Teething Tips

The lovely founder of Yummikeys, Elspeth, has put together her top tips on getting through teething.

1. Keep sticks of cucumber in the fridge for your baby to chomp on. They’re cool to chew on and as they consist mostly of water they’re generally-considered ok
before weaning. If your baby is weaning they may love harder foods such as
pineapple, apples, carrots, crusts of bread.

2. Try massaging your baby’s gum with your finger (watch our if they already have teeth though and of course wash your hands before and after).

3. If your partially-weaned baby goes off solids, don’t be afraid to up the milk feeds if they’re hungry. They’ll take more solids again once their gums stop hurting.

4. Babies love to chew and gnaw, particularly when teething. This is where teething toys come in. Choose ones which are cool, smooth and hygienic, such as Yummikeys, which will also provide a welcome distraction for your baby and can be popped in the fridge and in the dishwasher.

5. Distract your baby – fun games, music, different toys and places – anything that will help them forget their discomfort for a while.

6. There are several products available at chemists for teething – gels oils and
powders. To be honest we found that they didn’t work for us. I tried them on
myself first. It’s also worth nothing that all teething gels has recently been
removed from the supermarket shelves and are only available at pharmacies.
The advice follows a review of the products concluding there is a lack of evidence of benefit to using products containing Lidocaine (which carries a very low risk of serious health impacts) for teething before non-medicinal options.

7. Don’t attribute everything to teething but if you’re sure that’s what the problem is and nothing has worked and your baby is getting distressed, you could consider trying a dose of Calpol. Most of us wouldn’t put up with persistent pain if a painkiller could relive it safely.

8. If your baby is dribbling a lot more than usual use a good, absorbent bib to prevent a dribble rash and dampness.
Yellow Metainium can be handy to heal any dribble rash and then a barrier cream like Bepanthan or Vaseline will help protect the skin from it happening again.

9. Amber teething necklaces are becoming more popular and are said to prevent teething discomfort, although currently there is no scientific proof of this claim. Please ensure that any product you purchase is fully safety tested for babies and does not give rise to a suffocation or choking risk.

10. Get some support! Teething can be a tough time with broken sleep and a cranky baby – draft in friends or relatives to give you a bit of a rest too.