Pain in the Tooth
Posted on 04 04, 2006 under The Manual by Noodad |
It"s always the same story: Your kid is cranky so it must be teething. Your kid has a fever so it must be teething. Your kid can"t sleep so it must be teething. Teething will be the Bill Buckner for every abnormal symptom your kid displays between the ages of 4 months and 1 year. No matter what other factors contribute to your kid being a total crank butt will be blamed on one scapegoat, teething. But what if your kid really is teething? How do you possibly deal with the horror? Here"s what you Noodads need to know.
TWO BY TWO
They say your kid should get their teeth in pairs but that isn"t always the case. So if your kid is a one-toothed wonder, don"t worry. Your kid won"t be Sloth from Goonies forever. The other one will come in soon.
DROOL MONSTER
You will never experience more drool in your entire life. I"m talking Turner and Hooch type of drool. Your kid"s face will be a slobbering mess before, during, and after the teeth come in so hunker down and prepare to deal with it.
"CUTTING TEETH"
The first time I heard that my kid was "cutting teeth", I got really freaked out. But that is the term that people use when the teeth come in. It sounded to me like cutting keys at the hardware store. That"s the term. And it hurts your kid as much as it sounds like it does.
MEDICATE
You may want to stay strong and not medicate your kid, but let"s see how strong that notion is when you are up 3 nights in a row. Baby Tylenol is good with helping the accompanying fever but by far the best thing to give your kid is called Hyland"s Teething Tablets. You can get them in most drugstores and they are homeopathic. These things are so tiny but they literally took my drooling, hysterical son and turned him into a cooing, sappy Gerber baby in less than 5 seconds. [editor"s note: Remember, we"re not your doc and we"re not your momma! Consult your pediatrician before giving your kid any medications.]
Good luck Noodads. Soon, your kid will have a whole mouth full of teeth and you will have to worry about retainers and cavities.
April 4th, 2006 at 8:35 pm
I\’m a dentist - haven\’t heard of these. Most homeopathics turn out to be \”mother\” compounds to commonly found (cheaper) over-the-counter medicines. Don\’t make the mistake thinking that because something is homeopathic that it\’s OK and you can give your kid as much as you want - it\’s natural, right? Must be good for them!!! So is hemlock!
And yes - my son drooled like a madman…
April 5th, 2006 at 10:59 am
I checked out the ingredients in Hyland\’s Teething Tablets. No hemlock. But it did contain belladonna. Also known as deadly nightshade. Sure, I want my son to get over his teething. But not that badly. One other ingredient of note: coffea cruda. In plain old English, raw coffee beans. Hmmm.
April 5th, 2006 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the research and the professional opinions you guys!. Remember, we\’re clooless noodads too. This is the kind of discussion we encourage on this site.
For the record, foodad and foowife are tylenol or ibuprofen people. Our daughter was a CHAMPION teether. She got a runny nose, but all-in-all teething did not really seme to bother her.
Our son has had a much worse time.
April 5th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Obviously you need to give your kid what you feel is good for your kid. This is true for everything: for every parent that feels Sesame Street is cool and educational for their 2 year old, there is a parent who says TV wil corrupt their child, make them fat, and Elmo will personally come and gouge their kid\’s eyes out at night.
As for Hyland\’s, it worked for us and I highly recommend them. After hearing that it has coffee beans? I still recommend them. Anyone else have a tried and true remedy?
April 5th, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Belladonna, huh? That is an anticholinergic agent. We actually use something similar in dentistry to keep patients from drooling too much. Too much of an anticholinergic can cause extreme temperature & dehydration. Be careful… The caffeine, of course, a diuretic - gets rid of more water.
Most places, the plant which Belladonna is extracted from (Angel\’s Trumpet) is illegal to have now. Too many kids dying from making the tea, which causes hallucinations, nausea, vomiting, extreme temperature, then death.
Actually, ice water worked great for my son. Numbed the pain a little. Took care of the rest with Tylenol. Didn\’t do much for the drooling - didn\’t bother us or him too much.
April 6th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
For us, I\’m pretty convinced, especially with our first, that teething became ear aches. Anyone else have the same experience?
January 15th, 2007 at 12:15 am
I am a licensed physician and a newdad to a now 8 month old son, who is working on his first tooth. Life was pretty good for him, (and us) up until about 3 weeks ago when he began to drool like a Saint Bernard and chew on his fingers like crazy. This little guy\’s sleep pattern went downhill and it became evident it was time to begin medicating. Now, for the big question, \”with what?\”, my wife, an RN and I both know full well, the hepato-toxicity (liver toxicity) associated with too much Acetaminophen, (aka Tylenol), and we are aware that the Belladonna plant is used to make several pharmacological agents, most notably Atropine which without going too medical here for the laypeople, is a parasympathetic blocker which causes increase in heart rate and decrease in secretions. Atropine is given to patient\’s with symptomatic, slow heart rate and also is given to counter the deadly effects of organophosphate insecticide poisoings such as Malathion and it is also used to counteract chemical nerve-agent poisonings in combat. Lastly Atropine is used to dilate pupils of the eys for opthalmic procedures and exams. The reason I say all of this is to tell you, yes, Bella Donna can be toxic in very large amounts of a concentrated solution, however, Hylands Teething Tablets utilise minute amounts of a 0.0003% solution which is a very minute amount of the actual plant, and nowhere near the concentration of what is used for Atropine Sulfate. To nutshell my post, I can tell you that I personally would rather give my infant a 60-year tested safe homeopathic preparation such as Hylands which by the way is used worldwide for teething, versus regular dosing with Tylenol. As for Motrin, the mechanism of action is different than that of Tylenol and it is shown to be less toxic also due to less frequent dosing, but Tylenol nor Motrin worked for my son. Hyland\’s Teething Tablets worked within 3-5 minutes and I only had to give them (2 tablets sublingual) at bedtime and my son slept for 7.5 hours with no noted side effects or problems whatsoever. These tablets have been around for 60 years and I have not found one documented case of overdosage, illness or adverse reactions from the use of Hylands. In fact, most Poison Control Centers will not even advise you to seek medical assistance even with the ingestion of an entire bottle. With Tylenol or Motrin, EVERY Poison Control Center will tell you to immediately seek Emergency Room care. I have seen hepatic failure from Acetaminophen OD. It\’s not pretty and really quite tragic. I am not saying give your baby Hyland\’s 4 times a day, every day for any amount of pain, but when the icing and teethers no longer work, this product is worth a try. Good sleep to all.
January 15th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Its good to hear a licensed physician finally weigh in and give me validation that my wife and I aren\’t horrible drug pushing parents! Welcome to Noodad.