Tag: Teething

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Reality of Teething for Valeria

Posted on by Mama

Valeria is in the thick of it now, as mentioned in a previous post, she basically had two little teeth pop out days apart from each other.

Sadly, I didn’t really comprehend how difficult this would be for her and all the symptoms she would be experiencing. Some I didn’t even realize were associated with teething.

This is about to get real and anyone with kids will understand the stress and worry this is causing. She surprisingly didn’t have many symptoms prior to her teeth erupting from the gums, it’s the after that has been effecting her, which I’m assuming is due to inflammation and pain.

Sunday night was the start of it, we noticed she was a bit fussier than normal being put to bed and she really didn’t want us near her mouth.

Monday it only got worse, she was again fussier than normal but she kept chewing on everything and anything. We figured the counter pressure was nice for her, along with the fact she was drooling buckets like a Saint Bernard dog. Her teething toys were her best friend during the day. Night time was a different story, she was literally up every hour crying in pain, and when we did calm her long enough, she would be whimpering in her sleep. Definitely a sleepless night.

Tuesday we all woke up with little bags under our eyes but hers were so terrible. Her eyes were red, along with her nose and cheeks. Than we really noticed the runny nose. She fussed over EVERYTHING and I mean everything. There were times she was inconsolable. Distracting her with walks was our only option and trying to get her to nap any way we could. But sleep still eluded her for the most part. Naps were short. Solid food consisted of whatever was soft, so a bit of fish and potato and a little fried egg. She really didn’t have much of an appetite though. However the diarrhea began so things were just flying out of her. We kept giving her the frozen teething toy to help with the inflammation, along with a bit of chamomile in her bottle. She eventually went down to sleep, later than we would have liked, but she still woke up fairly often.

Side note: Before you judge me for the chamomile, it’s been a remedy used for hundreds of years and you don’t give them a lot. It helps with restlessness and mildly helps with inflammation.

Wednesday was another fussy day, but my husband and I had a game plan. We were going to distract her with walks and go to the mall. Again she really didn’t want us near her mouth; wiping her runny nose and drool were a challenge. Though we took her for a nice LONG walk in the morning, if I recall it was at least an hour if not longer. She fell asleep in the stroller and my husband and I just decided to keep walking until she woke up. Once she was awake, she was a bit happier. We returned home and got her in the car seat and off we went to the mall. We walked around for at least two hours. She was okay, fussy at times, but a little bit of formula or a change in carrier position and she was okay. We noticed her nose was super runny, her cheeks flushed and a touch swollen and she was tired. But she was a trooper, even fell asleep on dad for a bit. When we got home, we put on some teething gel on for her, which she was NOT happy about. From that point on she would cry, fuss and get upset over every little thing. She ate very little solids, really disinterested in food and her formula. But again we gave her the chamomile in her bottle. She only really wanted me last night, so I laid and sang her to sleep. She cuddled up next to me and fell asleep drinking her formula.

Once I knew she was fully asleep and I could hear her little snores, I topped up the bottle and put it in the fridge. I was up all night, however my husband and her snoozed the night away. I was grateful with how much she slept. From 9:15 PM to about 2:15 AM, this is an approximation. She woke up to fed a bit and back to sleep, than she woke up around 3:30 or 4 AM. My husband was kind enough to take over since I didn’t sleep yet. She was crying and whimpering, and the only way she wanted to sleep was more upright and on my husband. She fell back asleep around 5-5:30 AM.

Now for today, things have been getting better thankfully. Her runny nose is still there, but a lot less. She is still pretty fussy and really just wanted to be held by me for the most part. Her diarrhea has disappeared which is great! Her appetite seems to be coming back slowly, we are doing smaller more frequent meals for her today. Sleep is still difficult during the day, her naps tend to be short. However this evening was good, we decided to try a bit of a new routine with her.

We gave her a bath, lavender lotion on her skin, read to her as some Gregorian chants played lightly in the background and when she got a bit fussy we started to give her the bottle. She would eat, pull off and then roll around a bunch. At that point I stopped reading and would sing to her instead. And it was rinse and repeat. At one point she pulled off the bottle and was just rolling around, rocking on her hands and knees and I told my husband just let her be. Her eyes were closed but she was still moving than bam, she laid on her tummy and just passed out.

It was almost as if she just put herself to sleep or wanted to. Her eyes were closed the entire time she was wiggling and rolling around, but we couldn’t understand it.

Has anyone else’s kid done this?

Anyway, it’s been rough and I’ll be honest, my husband and I haven’t exactly been communicating well. Sleep deprivation isn’t nice on relationships. But we are hoping that things are subsiding for her and she can get back to her normal self….until the next enamel nightmare decides to erupt.

