For teething....

[GuavaGirl]

....pain relief gel on the gums, or ibuprofen?  ...and which brand?

(baby is 10 months)

[LittleBirdy]

Hello... I have had decent luck with Hyland's teething gel for daytime and tylenol for nights when things are real bad... good luck, it's tough to watch your little one be uncomfortable :(

(A note on the tylenol: if you've never given it before you might want to call your child's healthcare provider first.  Technically it is no longer for use in children under age 2 but my doc said it was fine, just be careful with giving the proper dose.)

[Knitting Mama]

We do the Hyland's gel as well, and when things get really bad and she's clearly in pain, we do ibuprofen (generic Motrin from Target) rather than acetaminophen (generic Tylenol).

[Tattooed Hand]

I alternate between acetomenephen and ibuprofen since they are processed by different organs. I usually only give one dose at night if things are bad, though with these one year molars I've give some daytime doses because she's gone 8 hours at a time unable to nap and is so totally miserable.

Hylands helps a little too, but not on real bad days.

[P.J.]

Our pediatrician (who is a homeopath) recommended not even bothering with topical stuff on the gums as it just wears right off and isn't as readily absorbed as the little homeopathic balls, so we use the common brand in Germany (where we live) which is called Osanit. I have to say though that during the intense phase, which was about two days and three nights, when the first tooth came in we gave DS generic Tylenol.
 

Originally Posted by LittleBirdy 

(A note on the tylenol: if you've never given it before you might want to call your child's healthcare provider first.  Technically it is no longer for use in children under age 2 but my doc said it was fine, just be careful with giving the proper dose.)

Really?Why? Where did you hear this? It's certainly readily available in pharmacies both in the US and Germany, and our pediatrician also said it was fine to use and did not interfere with the homeopathy. Also, in the Sears' Baby Book he recommends acetominophen (Tylenol) over ibuprofin just because it's been approved for use in infants longer and therefore could be safer. Not sure if I agree with that logic but I know both acetomenophen and ibuprofin have pros and cons so I just went with the Tylenol and it definitely helped so we'll stick with it I suppose.

[EMandM]

Really?Why? Where did you hear this? It's certainly readily available in pharmacies both in the US and Germany, and our pediatrician also said it was fine to use and did not interfere with the homeopathy. Also, in the Sears' Baby Book he recommends acetominophen (Tylenol) over ibuprofin just because it's been approved for use in infants longer and therefore could be safer. Not sure if I agree with that logic but I know both acetomenophen and ibuprofin have pros and cons so I just went with the Tylenol and it definitely helped so we'll stick with it I suppose.

Our local Pharmacist said the same thing, "It is no longer recommended for children under two, talk to your pediatrician".  My ped said tylenol was fine just use 1/3 dropper full, but no ibuprofen.  The reasoning behind that is ibuprofen is best at reducing fever so you don't want to lower baby's tolerence of it, best to leave that for emergency fever reduction only. (like when nothing else will get down a super high fever)

[P.J.]

Okay, I just did a little search and all I came up with was this:

'on January 17, 2008 the FDA issued a public health advisory and said that it "strongly recommends that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used for infants and children under 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects could occur.".'

from here: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/toddlermedicinecabinet.html

Dr. Sears' website reports that nasal decongestants, cough suppresants, antihistamines, and expectorants are no longer approved for children 4 and under, but then goes on to recommend Tylenol for kids age 6 months and up:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T089800.asp

The Baby Center also says it's ok to give a baby over 3 months of age acetaminophen:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_acetaminophen-dosage-chart_11886.bc

However, I do recall reading about a link between use of acetaminophen in infancy and asthma, so I looked that up and sure enough one study did lead to some concern:

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20080918/baby_acetaminophen_tied_to_asthma

Even so, I could find no info whereby it is officially not recommended or sold for kids under 2, but I assume it's based on that study that doctors and pharmacists are concerned.

Honestly I find it all so confusing and now I too am second guessing giving DS acetaminophen. Hmph.....

[MamitaM]

My son is officially teething now! He's just 3 months though,so maybe a little young? The first one is all the way out and he's working on the next one. He only fussed a little bit with the first but he cried a little tonight with this other one. I was able to settle him with some nursing though and extra cuddles. I have Tempra that I bought when he got his vax,can I use that for teething if nursing doesn't help him?

[LittleBirdy]

Well the way I figured out the whole under two thing was I went to buy some acetaminophen for DS when he started this teething business and every brand, package, etc. I could find said, "Under 2 years - ask a doctor".  I did a lot of reading about it, and I think it's just a CYA thing.  I read about adverse reactions to acetaminophen in babies and found that they almost always occurred in one of three scenarios: 1) Parents gave children's acetominophen thinking it was infant's, and thus the babies got an overdose; 2) Parents gave it in conjunction with another OTC medicine that also contained acetominophen and thus the babies got an overdose; or 3) One parent gave a dose, and then the other parent came along and gave another dose not realizing the baby had already had some and thus the baby got an overdose.

I talked to his doctor and she said that one dose per night, even if you have to give it every night for a week, is just fine.
 

