Natural Teething Remedies

With the recent news about teething gels being withdrawn from supermarket shelves and the potential for ill effects we thought it would be useful to give you all a few of our favourite  natural, chemical fee suggestions to help your baby through teething.

1. Keep sticks of cucumber in the fridge for your baby to chomp on. They're cool to chew on and as they consist mostly of water they're generally-considered ok before weaning. If your baby is weaning they may love harder foods such as pineapple, apples, carrots, crusts of bread.

2. Try massaging your baby’s gum with your finger (watch our if they already have teeth though and of course wah your hands before and after).

3. If your partially-weaned baby goes off solids, don't be afraid to up the milk feeds if they're hungry. They'll take more solids again once their gums stop hurting.

4. Babies love to chew and gnaw, particularly when teething. This is where teething toys come in. Choose ones which are cool, hard, smooth and hygienic, such as Yummikeys, which will also provide a welcome distraction for your baby and can be popped in the fridge and in the dishwasher.

5. Distract your baby – fun games, music, different toys and places – anything that will help them forget their discomfort for a while.

6. If you baby is dribbling a lot more than usual use a good, absorbent bib to prevent a dribble rash and dampness. We love the double layer BibaDo all day dribble bib for keeping our littles dry all day. Yellow Metanium can be handy to heal any dribble rash and then a barrier cream regular like Bepanthan or Vaseline will help protect the skin  from it happening again .

7. Amber teething necklaces are becoming more popular and are said to prevent teething discomfort and are chemical free. Please ensure that any product you purchase is fully safety tested for babies and does not give rise to a suffocation or choking risk.

8. Get some support! Teething can be a tough time with broken sleep and a cranky baby – draft in friends or relatives to give you a bit of a rest too.