Katharine is a mum of 3 year old Tilly and 3 month old Wilf and she lives in Hampshire.

As a second time mummy, I thought I had teething sussed. I’d been there, got the t‐shirt, got the badge, got a full set of baby teeth for my little girl. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Again. A little reminder that my babies are not carbon copies, they are individuals.

With my daughter, it was all about Sophie The Giraffe and my finger! She started fairly conventionally around 5 months and was a fairly low maintenance teether, we often didn’t know she was cutting teeth until one appeared! When she did need some extra help, I turned to teething gel which a friend had recommended although I really struggled with applying it ‐ she was so dribbly, the gel inevitably dribbled out no sooner than I put it in! I would compare it to getting into the sea and then trying to apply your sun screen! Then I saw another friend using little sachets of teething powder…. this changed everything. I loved that I could rub the powder right onto her gums and, more importantly, it stayed there! Given the size of my already exploding changing bag, I also loved that these sachets were so small and portable.

Tilly (as a baby) and Sophie The Giraffe.

This time around with my little boy, I was ambushed by A LOT of very early dribbling (from around six weeks). We have already deployed the teething powders and enjoyed watching his face light up, we should buy shares in Ashton & Parsons! One other major difference between my two little ones is that my son is a hand‐sucker meaning that his hand often gets sore from a sucking or chewing session. We have found that giving him a muslin to hold gives his little hand some much‐needed protection.

Wilf chewing the ears of a soft bunny

Another thing that I wouldn’t be without, is an array of “Babble Bibs.” They come in an array of jazzy designs as well as plain colours. They are soft under the chin, very absorbent and wash really well.

Wilf and the dribble bib

Our little chap has come into a world of hand‐me‐downs (old cot, old car seat, old books etc) so I thought it would be nice for him to have a few new toys and what better toys to get a 14 week old for his first Christmas than useful teething toys?! He is now the proud owner of a Nuby teething ring and a “Rusty The Robot” ‐ a super Lamaze toy that can also hang on his car seat. Rusty is fully armed with a number of different plastic rings with a variety of textures, ideal for my little man to gnaw on.

With a three year age gap between my little ones, my next challenge will be preventing the littlest one picking up and chewing on forbidden toys (Lego, Playmobil, Peppa Pigs) belonging to the bigger one… wish me luck!