In molar hell… help!

[Bertram2024]

My LO has just had her 1st birthday and has since been in so much pain with teething, it looks like her first molars are on their way. She’s clawing her face, pulling her ears, crying a lot (and she’s not a cryer!), she’s struggling to nap because she’s in so much discomfort constantly rubbing her face, and the nights, well, they’re worse than the days. Crying out in pain every hour, rolling over and over then hitting her head off the sides of the cot. We’re getting no sleep at home at all - less than when she was a newborn and honestly I’m struggling so I can’t imagine how awful it must be for her.

We’re constantly giving her Calpol and Nurofen but it’s not touching the sides. Can’t use teething powder as they have lactose in and she’s lactose intolerant. She hates Anbesol and Bonjela, literally won’t let me near her with any of the gels, and none of her teething toys are soothing her. She doesn’t like cold things in her mouth (tried the cold tethers / washcloths tricks already). She also has Reeeally bad diarrhoea- is this related?

please help, any advice, or words of encouragement would really help right now xx

Yes, nasty nappies are part of it.

It's horrible, just got to grin and bear it and do whatever you can do make her as comfortable as you can. My boy loved a sugar free tip top.

Oh it's so tough. I give mine cold celery to gnaw on and that seems to help a bit (but no good for the nights!).

On the horrible nappies topic - teething nappies are a thing, ask any nursery worker (although the NHS says not - but every parent has experience of it!). There is however also a tummy bug doing the rounds (DP caught it off our toddler last week 😭)

Yeah we got no sleep and had to call in sick once from sleep deprivation as my toddler got FOUR molars back to back between 13 and 14 months. Seeing him in so much pain was just horrible.

I'd be tempted to get the anbesol liquid (so it looks different from the gel), and try to get some of that on her gums. DD2 didn't actually like anbesol, but because it works so quickly, she made the connection that it made the pain stop. It actually became really easy to tell if her upset was teething – you could show her the bottle, and she'd either open her mouth like a baby bird, or clamp her lips shut and turn her head firmly away.

For both my kids I have always used amber teething necklaces. Those were a huge help, bought mine on shopmarambra.com. The only thing as it is genuine Baltic Amber, those are delivered from Latvia and it took some time for delivery. Got mine within 2 weeks or so. I tried literally everything, but those were the really first thing, that actually helped. I know, what you are going through.

Aren’t these choking hazard?

There are knits between beads, if the necklace or bracelet or anklet breaks, only one bead comes off, anyhow wore those under supervision, never at night, except if you wear something with covered feets during the night, can put the anklet under clothes.

Im also in molar hell so i feel ur pain!! Iv looked this evening and his bottom molar has actually cut through which explains the kind of day we’ve had today. I usually put a dummy in the freezer for 5 mins and then give it to him as its quicker than the fridge when desperate for that cold sensation and it does help him alot. Neuro works well for us but better to give at first signs of iritability so theyre not too far gone in the pain is what we have found! Also Nelsons teething powder is much better than Ashtons iv found, dont think that had lactose in but you night need to double check.. Heard amazing things about anbesol liquid havent tried it yet but deffo will be! This is his 3rd molar and they are all pretty awful but this first bottom one has been the absolute worst. Hang in there😭 x

You are not alone! Daughter is getting her canines ATM (she has 1st molars already) and she has periods of utter hysterics trashing about arching back etc. It's so hard to witness and ibuprofen barely touching sides. Sending solidarity x

You are not alone! Daughter is getting her canines ATM (she has 1st molars already) and she has periods of utter hysterics trashing about arching back etc. It's so hard to witness and ibuprofen barely touching sides. Sending solidarity x

Thanks for the celery tip! It worked for a day then she realised she could bite bits off with her front teeth 🙈 so I've had to park that!

It is so awful seeing them in so much pain! I’m combi feeding and she’s constantly asking for the breast for comfort and my nipples are shredded. I don’t know how you got through this whilst working, luckily I’m still off work.

Thanks for the tip - I’m going to give this a go, fingers crossed…. 🤞🏽

I’ve seen a few kids with these on their ankles and wondered what it was all about! I’ll give this a go - anything is worth a shot right now…

Aaargh! Ah I hope you’re hanging in there too. I’d love to take a look inside my daughter’s mouth but she clamps it shut. I need to work on other tactics to get her to open wide. I used to use laughter but her front teeth are so big they’re in the way now lol. Thanks for the powdered tip, I’ll take a look at it properly when she’s done for a nap … x

Thank you so much. It is comforting to hear other mums going through the same, it feels so all-consuming when the pain is this bad. I’m finding my LO is displaying weird behaviours with the pain, must be out of frustration; throwing, hitting, thrashing etc. it’s really not like her she’s usually super happy and affectionate, she’s definitely not herself bless her x