I feel like part of it is his chill nature, and part of it is how we have helped him get through it. Aaron and I didn't want to give him Tylenol on a regular basis so we looked into other ways to help sooth the pain. Dean was very receptive to these items, so I'd like to share them with you.
1. Amber bead necklace
2. Punkin Butt Teething Oil
3. Hyland's Baby Teething Gel
4. Teething banana
5. Sofie the Giraffe
There's a lot of skepticism towards the amber bead necklaces, so let me tell you my reasons for why I am happy with the one Dean is wearing. The succinic acid found in the external layer of Baltic amber is a natural pain reliever and anti-inflammatory. It doesn't make the pain go completely away, but it makes it tolerable.
In my experience, the two of the biggest arguments against the amber necklaces is that they are a choking and strangle hazard. The beads are tied on individually so if the necklace were to break, only one bead would fall off, not all of them. The necklaces are worn short so the baby can't reach it or chew on it. In addition, the clasp tears away, so if it gets caught on something, the baby won't get strangled. At night I move the necklace from around it neck to around his ankle. This way it's still against his skin, and I don't have to worry about it.
The teething oil was recommended to me by the gal who I bought the necklace from. They stock a variety of different oils there and she really liked this one. Dean doesn't like the taste of the oil, but once I get it in his mouth I can tell immediately that he feels better.
The teething gel we use is one that was recommended to me by quite a few local mama's. I haven't tried other gels so I don't know if Orajel is any better. Why mess with what I know works for Dean?
The banana was something I saw at Target and snagged it on a whim. Dean didn't respond to frozen wash clothes, frozen foods, or teething toys. For whatever reason he preferred to chew on harder plastic items. He just happens to love banana's so when I found the banana I figured it was worth a shot. To my luck he liked it! He's slowly stopped chewing things in general, but I got a good four-five months out if.
As far as Dean's symptoms went: he's run a fever only twice, had diarrhea once, a moderate amount of drooling, and some break-outs around his mouth from the drool. On occasion he'd get fussy. Overall, though, he's such a trooper.
Are there any items you've heard of or seen that work well? What do you recommend for soothing the pain?
[Edit] Sofie the Giraffe!! I totally forgot about Sofie! This was one of the first teething toys I bought him and he l o v e d her. So much so he gnawed some soft spots into her after about six months, so we had to toss her. That's why I forgot about her, I guess. "Out of sight, out of mind." She was worth every single penny, and I highly recommend the investment.[/Edit]
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