Originally Posted by P.J. 

Okay, I just did a little search and all I came up with was this:

'on January 17, 2008 the FDA issued a public health advisory and said that it "strongly recommends that over-the-counter (OTC) cough and cold products should not be used for infants and children under 2 years of age because serious and potentially life-threatening side effects could occur.".'

from here: http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/toddler/toddlermedicinecabinet.html

Dr. Sears' website reports that nasal decongestants, cough suppresants, antihistamines, and expectorants are no longer approved for children 4 and under, but then goes on to recommend Tylenol for kids age 6 months and up:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T089800.asp

The Baby Center also says it's ok to give a baby over 3 months of age acetaminophen:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_acetaminophen-dosage-chart_11886.bc

However, I do recall reading about a link between use of acetaminophen in infancy and asthma, so I looked that up and sure enough one study did lead to some concern:

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20080918/baby_acetaminophen_tied_to_asthma

Even so, I could find no info whereby it is officially not recommended or sold for kids under 2, but I assume it's based on that study that doctors and pharmacists are concerned.

Honestly I find it all so confusing and now I too am second guessing giving DS acetaminophen. Hmph.....

[tanyalynn]

I'm using cell salts for my daughter, check out this thread in Health & Healing

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/1188755/tell-me-about-cell-salts

They're part homeopathic and partly nutritional and I'm finding they have a lot of other uses besides just teething.  They work quite well--my daughter is 7 (years old, I mean), her 6-year molars were a rude awakening for me--I had no idea they could be painful coming in. 

When I can't find any other way to deal with the kids' pain, I use ibuprofen, I won't use tylenol--I won't keep it in the house for any of us.  I don't like how it's metabolized by the body.

[Tattooed Hand]

I think it really does depend on your baby. DD has multiple food intolerences and we stopped giving her ibuprohen because it's not good for the digestive tract.

[hippymama23]

Is there a good website on teething? 

[SeattleRain]

The first tooth is the worst, we were pretty much on 24/7 ibuprofen for about 5 days due to the 24/7 crying. This second tooth only required 2 nights of ibuprofen. Once they break through they're a breeze.

[scotia]

Originally Posted by P.J. 

Our pediatrician (who is a homeopath) recommended not even bothering with topical stuff on the gums as it just wears right off and isn't as readily absorbed as the little homeopathic balls, so we use the common brand in Germany (where we live) which is called Osanit. 

We still have a bottle of the Hylands Teething Tablets from before they were recalled last fall.  I've read about the recall, and still feel comfortable using the tablets with DS when he's uncomfortable. (He's still working on his first tooth, so I've only used them once so far, but they worked like magic to soothe him.)

I went to the website for Osanit, and it looks similar to the Hylands, with chamomile being the main active ingredient.  Are there other products in the US that use that for teething relief?   (PS  The blinking baby on the Osanit homepage is something else!)

[WifeofAnt]

What about the Hyland's gel?  Right now we have that and infant acetaminophen (but he never gets a full dose for his weight).  Would I be better off getting the tablets?  I'm never even completely sure it is teething.   I can't feel which teeth are coming through, and he's not nearly as loud as his cousin was, but rubbing on his gums gets him to calm down.

[Siss2mom]

Have you read up on Amber teething jewelry for babies?  It has done amazing things for my family  I have found this merchant on Amazon is amazing!!!  She has the best prices and really good quality.

www.amazon.com/shops/naturallybirthing

[GuavaGirl]

ya know....I haven't read up on them.  I've heard of them and I see them around...but I'm so skeptical of them.  ...but to be fair, I haven't done any research.

.

[new2this]

tylenol for the really bad nights. during the day I am able to get by with cold items for her. The orajel and hylands are pretty worthless IMO so we don't use them. 

[Siss2mom]

I was skeptical as well.  When I finally found a necklace that was about the same as I was spending on teething remedies I figured it was worth a shot.  Worst thing that would happen is my kid would just look cute in the necklace.  After trying the necklace I was amazed at how well it worked.  Within in minutes you could see a difference in my baby.  He was back to his happy self that I new when he was born.  Whenever we took the necklace off it would not be long before he was fussy and irritable.  It was amazing. 

After much research I found that this had been used in Europe for centuries.  I made life so much easier for us.  I hope you find a remedy soon.  Also, olive oil and a few drops of clove oil mixed together make for a good topical treatment.  I have had many conversations with my Naturopath about this  :o)

[littlemustard]

The teething gel never worked for my son and Camillia worked on occasion but it always seemed to be for short periods of time rather than lasting relief. We now use an amber necklace, my son cut four teeth before getting an amber necklace (top and bottom) and has since cut 5 more with. The difference was night and day! He was miserable, in pain, didn't sleep or eat well and drooled like crazy. The necklace helps a lot, he is now cutting molars and apart form the odd day, he is doing great!  I got one from http://butter-n-honey.com and its knotted between each bead and has a safety clasp. If it gets caught on something it will break and if it breaks only one bead will come off. I would do anything to help my baby when he's in pain so I tried it and it worked!