Sorry this one was long, but I ask that you please pray for us. Thank you

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Two Teeth

Posted on by Mama

If you are a regular to my blog, you are well aware that my daughter has been teething for quite some time now. At six months, going on seven, her two bottom teeth have FINALLY emerged! Not sure if that’s late or early, really didn’t look to see.

At first, my husband and I only noticed the bottom left tooth poking out of the gum. We noticed because she had wanted to gnaw on my knuckle and I felt the sharp enamel poking at my skin. Once we checked her mouth, we were absolutely thrilled! We noticed it probably on Wednesday and then SURPRISE, the right side popped out this weekend. I feel like now that we have two coming in, the rest are sure to spring out like crazy!

I’ve tried getting a picture of them, however she just shakes her head like a dog, not wanting us to be near her mouth. For good reason, but oooooo they are so adorable!!! If I can capture her little teeth in a photo when they are fully emerged I’ll post it you.

Still got a whole mouth to go; so the whimpers, crying and tears of pain aren’t over yet, but we are here to soothe and comfort her. Guess I have to start “brushing” her little teeth now…..I think I have one those finger brushes somewhere…

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got today! Hope you had a wonderful weekend wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

No Rest for Baby Girl

Posted on by Mama

Well Valeria started teething early and they have been taking forever to pop out. It’s been a few months, but now it’s in full swing!

She has been nonstop cranky and crying; nothing makes her happy for more than 10 seconds, the drool could fill a small pool and she is constantly gnawing on something (usually her hands or her teething giraffe toy).

Last night was the worst night we’ve had since it’s started. She was up nearly every hour wailing from the pain and when we calmed her enough to fall back asleep, it would start all over again. It got to the point she was so exhausted she passed out in either my arms or my husband’s. I think the longest stretch she had was 2 hours of sleep.

Needless to say, all three of us are beyond tired today. She woke up at around 8 this morning, screaming in pain as I took her from my husband to console her (he was in much need of a break), she calmed down enough to be able to feed her a bit of formula and then played on her mat with her toys. Eventually the pain began again and we decided to give her a bit of medicine to help. It made her sleepy, so we put her down for a nap.

It took a bit to get her down, but eventually she fell asleep in our bed. I opted to take advantage and take a nap with her. She slept two and a half hours which was glorious! I kept hearing my husband coming in to check on us, but she was fast asleep. I’m a light sleeper to begin with, only got worse when I became a mom, go figure! Hence why I kept hearing my husband!

The rest of the day was hit or miss, she had moments of fussiness and then moments of calm. There was a few times I got a smile and laugh out of her. She even got to spend some time with grandma, which she always seems to enjoy.

Not sure how tonight is going to go, my husband had to go out of town for work, so he’s gone tonight and all day tomorrow. He will be back in the early evening, but I’m worried. I know my mom is here to help me and I’m more than capable of doing this alone, but with the way that she was last night. Well I’m just a little concerned.

We will see how the night and tomorrow goes. Wish me luck!

Ciao!!

Posted in Travel/Vacations

Super Sunday

Posted on by Mama
A small portion of the spread!

I had every intention of starting our Sunday morning early, however baby girl had other plans throughout the night. She had a bit of a rough night; waking up, feeding and struggling to get back to sleep. Then when she had finally gotten to sleep, or so we thought, she would wiggle her little body to-and-fro and wake herself up, sometimes wailing like a banshee. Needless to say, it was a tough night for the three of us and I know it was her gums that were bugging her.

After the last morning wake-up, which I think was around 7 AM, maybe I’m not entirely sure because the night/early morning was a little fuzzy, my husband and I just crashed. Apparently so did Valeria because we all slept until 10.

Oops! So much for my early start.

After we all crawled out of bed, my husband and I got baby girl ready for the day and ourselves ready for the gym. My mom was kind enough to watch her, seriously the best mom/grandma.

We walk into the gym, only to see my oldest brother there working out, it was pretty funny. We knew he went to the same gym, but we’ve never run into him. We spoke briefly and then he headed out, we were going to see him later anyway. The gym was a struggle today for me, my leg muscles were sore especially my hamstrings (back thigh muscles). Unfortunately, that caused me to either stop the leg workout I was attempting or skip it all together so I didn’t cause myself an injury. I lift weights at the gym, it’s what I enjoy and leg day is always my favorite. However, after being away from the gym for so long, I forgot it takes time to recover, get used to lifting and gradually grow your strength again. It was a good workout regardless! I am going to take a rest day and head back to the gym Tuesday instead.

