How to relieve your baby of teething pain

When babies are teething, they will try to chew on anything. Irene Nalule a resident of Matugga has an eight month -old baby girl whom she says has several times tried to eat her dress, bite her cheeks as well as her fingers.

Dr. Aisha Akullo, a paediatrician in Wakiso, says when a baby begins teething; there is no pattern on how long it will take and how painful it will be.

For some babies teething might happen overnight without pain, while others might go through a long and painful experience.

Dr. Akullo defines teething as a process by which an infant's teeth sequentially appear by breaking through the gums. She adds that the process of teething often follows hereditary patterns. If the mother and father teethed early or late, the baby may follow the same pattern.

However, on average the first tooth comes out during the first six months, although it can appear as early as four months, or as late as a year.

According to Akullo there are many things one can do to put the teething baby at rest or at least to make the teething process more bearable.

One way of relieving teething pain is to give the baby something hard to chew on. There are rubbery teething rings being sold in many pharmacies around town.

You could put one of these in the fridge to cool it so that it will be soothing to the baby's gums. But if you put it in the fridge, make sure you remove it before it becomes hard-rock. Also, avoid buying teething rings with fluid because they may break.

But even without undertaking that expense, you can give the baby a carrot, cucumber or something hard but not too hard to bruise the painful gums. Cold things help soothe the gums.

You can put a clean piece of cloth in the fridge and use it to wipe the gum. It will provide some relief.

Richard Sekalala, a paediatrician in Kampala says never tie a teething ring around the baby's neck, because this may lead to strangulation. Another thing to be careful about are the frozen foods. This may give the baby some relief but you need to be careful because chunks of it can fall and choke the baby.

He says once the teeth have come out, parents should practice good dental hygiene. Clean plaque from the baby's gums by rubbing the two-inch-square gauze pad against them, gently massaging the baby's gums.

"Never let a child sleep with a bottle of milk, juice or anything with higher sugar content. If such fluids stay in the mouth too long, they can promote teeth decay," he advises.

A bottle of plain water is okay. Dentists are very expensive and the only way to avoid them is to take care of your baby's teeth well.

You should also watch out for signs of gum infection such as excessive swelling and redness of the gums as well as pus coming out of the gums. These signs should be reported to the doctor immediately.