The Trouble With Teething

The first time I looked at my daughter's big gummy grin, I knew that eventually I would have to watch her endure the pain of teething. However, I had always assumed that teething was a relatively simple process, and that if we just gave her a teething ring or something to chew on she would get over it painlessly.

If you are already a parent to a child with teeth, you can see the error in my logic.

Over the last few days, I have witnessed the reality of teething and all of the sleepless nights, screaming, and body fluids that accompany it.

My daughter started "sleeping through the night" (Meaning: sleeping for four to five hours in a stretch) by the time she was about three months old. In the months thereafter, her sleep cycles had gotten steadily longer, to the point that she was sleeping between ten and twelve hours each night.

With our daughter sleeping at least ten hours a night, my wife and I were finally able to catch up on our seemingly permanent sleep deficit and actually started feeling like regular human beings again. We even had enough free time at night to be able to watch TV again! A sense of balance had been restored in our house.

That balance was soon to be disrupted by one insidious incisor.

A few nights ago, one of our daughter's marathon nights of sleep was broken by a scream that sounded as if someone had just pinched her, and we both rushed into her room to investigate.

Upon our arrival, we found our daughter in her crib screaming her head off, for no apparent reason. My wife picked her up, checked an empty diaper and, without finding anything to be wrong, held her until she calmed down and put herself back to sleep.

We couldn't figure out what was wrong.

An hour later, that same scene repeated itself. And, again another hour after that. Plus, several more times until finally our alarm clock was telling us to get our sleep-deprived carcasses out of bed.

The next day, while trying to figure out what was causing our daughter to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, we noticed that she was trying even more vigorously that day to stick everything within reach into her mouth, so we decided that teething must be the culprit.

At least, knowing what the problem was, we could attempt to ease our daughter's discomfort. The next night, the same mid-night scream fest occurred again, but we were prepared with baby Tylenol and teething tablets (a holistic approach to teething, that can be purchased from most baby supply stores or Whole Foods).

Tylenol and teething tablets seemed to at least ease the pain somewhat and help our daughter sleep for four hours, until the Tylenol wore off, instead of waking up every hour. Knowing that teething can take a few days, we conceded to losing some sleep in an effort to keep our daughter comfortable.

And, then the drool started.

Babies seem to produce obscene amounts of drool in the first place (as is exhibited by the slimy "kisses" on most new parents' clothing) but when a baby is teething it's as if there is a broken faucet in their mouth. My daughter was no exception as a steady stream of drool seemed to flow forth from her gums at all times.

Luckily, drool is easy to counteract, and even though it meant several outfit changes per day (since my daughter seemed to be adept at soaking a shirt to the skin all the way down to her bellybutton, if left unattended) we were able to stay on top of it.

However, apparently her little body decided that she wasn't producing enough slimy substances, so the faucet in her nose broke as well.

I had read online that runny noses can often be associated with teething. What I didn't read was that it will cause your baby to blow snot "bubbles" when she breaths and shoot gobs of snot from her nose every time she sneezes which, oh by the way, is about as soon as you put away the "Boogie Wipes" (a helpful saline-soaked wipe which doesn't irritate baby's nose like tissues can.)

After a few sleepless nights, runny noses and other bodily fluids, and heartbreaking screams from my daughter, I ran my finger across her gums and felt the sharp poke of a tooth that had just cut through the gums. After fighting off a little tongue, that wanted nothing more than to expel the invaders in her mouth, my wife and I were finally able to see what all of the fuss was for.

I have to admit, it didn't really seem worth it.

After all that trouble and fussiness, all we got in return was a little sliver of white poking up through the gums! And we have to go through this how many more times?

In the end, I'm just glad that my daughter is comfortable again, because watching your child go through something so painful is truly heartbreaking. However, while it's tough to watch your baby experience something as awful as teething, I'm sure it will be well worth it, the first time we see her grin a grin of pearly whites.