Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Teething and the evils of oraj.el.

Teeth.

Evil, evil, little teeth.

I can see 2 white bumps and hope and pray they stay under the skin (I really, really, really love my babies toof-less).

As I have already mentioned, Ella had her full 'front' set (no molars) by the time she was 6 months old. And Allison stayed toothless, although there were a few times I saw those bumps, until she was a year old. Yup, a year old and a gumby. yay!

Karl is teething and then he's not. The poor boy. I just need his teeth to make up their minds. Until then, I'm making sure he's got something to chew on, a rag/cloth his chew thing of choice.

One thing I will ~not~ do for teething is or.ajel. I learned about the evils of o.rajel with Ella. My pediatrician explained how or.ajel, while helping for the moment, hardens the gums ever so slightly, causing the tooth that is trying to come through have an even harder time. So you use more or.ajel, causing it to become harder, more or.ajel, etc, etc, etc. It can be evil stuff if you use it on your teething baby. If you do use it, use it sparingly like right before they eat so they ~can~ eat (if the teething pain is making them refuse food), but just be careful. Don't fall into or.ajel's corporate ploy! heh. I totally sound like one of those conspiracy theorists! All I can say is it makes sense to me and I can feel how the gums feel harder after using it. Of course I can be totally incorrect on this, I'm just taking lead from my pediatrician.

12 comments:

areyoukiddingme said...

I opted for tylenol for teething. It worked wonders for my daughter. But teeth and nursing...not a good mix! Anyway, hope Karl's teeth stop hurting him.

Sara said...

That is interesting about the ora.jel. That is good to know!

Jen said...

I think Jillian is taking Allison's path of no teeth until age one. Every time I think she might be teething, the symptoms go away but not little tooth ever appears. I agree though...toothless babies are pretty cute.

nancy said...

areyoukiddingme ... Ella getting teeth so early did cause for a few instances of discomfort and sometimes searing pain while nursing, but for the most part, it wasn't a factor.

Jenera said...

Sam has been teething since two months or so. They'll be right under the surface and then go away. Poor guy. We just stick with tylenol or motrin for him.

Morgan Owens said...

Mason has been apparently teething for a little while now and I had NO clue. I knew he was getting fussy but couldn't figure it out until the other day and I saw 2 little toofies sticking out of his gum. So THAT'S what has been wrong with him!! They are already sticking out of the gum, poor little man- it must have been miserable and mommy couldn't even figure it out. :(

I'm scared of Orajel also, I only use a tab before it's time to eat or he wont eat, AT ALL. Someone told me that if they swallow some on accident and can numb their throat and their gag reflexes and they can choke...so ever since I was told that I've been scared to use it. Teething rings and cold wash clothes are working just fine for me. I give him Tylenol at night or else he moans in his sleep A.L.L. night long.

Lisa said...

Teething sucks. Tylenol was our friend because like you, I was avoiding the ora.jel.

Kristin said...

Teething is miserable. Poor Karl and poor you. We would feed our kids teeny tiny ice chips. And, the spiciness of ginger snaps seemed to numb their gums.

Beautiful Mess said...

Awww poor little guy! I always used teething tablets. They work wonderfully! I've used the other stuff before, but never noticed any ill effects. Something to watch out for, though.
*HUGS*

Molly said...

I've also heard that they can choke from having their throat numbed from Orajel, so we never used it. Tylenol sometimes, and when he was older and working on the molars and canines we'd sometimes eat fruit ice together. We're just about done growing teeth, though! Hooray!

jenn said...

Good to know about the ora.jel- I think I remember hearing that sometime, but never retained it fully!

I als think 'toofless' grins are the best! I hope Karl gets a little longer without getting his teeth in!

MrsSpock said...

Numbing agents like Ora.jel also tend to have a rebound pain effect when they wear off- or so says my nurse practitioner friend. We used it very sparingly.