Any ideas on how to soothe babys gums?

[ijudge]

I have tried teething powder and gel which are not helping.

Tried a Nuby with an ice cube but dd2 crys after a short while of using it.

Any suggestions very much appreciated as its driving her (and me!) potty!

Stick of cucumber or celery straight from the fridge?

Ds seems to love this but I am not sure how much real teething we have at the moment as he is only just 5 months (dribbling like mad and chewing everything).

DD2 is 18 wks Antidote so can't really do the cold food thing just yet.

DD2 is also chewing and dribbling like mad, this morning she has added shouting in pain/frustration to the list - hence the thread

Ice-pops, there are sugar free varieties available or you can make your own.

Dampen a clean flannel or bib, chuck it in the freezer until it's cold, then let her chew on it.

When it gets very bad then Calpol can relieve it for a little while.

Thanks Cbear, have given her calpol and put a flannel in the freezer

ibuprofen works much better than calpol

as in neoufen?

yes, but Tesco do a version that is much cheaper. Ibuprofen actually helps the gums rather than just stopping the pain.

Yup pain killers are very effective.
Discovered you can interchange calpol and ibuprofen. If you use one and the pain comes back before the 6 hour window for giving another dose you can give a dose of the other one instead - probably a bit extreme for teething but brilliant when they have a fever.
we found Ibuprofen worked better than calpol.
I've heard that you should avoid Ibuprofen if you have a history of asthma in the family as its not good for asthmatics and i guess you won't know yet if your baby has asthma.

Ambesol liquid rubbed on the gums gives some relief, frozen damp muslins, wooden spoons. Teething gels and Calpol didn't work at all for my DD, only Nurofen Ibuprofen seemed to help when her gums were so sore she couldn't eat or sleep, but I found just half the recommended dose was enough to take the edge off for her and made me feel better about using it. Nelsons teething granules seemed to help calm her down too, especially when she first started teething.

A dental nurse gave a talk at my local children centre and recomended a raw carrot straight from the fridge for nawing on. She, and the HV/community nurse woman with her both said this was fine even before weaning as they aren't actually eating it. She also said once it's warmed up/got soggy/bben droped etc. just peal a layer of and bung it back in the fridge. Not actually tried it though, my DS has just cut his first tooth but won't have anything to do with carrots in his food so don't think he'd take kindly to a raw one.

Doctor prescribed my 5.5month old something called Difflam spray - we only use before bed and in the night but is ace!

As ds3 is only 7 weeks & 1 day and has cut his first tooth yesterday and his second is on it's way, the main things I can advise (after consulting with 2 HV's, a GP and a pharmacist as ds3 is too young for even calpol) is a half dose of ashton & parsons teething powders, dentinox teething gel before a feed (it was hurting him too much to even bf) and a water-filled teething ring for him to 'gnaw' on.

The teething ring one is not much use for ds3 mind you, as he is only just starting to reach out for rattles, he isn't able to properly 'hold' anything yet, but for an 18 week old, should help a bit. The HV and GP advised me that as it's an extreme situation (tooth through the gum + another on it's way at 7 wks) that ds3 could have one 1.5ml dose of calpol a day at bedtime, so I'm sure calpol for an older baby should be fine.

We are currently using chamomilla 30 granules. It really seems to help when the teething powders failed.

• We were advised not to use ibuprofen as I am very allergic to it.