Teething Troubles

Every child develops in their own way and at their own pace. To be honest, I can’t even remember when Sutton cut his first tooth. At 18 months (as of yesterday) he only has a few more teeth to cut. But he has been teething terribly of recent. I so often wish that people shared more ‘real’ stories or photos on social media. I often wish that I had done this myself. There are so many experiences that I wish I had shared while going through them when Sutton was still a baby. So, I thought I would share Sutton’s teething experience to help other families who may be going through the same experience. Teething is rough.

As I said above, all children experience things differently. Sutton develops horrible fevers when teething, which was accompanied by a runny nose and cough when he was younger. A few days before the fever hits, he shows irritation in his gums. Sutton bites his dummies, rubs his gums against anything he can (including my shoulders or face) and at times, bites us too. When he first started to bite, I felt horrible. No one wants their child to become a biter. I promise you, it feels terrible. You feel guilty and question absolutely everything - is he frustrated with the space he is in, is he being stimulated, can he express his emotions, the questions are endless. What I have personally experienced is that Sutton only bites (mainly me) just before his teething spike.

At the height of his teething, he develops terrible temperatures. When they first occurred, I was incredibly stressed as you don’t know what to do. I asked my colleagues for advice and guidance in this regard. One evening, his temperature exceeded 40 degrees. He vomited multiple times and became non-respondent. Damian and I rushed Sutton to the hospital. Sutton lay limp in my arms. I was petrified. We were admitted into the emergency rooms where we removed his clothes (except for his nappy), he was given suppositories and place under a fan until his temperature dropped. The hospital team were incredibly kind and calm. I guess they see so many severe cases that this was nothing in comparison. The on-call doctor gave us a script for some more suppositories to administer when needed and some tips to help lower his temperature when it does climb past 38 degrees. This is obviously to be done before the temperature gets too high.

1. Remove all their clothing. Sutton has been sleeping without any pyjamas of recent as his temperature spikes in the evenings.

2. Give them a lukewarm bath. The water can’t be too hot or too cold. Splash them and cool their heads with their damp facecloth. Dab them dry afterwards (let some residual water stay to keep them cool).

3. Place them in front of a fan (this is only really to be done if the temperature is bad and not for long periods).

Sutton has been teething terribly of recent. My personal experience with teething gels, powders, teething toys etc. is that they haven’t worked for us. Even with toys, Sutton just never took an attachment to any toys, teddy bears or dummies. He will happily go between them with no preference at all. I know that we are lucky in many ways because of this, but he also doesn’t have a ‘comforter’ during these times.

As I said, teething symptoms vary for child to child. Some babies develop diarrhoea, and others have no symptoms at all (jealous much). Teething is tough. It’s horrible to see your child in such pain and to feel so helpless at the same time. Try to keep calm (they feed off of your energy) and know that this will pass. I’m hoping that Sutton’s last few teeth pop out soon and we can say farewell to these fevers. Until then, remember, one day we will long for our little humans to run into our arms for comfort, find the silver linings in these moments and take a deep breath.