Teething
Teething…a time of enjoyment, relaxation, and peacefulness…NOT! Right now, the twins are both in different stages of teething and although we sympathize for them, we also just want those little teeth to pop through NOW.
What makes this round of teething worse is the fact that the twins slept through the night FOR THE FIRST TIME Tuesday night. We had high hopes that we were onto something and leaning towards more restful nights. However, Wednesday night hit and that just was not the case.
The twins fought sleep till 10pm when they finally crashed due to exhaustion. Then at 2am Koehn wakes up screaming. We tried giving him a bottle but that was not what he wanted. Kinzley then woke up, because they share a room, and her brother was screaming at the top of his lungs. Thankfully she went back to bed with a bottle. We ended up taking Koehn to the living room and my husband rocked him, burped him, changed his diaper, massaged him, went outside for cool air, did everything else you could possibly think of, but nothing seemed to help. My husband is a great father! Then I rubbed his gums and found that not only was he breaking one tooth through, but he was breaking two teeth through. Long story short, Koehn was awake from 2am-5:30am screaming. We ended up just putting him in bed with us around 4am where he crawled all over us but finally at 5:30am he crashed up against my husband. At the time I just went and took a shower since I usually start my day at 5am anyways. After the shower I went to wake up my husband to let him know it was close to 6am to which he says “no” and goes back to sleep instantly LOL. I crawled back in bed as well and within minutes Koehn crawled over Cody onto me.
As a parent, especially a mom, you just know when your kids need a little extra loving. This was one of those moments. I could have carried him to his crib or put him in the pack-n-play, but he wanted and needed me. Koehn was not only in pain but exhausted. So, instead of getting up and doing little household chores, getting ready, and making breakfast, I just let him lay on me for an extra hour until we had 30 minutes left before I had to leave for work.
Kinzley is in the beginning stages of teething. She has the pre-teething diaper rash and diarrhea but isn’t having any mouth pain yet. Which means probably as soon as Koehn’s teeth break through, she will start breaking hers through. The joys…
Luckily, all my kids have the same symptoms when they are teething, which consists of the diaper rash, runny almost yellow colored diarrhea, clammy, and cuddly. I know other kids have different teething symptoms but those are just some to watch out for. You see a lot of those symptoms when kids are sick as well, so it really is a guessing game on if they are sick or just teething.
Below are some teething tips and how they can help!
1. Gum Massage
Apply light pressure with a clean index finger and rub the gums gently. I do this while applying Wellements organic teething oil. This not only relieves pain, but it also helps numb the gums.
2. Cool Washcloth
Run a washcloth under cold water, ring it out and then let baby chew on it. The cold helps calm the gums and relieves pain, and the chewing aspect helps distract the baby. You can also use teething rings/toys – my kids have never enjoyed teething rings for some reason, but they also only used a pacifier until 2 months old, so maybe that is the reason.
3. Cuddles
This might sound like a silly thing, but just holding your baby and letting them rest their head on you provides them comfort in the same way we need hugs from loved ones. Time with mom and/or dad is always going to provide baby’s comfort.
4. Popsicles
Along the same lines as the cold washcloth, the cold temperature provides relief to the gums. You can make your own breastmilk popsicles, I did this when my babies were little, or there are great organic options out there for you to purchase as well. Simple Truth organic, DeeBee’s organic, or Jonny Pops are great options for 4+ months.
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