We got home and found the bassinet my mom keeps upstairs in the kitchen, a burp cloth on the floor…it was chaos! We both looked at eachother and didn’t see mom or the baby, we went downstairs and found them laughing and playing on the couch. We laughed and asked what happened upstairs, for which my mom laughed and went on to explain that she didn’t want to disturb my dad who was sleeping on the couch, so she brought the bassinet in the kitchen, but Valeria didn’t want to sleep there so she went downstairs with her. Even though she was laughing and in good spirits, Valeria was tired and you could see it on her face. Grandma had some things to do and once she left Valeria didn’t fight us on sleep, she pretty much passed out.

Once she woke up, we got things together and headed to my nonna’s. Today is the Superbowl, a big event especially in the U.S.A. Although I can appreciate the sportsmanship and the way it brings people together to spend time, I also don’t understand the sport whatsoever. I either skip out on it or, like today, I go to just spend time with my family. There was tons of food, laughter and conversation, even when the game started. I made the cheeseball with the crackers (which is delicious! May have to post that recipe). It was nice to see and spend time with everyone.

Valeria was getting sleep so we decided to head home, it was around 8 when we said our goodbyes and headed out. She passed out on the car ride home and has been asleep ever since. I’m pretty wiped myself so I’m going to call it here.

Hope you have a wonderful day or evening wherever you are in the world!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Everything in the Mouth!

Posted on by Mama

I was hoping to have written this earlier in the day however, our internet went out and hasn’t come back up. So writing this on my little cell phone using data is a bit difficult, but I had to write this!

My daughter is teething early and I wrote a blog post all about it previously, I’ll link it here if anyone is interested: https://mamaonthemove1.com/2024/01/24/teething-early/

Any parent is well aware of this drooly, fussy and a bit restless of a time. Also during this time comes the, what I like to call, Everything in the Mouth phase. Yay! From teething toys, her burp cloth, fingers (hers and ours), shirts, she has even tried my hair and everything in between! Having your hair pulled for a taste test in your drooling, almost four month old’s mouth is not the greatest feeling for the scalp or the drenched strands. She even tried to grab a pasta noodle off my husband’s fork, which he saw the ninja attempt immediately and dodged that catastrophe.

I know some of it is exploring and learning for her too, which is great for her development. But man, I bet those cold teething toys or even the cloth feels so soothing! I have to wonder though, why is that? Is it a little massage or maybe like a counter pressure for them? I really should read into this more to see why it is they try to put everything in their mouth while teething.

If anyone has any insight I’d appreciate the information!

Ultimately, it’s been funny to watch her attempts and to see some relief on her little face when something does work. This is going to be a long road of teeth coming in so I’m ready for this rocky road…oh the joys of parenthood!

But today was a tough day for Valeria, the evening seemed to be the worst. Not really sure why that is, but the only thing I can think of is maybe she is more relaxed as she is getting ready to sleep. We were finally able to really get her down to sleep after a few attempts.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been stop and go writing this post since 9 PM…it’s now 11:20 PM. But since she is snoozing away next to me in her bassinet, I’m just finishing up here, quick shower (you shower when you can as a mom) and bed. I’m exhausted and tomorrow is a busy one.

I’ll keep ya posted on any funny anecdotes with Valeria. Do you have any funny stories of your kids? Let me know in the comments!

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Calm Friday

Posted on by Mama

Not much really to report today, it’s a typical Friday, fairly quiet. Valeria woke up very happy this morning, though I would hope so after a 13 hour sleep.

She was so exhausted after her bath last night and the pain from her gums, that she passed out by about 8 PM. We honestly thought she would wake up around 10 or 11 for a little while then back to bed, but she only fussed a few times within the night and woke up for a quick feed and back to sleep. It’s astonishing to us she slept that long, man I don’t even sleep that long these days. I’m lucky if I get 8 hours most nights. Light sleepers unite!

I did manage to wake up before her and my husband, completing my morning routine and then I heard her little giggle from the bedroom. Always a silly girl! Morning cuddles and a diaper change later, she was up and about.

I ran to start the coffee, wash dishes and get the bread mixed and rising while my husband watched her for 15 to 20 minutes. We are really fortunate he works from home let me tell you. To be fair, not sure how I accomplished all of that in such a short amount of time, it’s like I was running on magic I swear! I took over so that my husband could get back to work.

Not much to report since that really; I’m out of flour so we have to go visit the local flour mill to pick up some more this weekend, Valeria was a bit fussy today from her teeth and I scared her by sneezing. That was quiet the debacle, she got so scared and was crying so hard; so mommy to the rescue for soothing. I’m don’t usually sneeze loud, so not sure what that was about today. Now just writing this quick blog post and listening to some tunes while Valeria naps. I have headphones in so I don’t disturb her.

