Mama its sooo painful...

I know teething pains are part and parcel of growing up. These little beings (even myself) don't remember much of this traumatic experience after that. 

During the wee hours of today and yesterday, hubby and I watched helplessly as my usually gung ho toddler woke up to cry. The little girl pushed all her fingers into her mouth against the gums and cry. The misery apparent with saliva (loads and loads of it) and tears smeared all over her face. There were several occassions this week where she sticks her fingers into her mouth and then cry as though she had her fingers in between cupboard doors. 

Today's misery is made worse by a rather empty tummy since she refused her milk feed before her sleep.

Having had N go through this before, a lot of people would say it would be a walk in the park for me. Rightfully, I would have lots of tricks up my sleeve! Well... Right but wrong at the same time. 

Dentinox and ice cold towels DID NOT work. Rubbing dentinox and using ice cold towels to rub against the gums worked for N but not for this little gal. 

Today, I told hubby to go to sleep since he needed to go to work later. Took over the crying girl. Went to the kitchen and offered her an ice cube. Ok ok I am sensing frowns - which freaking parent would give an ice cube to a young child at 2am in the morning. That's me in desperation to soothe her. If she was miserable, I was not going to be any easier on me. She sucked it, pushed the ice out and swirled the ice cold water in her mouth. As the ice got smaller, could see her pushing it at the molar areas in her mouth. 

Being more calm, she also nodded when I offered her cold milk. She rejected the hot milk early remember? She happily/hungrily drank and finished what was left in the fridge. Then requested for another ice cube (pointed to the top part of the fridge). Gave it to her and she happily took it. For some unknown reason she ran out to the living room but started crying and refused to eat the ice cube. Uh well, nevermind - the earlier ice cube had already done a good job. 

Brought her to room, changed her out (romper was wet with saliva, tears and what not), applied her fav Baby Vicks on her chest and moved her back to her bed. Hopefully she sleeps till the next morning... 

DG, I hope you will allow the molars to emerge soon and return the fiesty but cheery little girl to me. It breaks my heart to see her cry like this. Hubby commented that she has lost her cute little tummy for eating so little this past week. Hopefully her appetite would also come back when those big molars are out. 

Toothy Grins!

This is just a little entry for memory sake. Since two weeks back, the little one has been battling with sore gums! Despite the emergence of the pre-molars and molars, she is not salivating as much as she did when she was younger. However, when the sore-ness gets to her, she becomes grumpy or whiny...

And for some reason, she does look different when she smiles with all the pearly whites... : ) * 

Here are the items I use to brush the little girl's teeth every night...

First Teeth Toothpaste
It is important that the toothpaste used on babies must be fluoride-free. Because babies do not know how to spit out the toothpaste, you have to check to ensure there is no fluoride.  When she was slightly younger and did not have so much tooth, I used the finger toothbrush that was sold with this toothpaste. But with all her teeth, she bites so i changed to toothbrush! : )

Pigeon Infant Toothbrush 
We bought the set when she was younger but we did not really use all of them. The one on the extreme right is the one that I am using now...

Coming to 12 months old...

The little girl is going to be 12 months old really soon... A year just flashed by and for me it's interesting to see how much she has grown and progressed. :)

Here is a photo which we took at Pasta Mania today. Hubby was pretty amused by how determined she was! I took a slice of the Banana Dessert Pizza to eat. When she saw it, her whole face lit up and she reached for my wrist! Guided the slice towards herself and started to "chew" off the edge of it. When she got some of the pizza, she would soften her grip on my wrist. When she wanted more she repeated again. I proclaim: "Never underestimate the "power" of her 2 bottom tooth!" :p

PS: Her 8th tooth has emerged on 27 Nov 2009!

And this is my new method of bathing the little girl. Hmmm, it saves water!!! :p

 Look at how delighted she is when it's "pong-pong" time! :)

My little "Astro-Girl"...

 

Ahhh... nothing beats sitting in the tub! *Bliss*

Okay, hubby finally caught her on camera. It's her "inside" the coffee table. When she sees something she's interested in, she'll not hesisate to crawl inside to get it! There's no stopping her... :p

 *opps... caught by daddy!*

"Hmm... let me mark my territory!" (using her drool which is still at it's peak...)

 

"To mark my territory, I have to spread it thinly on the surface..."

1 more month to 1 year!!!

Little girl is going to 1 years old! As a mother, I am both happy and stressed up... Happy because it's a milestone worth celebrating! Stressed up because this mother realised that her little girl's birthday party is still in the "thinking stage" (i.e. no invites... only caterer is booked)! *OH oh...*


That aside, here are some of little girl's recent "first": 


Taking (more than) a step forward!
Yes! Amazing isn't it? From just 3 wobbly little steps about 3 weeks back, she is now able to take 6 to 7 steps (3 small ones and 3 to 4 hurried steps to reach mama or papa). And with lots of encouragement and praise, she seem to improve (in the number of steps taken) by leaps and bounds! It'll be fun if she can walk well by Chinese New Year next year (which happens to fall on Valentine's Day too!), both great-grandmas will be totally amazed! However, I note that her motor developments have been pretty fast.

