Teething is a natural process for babies as they grow older. Of course, this usually comes with various symptoms such as swollen gums, irritability, pain, and sometimes, fever. First time parents may feel a little bit unsure as to what causes their normally calm and happy baby to become fussy. Well, it might be that your baby is already at the teething stage and are trying to alleviate the discomfort that they are feeling. So how will you be able to help your baby transition in this stage? The good news is that there are several home remedies that you can actually use to help make your baby feel better. Here are a few that you might want to try.
Introduce cold
Some babies lose their appetite when they are teething as they don’t want to make the pain that they are feeling even worse. If this is the case, you can actually introduce some cold compress or cold food to them to help numb the pain that they are feeling in their gums. You can chill some homemade applesauce or even chilled slices of fruits especially when your baby is already eating solids. This comes in handy when the pain in their gums is getting in the way of their eating right.
Ginger root
Another home remedy that you can make use of when your baby is teething is peeled ginger root. One reason behind this is that ginger contains anti-inflammatory properties that can help reduce the swelling in your baby’s gums. You can rub a piece of peeled ginger root on the affected gum for about 2 to 3 minutes so your baby will feel better.
Apply gentle pressure
Your baby will tend to chew more when they begin to teeth as putting pressure on their gums eases the pain that they are feeling. So help your baby alleviate the discomfort that they are feeling by giving them teething toys. Some can be chilled first so it works doubly, eliminating the swelling, and minimizing the pain. Your baby will feel much better this way.
Vanilla extract
You can also soak some cotton swabs in vanilla extract to be applied on your baby’s swollen gums to help fight off the pain that accompanies it. What’s great about this home remedy is that vanilla acts as a soothing agent that helps calm your fussy baby while the alcohol content in it can numb the swollen area so there will be less pain.
Chamomile
What else can you use for your teething baby? How about some chamomile? This particular herbal remedy is actually useful since it has calming properties that relax and soothe the pain away. You can add a few drops of it to your fingers and apply directly on your baby’s gums or mix a drop of chamomile essential oil with a tablespoon of carrier oil before applying on your teething baby’s gums.
