can anyone PLEASE help me help a very very unhappy teething baby?

[emeraldgirl1]

She is only 13w so is teething quite early and we could have months of this to go :(

It is just awful at the moment, she is mostly miserable and very often extremely upset. She is refusing her bottle a lot so only getting about half of the feeds she needs.

Bonjela barely works. She is too little to hold a teething ring.

We can't just keep shovelling Calpol into her and anyway it only seems to take the edge off.

She is chewing her fist and now rubbing her ears a lot (I am thinking of a quick nip to the GP tomorrow just to be absolutely sure it isn't an ear infection but she is not warm or feverish so am assuming is not. I think ear-pulling is teething-related?)

She gets hysterical about three times a day and feeds are a nightmare as she just keeps refusing the bottle after it has started to hurt. She seems still hungry as she keeps trying to go back to it but then cries in pain.

I resorted to spooning her milk into her mouth earlier as I just wanted to get some more into her due to the heat. She loved that actually and lapped it up but it isn't sustainable as it takes 20 min to do about 10ml.

Help!!!

I used chunky carrot sticks that had been in the fridge - too hard for a baby to bite through, but cold and hard enough to give some teething relief.

I also got some teethers that you could put in the freezer, they helped too.

oh the poor girl:(

I found Calprofen to be more effective for teething (not sure what age babies can take it from but I think it's 3mo)

it's worth getting the gp to rule out an ear infection imo

oh and ear pulling can also be tiredness as well as tooth or ear pain

HTH

Try a cold damp face cloth. She mite like to suck on it.

Also you could try cup feeding her if she's off her bottles. It's often used for breastfeeding babies to avoidnipple confusion. Google it for some instructions she maybe a little messy to start with but with practise she should soon get it.

So difficult when they're still so small.

I found the same as you wrt the bonjela gel but then someone recommended a gel called 'Anbesol' You can get it easily from pharmacies but you may need to ask for it. It smells like the numbing gel at the dentists and seemed to work so much better for my DC. I tried it on a mouth ulcer and it was really fast acting and soothing.

Only other suggestions are a cold flannel to chew or an ice pop to suck. When mine were a bit older and miserable and nothing was working, I discovered that the humble mini roll could do wonders for their mood - (bad mum)!

Good luck

Thank you so so much everyone!!
It is really tough, the poor little thing, she keeps trying to smile and giggle and then clearly gets hit by another wave of soreness and just wails :(
Cup feeding sounds like it might be worth a try thank you!
Anbesol... Is that ok for babies? If so I am dispatching DH to the late night chemist right nw!
Will ask Gp about calprofen tomorrow thank you.

Hate to see her in pain, she is such a cheery little thing but this is not nice for her.we can't really play or enjoy the sunshine as all she wants is sleep and cuddles.

Emerald girl, I'm in exactly the same situation as you so do let us know how you get on with the anbesol and calprofen. It is breaking my heart that I can't seem to reduce my DS's teething pain more.

JoJoCK i will do...
How old is your DS? Has it been going on long? X

Yes I second the Anbesol and ibruprofen advice! It has to be the LIQUID anbesol though.

Thank you pegotty!
Feel so awful that I have let her suffer without realising that there were other options :(

Nelsons teething powder, fabulous stuff, I should have shares!
Some people swear by amber bracelets/anklets. We bought one, but didn't have too much effect, by my friend said it was the best thing ever for her little one

Oh, and sucking used to make my ds worse, I started using one of those syringes you get with baby nurofen, I think you get them with calpol now too.

Anebesol - but don't waste your time/money with the gel, get the liquid!

can't emphasise this enough!

All you do, wash your hands, tip the liquid onto your middle finger, and rub along the gums.

The gel, they just lick off. The liquid, they can't!

Then, you need Nelson's Teething Powders. Lick your finger, put into the powder and let baby lick off you (and rub into their gums as you do this)

The anebesol you put on every 3 hours.

The powder they can have every 2 hours.

Then to complete it all get baby Nurofen (calpol is useless)

Trust me - get these 3 and you will knock this on the head!

Right. I will set off to boots in the morning and stock up!

Thank you!

Ugh I feel so awful for persisting with calpol when it clearly wasn't really helping.

But calprofen is only ok for three month plus and the pharmacist wouldn't sell it to me when I asked a week ish ago.

Emerald girl, DS is 17 weeks and has been teething for 5 weeks already, my poor baby! Great advice on this thread, thanks for starting it and thanks all, I'm off to Boots tomorrow

Let us know how you get on!

I got told about the anebesol liquid/nelson's powders/nurofen combo by two different people and have sent both of them presents to say thank you!!

Much happier baby (and mum!)

Yup liquid ambesol from boots. Good stuff!

Remember though, definitely liquid not the gel...

Thanks Friss, will do.

Try punkin butt oil too

Quick update as promised, the anbesol has definitely helped although I was still up 6 or 7 times last night with DS Am not sure about the calprofen though, as the instructions say you should only give it to 3-6 month olds for 24 hours which isn't much use to me.

JoJo glad the anbesol had some effect!! Not so for us sadly as it made her even more hysterical!! Maybe the taste?

Re the calprofen, does anyone know what to do re dosage? Like JoJo says, the dosage is meant to be for 24 hours only for 3-6 month old. But obviously that is useless for a prolonged thing like teething! I am working on an assumption that if you don't give the full amount (3 times a day) then it is ok to do it for more than one day? Ie once or maybe twice a day but not 3 times and not day in day out.

Does anyone know if this is right?

In all honesty nothing else is keeping her pain down right now :(

I found the Boots teething granules to be fab - they are homeopathic (chamomile) and have an instant calming effect on my DS when his teeth are sore - not sure how much they help with the pain, but seems to calm him enough to think about other things eg falling asleep!

Oh no!

Really?!

Granules first to calm the crying. Then when calm, rub the anebesol in. That's the way I do it if she is hysterical.

I used Nurofen for babies - and just give when needed (every 3 hours), but she's not bad every day.

I think I will ignore the calprofen advice and do a couple of doses a day. DS has his last lot of triple vacs on Tuesday so I get the nurse to check out dosage etc. DS is truly unhappy today, lots of screaming and finger chewing and he wouldn't nap until 3pm so he is also vv tired. I'm in for a long night tonight