When Theo, my youngest who is now 10 months, reached the average age of 6 months for teething to start, I began dreading the thought of the sleepless nights and painful cries which make every parent feel helpless. Having been through it before with my now 4 year old Milo, I felt quite prepared with what was to come and stocked up on dribble bibs, teething powder, gels and a few teething rings to help ease this painful process.

I was in two minds really; half of me wanted the teeth to just come because it makes weaning that much easier as they begin to chew on everything in their sight, but the other half remembered how difficult it was with Milo when he went through it 3 years ago.

Milo was never a whingy baby and I remember everyone would always comment on how placid he was and that he was so calm, and in hindsight he really was.  But even the most easy going baby cannot help crying out in pain when their teeth are moving around beneath the gums, and finally when they cut through, it’s understandable that babies have such a hard time with it.

Suddenly teething rings, and ice cold sticks of fruit and veg filled the nappy bag and came everywhere with us.  However this isn’t the worst part of it for the poor babies. For some reason fever, diarrhoea and nappy rash often become part of the problem too.

This is where it started for Theo, at 8 months, later than teething typically starts, and I started to see the tiniest tooth bud appear underneath his gums, right at the beginning of the summer holidays! Having Milo off school and Theo teething was a bit overwhelming. That first night was the most unwell he had ever been. We were calling the NHS service, wondering how high the fever had to be before taking him to A&E, researching how best to cool him down and comforting him all night to try to get him to sleep but then staying awake myself to make sure his fever didn’t spike again.

It made me think back to how Milo had been, and although I remember timing between applications of teething powders and the nightmare of teething rash and the occasional high temperature here or there, he never got as poorly as Theo did.

After a couple of days, once he started feeling better and his temperature was back to normal, it was like his teeth didn’t bother him at all, especially nowhere near as much as they’d been an issue for Milo.  It’s funny how both boys reacted so differently!

Now he has 6 teeth making their way down to fully formed little nashers, and we’ve hardly had to use any treatment at all. He still dribbles like mad, and I’m sure with the following 14 teeth the pain might get worse, but it just shows how different and individual each baby is.

However, knowing what products are out there and available to help babies if and when they need them, helps to ease any parents’ dread of the scary and daunting process of teething. It certainly did for me and both my boys!