Drinking from the straw!
To this, I would say "FINALLY!!!". I have been trying so hard over the past 2 months on and off to get her to drink from a straw. Yesterday, she finally drank from the mag mag straw! That was after my dad's suggestion last week to feed her water using a real straw. i.e. put a straw into a cup of water. With one finger on the end of the straw, lift it up and put it in the baby's mouth. If she bites, release a little so she knows there is water. If she  drinks from it, release the pressure from the end. The first few times will be messy, i.e. the water will leak out from her mouth. But who cares... 2weeks later, she's drinking from a straw! :) I am so proud of my little girl...  

And another update!!! 

In the "good books" of the Tooth Fairy
Yes, she is one of tooth fairy's well loved child. Since my previous post about her teeth... I am updating that post again! She is having her 7th tooth! Explains her crankiness and excessive drool... And, "sa jiao"-ness (reads whining all the time and wanting people to carry) and not to mention the whatever-I-have-in-hand-goes-into-mouth behavoir... While it's great to have teeth, having 3-4 cutting at one go can be distressing for her (and for me too!). I have been brushing her teeth and gums using the Banana-Apple Flavour First Teeth Toothpaste religiously! This was even before her first tooth emerged.   

Updated chart: 

 

 Ref: http://www.diyfather.com/files/baby_teeth.jpg
*left refers to her left  

ARHHHH........

Since my last entry about little girl's teeth in June, it's time for an update!

Little girl now has six teeth! Two at the bottom and four at the top. Other than the bottom central incisor, the top central incisor and lateral incisor is on-the-way. When she smiles, you can see the top and bottom central incisor most clearly! :) 

So here's a snapshot of when I could feel the little bits of teeth poking out from her gums! The dates are approximate because I dare not stick a finger into her mouth everyday to check! She bites really HARD!

Ref: http://www.diyfather.com/files/baby_teeth.jpg

When two of her teeth cut at the same time, she would get really cranky. Other than placing everything she can get her hands on into her mouth (including her fingers), she will have a hard time drinking her milk and of course a hard time trying to fall asleep.

Being a curious mum, I read up and found the reasons for those difficulties. Apparently, sucking milk from a bottle would cause blood to rush into the gums, thus causing extra discomfort! The solution is to increase the teat size or flow to allow the baby to drink comfortably without sucking too hard for the milk. The baby might have a hard time falling asleep because of the discomfort from the gums. As they are trying to get to sleep, there are lesser distractions hence the gum discomfort would get more apparent! 

After doing some reasearch, I found that the following can be useful:
1. Cooling the pacifier in the fridge (to act as a cooled teether)
2. Give the baby a cool teether or a piece of chilled fruit (such as apple)
3. Wetting some small towels and placing them in fridge (to act as cooled teether)
4. The medical option: Dentinox (this is widely debated since it works on some babies and not others). I usually use this together with cooled teethers for better effect
5. The soothing touches of the mother/soft soothing songs which reassures the baby can help placate them too! :) 

Blessed by the tooth fairy...

My girl is teething! I felt her very first teeth on 7th June 2009. It was a tiny and sharp. :P And that was the start of her crankiness. Other than biting anything that comes within millimetres of her mouth or anything that she can grab, she drools like a waterfall and gets cranky (i.e. she will cry in frustration while biting on the teether).

I purchased my first tube of what I call the miracle cream - Dentinox Teething Gel. It can be used from birth and I confirmed that it is safe to use with my PD. After the appearance of this tiny bit of teeth, her milk intake started to suffer. Initially, my hubby insisted that we stay off the gel. But after one day of horrible milk intake, he caved in and I applied a little on the gums before her feed. The miracle cream did wonders and she finished her milk!

In less than a week, i.e. 13 June 2009, I felt another tiny sharp teeth coming out! My little girl is having 2 teeth at one go... And this was followed with extreme crankiness on the weekend! Yeap, the weekend where she turn 6months! I guess the teething portion for my daughter did not come too early nor late. Got to remind my MIL to "clean" her teeth after every feed of solids. :p

Now when she smiles with her mouth wide, I can see the little two tiny teeth emerging (i.e. it's not out totally)! My hubby said we should try to take a photo of the first 2 tiny teeth. So while I am waiting for him to take the photo, shall make do with the following diagram I got from the web...

Ref: (http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/abyss/dep1171.htm)

To end off this post, here is a pic of my little girl and her innovation to convert her favourite tu-tu into her teether! This never fails to make me and my hubby laugh out loud.