My weekend seems to be getting busier by the second. I have a friend of mine coming on Saturday at 10 AM to adjust my husband’s bracelet, she will be taking a few links out so it fits him better. I have a hair appointment Saturday at 11 AM for a very drastic change, I’ll keep all of you in suspense until it’s completed. Cleaning, laundry, flour mill trip, maybe some groceries thrown in there somewhere. Also, I’d like to spend some time with my mom and Valeria, but that’s been difficult right now for many reasons. I do have to admit Valeria spent some time with her yesterday.

What else….Oh my cousin had a strange dream. I looked up the potential interpretation. Seems the advice I’ve been giving her may be accurate, her subconscious seems to agree. Doesn’t make me happy to say that, but the mind and heart know before we want to admit it.

Weight Loss update:

Not much to report, my weight hasn’t dropped much at all. I hate the scale; my husband is convinced it’s broken cause apparently he says physically he notices a difference. I do not however. My eating has definitely become a lot cleaner; trying not to buy processed or per-packaged foods and sticking more to fruits, vegetables, meats, cheese, and some carbs. I’m definitely making healthier choices and being more conscious of what I’m putting into my body. But my coffee I can not give up, not doing it! I refuse to give up my occasional Starbucks too, yeah no way! I’ve been slacking a bit on my water as well so I filled up my 40 oz tumbler this morning for motivation. Otherwise I will be sticking to what I’m doing, things are sure to pick up in time.

I’m going to end it here, but I hope you all have a wonderful day wherever you are in the world.

Ciao!

Posted in Daily Life as a Parent

Teething Early

Posted on by Mama

As mentioned in a previous post, Valeria has begun her teething early. Normally children begin from four to seven months of age and others say six to twelve (the internet is so indecisive geez), however she is three months. Her two little top teeth can be seen starting to come out and I feel for her. It can’t be easy to have that discomfort and pain after everything she has already been through.

She has been relatively calm about it so far, though today she has been fussier then normal, making this new sound we never heard before. It seems almost like a bit of a whining pain noise, I can’t really describe it, but we’ve attributed this with her teething. She then proceeds to drool ALL over her onesie and chew on her hand. Indicating to us, it’s time for her toys.

We have this all natural teething medicine, but we are trying to hold off on it until she really needs it.

Instead, we have found that she really enjoys cold teething toys and cold choochies (pacifiers), it seems to help with the discomfort. We also found that she likes gnawing on her wooden teething ring, but not really sure why with that one. She tends to want to chew and suck on our fingers too, but please if you let your baby do this, Wash Your Hands! I know that’s self explanatory, but it still needs to be said.

If you are interested in the wooden rings or the silicone fruit, I highly recommend. The wooden teether is called Loulou Lollipop – Bubble Silicone and Wood Teether and the others we found on amazon. There are so many on there, the package we bought off amazon came with: a grape, a strawberry, a banana, a giraffe and some finger brushes. Though the finger brushes seem more like a little gum massager. Valeria isn’t a huge fan of the strawberry, but she seems to like everything else.

Since she has been drooling and blowing little spit bubbles quite a bit from the started, I noticed that her skin on her face and cheeks began to get dry in spots and a bit of a rash in others. I put a dab of breast milk on the area and it seemed to help (please understand I am no longer breast feeding however I still have a teeny tiny bit of milk still there). I’ve found a small touch of coconut oil helped the dry parts as well. I’m constantly keeping her face dry now, wiping it with her burp cloth whenever I can. Seems to be helping to alleviate the rash and dryness.

So my tips:

  1. Cool/cold teething toys and pacifiers – wonderful to help soothe sore gums
  2. Wash your hands before letting your baby chew and gnaw on your finger or knuckle
  3. Try different toys to see what your baby enjoys and what they don’t – they may not like certain textures
  4. Massage their gums when you can, if your baby allows you (Valeria hates us digging around in there)
  5. If your baby is drooling a lot, try to keep their chin and cheeks dry the best you can – burp cloths are amazing for this!
  6. If a rash or dryness occurs on their face, try a bit of breast milk (mamas if you are able and are producing, but if not that’s okay!) OR a teeny bit of coconut oil. Just don’t make your baby look like they are about to go out and get a tan
  7. Patience. Your baby is going to get fussy and cranky and all they want is love, comfort and soothing from mom and dad.

Hope this helped even a little. It is what my husband and I are finding to works at the current moment, but I will keep you all posted on her two little teeth!

Ciao!