub your babies sore gums, the pressure should bring a little relief. Or simply let them chomp on your knuckle to relieve the pressure of the tooth pushing its way through the gum.
Our current top three distractions:
- Building & knocking things down, ok, I build & my little one knocks them down, like a mini Godzilla (which he finds highly amusing)
- A change of scenery, a walk, a trip to the park, theirs so many new things to see it keeps him distracted taking it all in.
- Nursery rhymes apparently only if I sing them, no idea why as I sound like a dying horse but he seems mesmerised maybe he's just staring at me thinking jeez how can anyone sound that bad!
Find what works for your little one and release your inner Sasha Fierce & entertain as you've never entertained before.
Natural Teething Toys:
Babies love to put, well everything in their mouths, its how they begin to explore the world through taste & texture, so not only does a teether keep them entertained but it also helps to soothe your baby during the teething months by bringing comfort & relief to their tender gums.
We love
- Wood, Teethers made from wood are perfect for babies who have sprouted a tooth or two as they are nice & hard also a completely natural material, choose organic for an added bonus of knowing the wood was grown without the use of pesticides.
- 100% food-grade silicone, silicone does not contain any petroleum-based plastics or toxic chemicals like those found in plastics such as BPA, Lead and Phthalates. It's also naturally anti-bacterial making it a safe and hygienic choice.
- Natural rubber, it's an entirely nontoxic material, free of petroleum & fully biodegradable. It's durable, soft & flexible making it a great choice for voracious chewing.
- Stainless steel, you can even find teethers in stainless steel, a completely non-toxic material that's super durable. Its heat resistant, impact resistant & non-corrosive the perfect material if your little one like to launch items across the room. It's also 100% recyclable.
We love these beautiful Natural Rubber Teething Toys by Natruba, rattles, sensory toys and teethers all made in natural rubber from the hevea tree and hand-painted in food-grade dyes for truly natural toy, making them a perfect and safe choice for children to play with and babies to soothe and chew on.
What to avoid
- Steer clear of plastic teethers, whilst most these days are now BPA free & phthalate free they are still full of chemicals that are potential hormone disruptive.
- Teethers that state they can be put in the freezer. The NHS state ''Never put a teething ring in the freezer, as it could damage your baby's gums if it gets frozen.'' These types of teethers are also usually made with PVC a plastic that is softened with phthalates!!
- Teething biscuits, whilst they can keep a baby entertained a lot are full of sugar which kind of defeats the point, we're growing teeth not rotting them! Check the package before you buy.
Nom Nom Nom Time
Have a master foodie on your hands who's confident with their solid food, then much like a teether carrot sticks or apple slices can help at teething time, by giving them something hard to chew on therefore helping to relieve the pain their gums are causing.
Facial Massage
Rubbing your little one's face in small circular motions is a really effective way to settle and calm your baby, you can try gently stroke outwards towards baby's temples or simply stoking their head, some babies love it, some not so much, give it a go and see what happens! You can find lots of baby facial massage how-to video's on youtube, let us know how it goes.
Sometimes theirs nothing better than a cuddle off mum or dad, a cuddle brings comfort, joy, relieves stress & helps calm a teething baby, nothing beats them! Did you know recent research suggests that children who are cuddled more grow up to be healthier, kinder, & more productive adults? So not only are you bringing comfort to a teething baby, apparently, your helping raise your child to be a healthy, happy adult!
What do you use for natural teething remedies, let us know over on Facebook & we'll add it to the list?
