Our little Penelope stared her teething experience at 7 months. The excessive drool had already been going on for about a month prior. According to my 82 year old Cuban grandmother she has been teething since about week 2. I know some of you can relate to this. As first time parents we had heard horror stories about teething. I mean really bad stuff and everyone was trying to give their two cents. Our doctor let us know at the 6 month visit that for teething we shouldn’t use Orajel or Humphrey’s Teething Tablets. Apparently there were crazy side affects which was shocking to both my fiancée and I since both of us were given this when we were little. Nonetheless I really trust my pediatrician and prepared for a long and terrifying teething experience. While she did warn us about those other two, she did let us know that if she felt warm or we could tell she was in a lot of pain that some Tylenol could be given to help soothe the pain.

So every night at bath time before we got started with soap I would grab the wash cloth a gently massage her gums as if I was brushing her teeth. She loves this and it must feel good because she doesn’t ever want me to stop. This is eventually how I discovered the first tooth was coming. I noticed the gum line was a little tougher than usual and when I looked I could see there was something white underneath. OMG HER FIRST TOOTH!!!! Well I panicked a little bit because pf all the horror stories I heard. I imagined sleepless nights and never ending tears coming from Penelope. We experienced quite the opposite.

I designated a large tupperware for all her cold teething toys. We tried to buy everything BPA free and made sure if they were filled with liquid that it was a safe liquid incase it ruptured. I have about 15 of them. It seems excessive but she’s at the stage where she in throwing everything on the floor so instead of having to wash and wait for her teething toy to cool I can just toss the dirty one in the sink and grab another one.

The teething toy that was our favorite is the Baby Banana Bendable Tooth Brush for infants. She can chew on this for hours and it has a little rubbery brush at the tip so it actually helps promote healthy habits. We can not live with out this! Oh and neither can Penelope! I stick this in the tub to cool it everyday. For long rides in the car this is great. It goes for about 8.99 at Buy Buy Baby and you can use a coupon for it.

Get lots and lots of absorbent bibs because the drool is never ending. I also rub vaseline or Honest Healing ointment on her cheeks and under her chin so she doesn’t get too irritated from all that excessive moisture.

I am still breast feeding so I comfort fed her a lot. I know it may considered a bad habit to some mommas out there but I could tell when she was in pain and just a few minutes on the boob always put a smile on her face. We also fed her solids that we knew she liked a lot. I literally added broccoli to every veggie because she can’t get enough.

She didn’t wake up too many times in the middle of the night to be soothed I would say less than 5 times. There was only one night where we gave her a little Tylenol because she was very uncomfortable but other else than that it was lots of love and attention, cold toys, lots of boob, and her favorite snacks. Here we are two teeth later and we all survived!!! Every baby is different and I’m glad our experience wasn’t anywhere near the terror stories we were told. I’m very happy we chose a less medicated way of soothing her. So far she hasn’t bitten my nipples either but I guess I will have to wait for the top teeth for that. Please share any remedies that helped you and your baby through teething.