Since becoming a mum, my life has turned into some kind of giant guessing game. As soon as I think we’re getting into some kind of routine, things change. The biggest change I noticed was when Anushka started teething. The dreaded T word that causes parents the world over, to shudder. There again, everyone goes through it and that’s pretty reassuring. You’re not alone and fellow parents can relate. (It’s hard to remember this at 3am when you’re bleary eyed and your baby is crying)

It’s common for teething to start when your baby is around 6 months old, this was true for Anushka who is now 8 months old and has six teeth! The first signs for us were when she wanted to ferociously chew on everything she got her little hands on (including her hands!), her rosy little cheeks and the constant dribbling. All sleep patterns go out the window, especially at nighttime. We’ve recently done some gentle sleep training (that’s a whole separate post in itself) but sleep is the last thing on my baby’s mind when she’s got teeny tiny pearly whites on the way in.

She’s been a bit off the past few days so think she’s got more teeth coming in. I find it much harder to manage during the early hours as there’s less you can do in your sleepy state to distract them (and let’s be honest, we just want them to not be in pain and go back to sleep).

All babies deal with teething differently, apparently some sail through with no bother (or is this a myth?) but here are some things I’ve found helpful so far:

Teethers
We always carry a couple of teethers around with us if we’re going out. There’s Sophie – the famous French giraffe we all know and love, I also bought her some cute little fruit shaped teethers that she loves as they’re easy to hold. The lovely people at Fred & Noah have sent us their adorable milk bottle teether for Anushka to chomp on. I really like the milk bottle design and the little handle is the perfect size for Anushka to hold. It’s super easy to clean – just warm soapy water and can be sterilised too. The reverse side has lots of bumpy dots on which I can imagine is nice on the gums when teething. She certainly seems to enjoy chewing it! Check out the teether for yourself here.

Medicine
Magic teething powders that dissolve on the tongue have been essential for us, we’re using Ashton & Parsons. It will come as no surprise that good old Calpol has come to the rescue quite a lot too. If she’s very unsettled I alternate this with ibuprofen, we’ve used baby Nurofen and Anushka much prefers the orange flavour to Calpol which she tends to spit back out.

Playtime
Keeping busy really helps to distract Anushka so lots of walks, play dates with her little pals and playing at home.

Barrier Cream
With all the dribbling Anushka does, her chin can end up looking quite red & sore, applying a barrier cream throughout the day helps 🙂

Cold Stuff
Cold stuff really helps to soothe swollen sore gums, Sticks of cucumber or celery to gnaw on (once they’re weaning of course and always supervised), a teether that’s been in the freezer and a cold flannel that’s been in the freezer that she can stick in her mouth and chew on.

Cuddle Power
Sometimes nothing else works and all Anushka wants is a cuddle and that seems to really soothe her. I’ll be honest, sometimes all I want is to cuddle Anushka and she makes it quite clear that she wants to be left alone, harsh.

Hope you’ve found this post useful, I would love to hear your top teething tips too!

*This post was written in collaboration with Fred & Noah who sent us the milk bottle teether.