Elliot has been an angry teething little monster. Okay so he hasn't been THAT bad but still, he must have the world's lowest pain tolerance (which, I'll admit, he gets from his mother...) because cutting teeth is like the END of the WORLD. He's not happy about it. Drool, crying, fussy, chewing on everything, the whole nine yards. And he wants constant attention. It's frustrating, because I can't get much done when I'm holding a crabby baby all the time. So, what does this natural mama do about teething? Heck I don't know, this is kind of my first rodeo with that, Harlee handled it pretty well so I didn't have to bust out any tricks.
So this is what I've been doing with Mr. Elliot. Aside from letting him chew on things and holding him and trying to comfort him constantly.
Hyland's Teething Tablets. They've been fabulous - the babysitters have been thrilled with their effectiveness too. They're homeopathic, too, so they won't have any scary adverse effects like Orajel which can cause your kid's mouth and throat to go numb. Which does not sound like a good idea to me...
If it seemed really bad, and the teething tablets weren't cutting it, I'd switch to homeopathic arnica tablets, which is good for pain relief. Followed by homeopathic chamomilla about 30 minutes to an hour later, which is good for soothing and calming.
But I was doing this stuff all. the. time. So my next step was an amber teething necklace. Amber is really fascinating - it contains a naturally-occurring substance called succinic acid that is released from the stone when heated, such as when in contact with body heat. It's a natural pain-reliever (as well as providing many other benefits), which is why it helps ease the pain of teething. Seems like he's been a much happier kid since he's been wearing it!
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| He looks like a little jungle baby with his camo diaper and amber beads! |
It was also time to start thinking about solids. Usually it's recommended to wait until after baby is 6 months of age, but Elliot was showing signs of being ready to delve into the world of solids. Here are some signs that show readiness, taken from Kellymom.com:
- Baby can sit up well without support.
- Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
- Baby is ready and willing to chew.
- Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
- Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.
He hit these marks at 5 and a half months, plus his first tooth broke through, and our naturopathic pediatrician agreed we could start trying solids. So he got some homemade sweet potatoes and loved them.
He loved everything we gave him, especially bananas. We've been trying all sorts of foods both homemade and store-bought, and he's been a happy little eater. Then came some possible TMJ (jaw) issues, and nursing became a chore, as did bottle feeding. He's got an appointment with the chiropractor to help sort that out tomorrow, but in the meantime he hasn't been nursing well. Which led to his system getting a bit backed up.
He strained and strained and grunted and cried to poop, and when he finally did it was hard little rabbit poops that definitely showed I was right, he was backed up. Sometimes he'd strain and grunt and push and nothing would come out at all. Poor guy.
I've been limiting my use of essential oils, which I will explain why in a future post, so I tried bicycling his legs and rubbing his tummy. I also tried homeopathic Nux Vomica. I fed him some prunes too. Nothing seemed to be getting things moving and I was getting concerned - having a backed-up digestive tract can cause some problems systemically and I did not want that!
Finally I remembered how effective reflexology can be. I had even taken a class on it and got to see how beneficial it is. I found a great video on YouTube for constipation in babies (here it is, check it out!) and followed the instructions. He wasn't real happy about that - the thing with reflexology is that each point on your foot corresponds with an organ or part of your body. If an organ or part of your body isn't functioning at its best, that corresponding point on your foot will hurt, or will also have little bumps or "grittiness" in the muscle tissue. I rubbed his feet and he squirmed and cried (and I felt bad), but after I complete one circuit he farted! I was impressed just by that, but shortly after I was impressed even more as I made another circuit around his feet and he grunted and pushed and finally made progress! Off to change his diaper I went in total amazement. I rubbed his feet again and he didn't cry as much - I guess it was feeling better. I did that on and off throughout the day until finally his BMs were coming more frequently and normal-looking. He pooped all day and didn't have to strain anymore at all. Needless to say he was definitely a happy baby after that! And I was a very impressed, happy mama!
Now here I am taking advantage of Elliot finally sleeping normally again, which was another benefit of all this - teething pain gone, tummy trouble resolved, all that good stuff. Maybe, with any luck, I can get back to normal blogging! (Ha ha ha...)
It's so awesome to be able to help my kids naturally. I helped get his little system moving again without using any drugs. I helped relieve his teething pain without any conventional pain-killers. I was able to tap into resources of plant-based medicine - the original medicine - and ancient wisdom to help heal my kid. That's a really awesome feeling. I hope this inspires you to do the same!
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| Happy Baby! |
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