Baby, teething, and other milestones

Caitlin began drooling heavily at three months old, and her first set of teeth appeared two months later. The weeks before her teeth erupted was a tough one for her. She gnawed on anything her mouth had contact with, and got irritated when we take it away from her such as our clothes. There were nights when she found it difficult to sleep. When she learned how to sit up by herself at four months old, her sleep pattern changed once more. She felt worse when she had her first cold at around this time. Not only was she feeling bad, but because of the milestones of sitting up and teething, she found it harder and harder to go to bed at night.

She stopped salivating when the teeth emerged. But she was at it again at seven months. This time, her teething was coupled with learning how to stand up by herself. Again, her sleep pattern at night got disrupted.

At eight months, she has four teeth. Yesterday, I saw her drooling again and realized that there are two more (upper) on the way. 

I have asked our dentist when is the best time to bring the baby in for cleaning, and I was told to wait until she was one year old. If her teeth has emerged before that, we have to clean it with a wet washcloth every now and then to prevent milk build-up. 

Today, however, we started her on a toothbrush. For the baby's first toothbrush (2-3 milk teeth), the idea of holding a toothbrush is introduced. We are using Pigeon's Baby Training Toothbrush. It has a soft elastomer rubber head that is soothing to the baby's tender gums. We have put off using a toothpaste until Caitlin gets familiar with the toothbrush though. Unfortunately, I get mixed information regarding the kind of toothpaste to use. babycenter has recommended using a tiny amount of flouride toothpaste, but this site did not until the baby is 18 months of age. We have a Pigeon's children toothpaste here that contains no flouride and says it is safe for the child even if swallowed so I guess I'll go use that first. 

Caitlin's teeth came out at five months.

At eight months.

Pigeon's training toothbrushes.

And now there are three toothbrushes.

The appearance of Caitlin's first set of teeth was also a milestone for me because that was the time she began biting me while breastfeeding. Experiencing it for the first time was traumatic. But I took it one day at a time. Whenever she bit me, I stop breastfeeding, look her in the eye, place my index finger against her mouth, and tell her sternly: "No, biting." She seemed to get the message until she bites me again. It went on for a couple of weeks before she completely stopped. We are happily breastfeeding still. 

- Mommy Smiley