Teetha, thumbs up or down?

[maomao]

Hullo everyone,

I think my DD and I are entering the lovely world of teething ('tho people say that 4 months is too early). She now gets very cantankerous, tugs at her ears and hair, chomps on things, cries/shrieks for no apparent reason, wakes in the middle of the night in tears. She's been a fountain of drool for ages now.... I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about!

I've a few questions about Teetha:

1. Does it really work?
2. Any tips on emptying the packets into the baby's mouth?
3. Is there a cheaper alternative? (We're grad students, y'see....)

Thanks for your help!

hi maomao
I think that my 15 week old son has been teething too. I tried using teetha and didn't find it very effective though I know lots of mums swear by it. I find more useful (and a lot cheaper) keeping a bottle of cooled boiled water in the fridge. Just letting him have the cold teat in his mouth seems to offer relief. You've probably already tried this anyway.
good luck.

I found teetha to be very good. Rather than empty the sachet into DDs mouth, I put it onto my hand then dipped my finger in it and let her taske it off that.

Hi mimm,

Several friends of mine independently suggested taking wet cloths and freezing them. I just put a small stash in my freezer this morning! So I'm hoping that will work as well, if not better than a cold teat.

We'll see!

Hello there,

My dd now 6 months old was dribbling and drooling at 4 months old. I was going to introduce a soft teether that you place in the fridge to chill, like I did with my ds's but decided not to this time as she sucks on her fingers and is a little irratible I have been very fortunate with my ds's and dd as they haven't had too much trouble with teething. Though I have been putting baby orajel on her gums. Good Luck with your dd :-{}

I've found Teetha to be really helpfull. It depends if ds is just a bit irritated by teething (where Teetha helps) or is having a complete paddy - where only Calpol and a frozen banana seem to work.
I have heard of something called Anbesol which is basically a local, topical anaesthetic which can be rubbed on sore gums half hourly it the child is in severe pain. Has anyone used it?? My ds is 10 and half months old and despite showing signs of teething from 4 and half months, STILL has no sign of the first tooth - AAAAGH!

I've found Teetha to be really helpfull. It depends if ds is just a bit irritated by teething (where Teetha helps) or is having a complete paddy - where only Calpol and a frozen banana seem to work.
I have heard of something called Anbesol which is basically a local, topical anaesthetic which can be rubbed on sore gums half hourly it the child is in severe pain. Has anyone used it?? My ds is 10 and half months old and despite showing signs of teething from 4 and half months, STILL has no sign of the first tooth - AAAAGH!

Thumbs up from me too - it always seemed to work with dd. Though am not sure it was the sensation of having sweet tasting granules put in her mouth that stopped her crying, rather than real pain relief. A friend used to tip one in her mouth too, when her ds was being particularly grizzly. It is a calmant after all, so why should it just work for babies and not their mothers?
BTW - Teetha is homeopathic, I think, so you are not supposed to touch it. So that means JanHR's advice theoretically negates its effects... But if it worked perfectly well for her, then who knows? I just used to rip open the packet and wait for a wide open screaming mouth and tip the contents in.

We tried Teetha on ds - not sure it worked for us. Heard about frozen bananas too late - always wondered about them though. Do they get so frozen that chunks can't be bitten off, Padme?

Yeah, Padme, do you just throw banana chunks into the freezer? Or do you have to make some sort of lolly?

I used Anbesol on my wisdom teeth. It helped a little, but it had a nasty taste!

Re:frozen bananas! I just peel a banana whole and chuck it in the freezer. Then I just give the whole thing to ds! Keeps him occupied for ages and so far he has not bitten any chunks off. It goes soggy pretty quickly and is v. messy but anything for half an hours releif from teething and crying. You could slice the banana lengthways before freezing so it is easier for little fists to grasp but ds uses it primarily as something to knaw on and play with rather than eat. As you can imagine, I don't do it very often as he looks like he has been slimed afterwards! and clothes need to be removed asap. But like with all finger foods I make sure I am within eye and earshot just in case he bites off more than he can chew.

A definate yes for teetha although it doesn't really work for teething symptoms but for the inconsolable crying you get with the symptoms - chuck a sachet down her neck and see the instant result. I think you have to start it quite early otherwise they learn to refuse.

Another vote for frozen bananas, frozen slithers of melon and frozen cucumbers.

Padme, I stick a lolly stick in half a banana, although my two are older now. Also if they ask for one and don't eat it I cut of the biten bit and stick the rest in the freezer for later.

Thanks for info re bananas Padme and runragged. maomao - hope you find something that works for your dd (and you!)

Someone told me that a frozen carrot was really good, and then that wouldn't fall apart when it defrosted.

Teetha was excellent for ds1 and used to instantly calm him and he would often fall asleep due to the soothing nature of the powder - great for those nigt time troubles. We also found anbesol brilliant - easier to aim that the gels and pleasant taste - better for the older child I think