Am I being cruel?

Hi,

I was just after your thoughts...

my 5 mnth old is teething & I had read different things about bonjella cause the injest it so it may not be that good for them etc... I am personally not someone who normally takes pain relief either....

So my question is am I being cruel if I don't give him panadol etc... as pain relief, atm we have given him bonjella but not all the time, mainly when he is grizzly & he needs to get some sleep.

I am a new mum so I just don't know, should I deny him pain relief cause I deny my own when I don't really know how much pain he is in? If I knew how much pain would I give him pain relief??
Is there maybe something more natural I good give him for pain relief?

Thanks for reading

I have an amber teething necklace with Pip and rarely use Panadol - only when he has a temp now - but prior to the necklace we'd resort quite often to the panadol.

Cold things to chew on, a washer thats been dampened and popped in the freezer for 10 mins works a treat. If we do use anything on his gums, its SM33 gel which has a local anaesthetic in it, similar to some cough lozenges which numb the throat. But we don't use that often at all.

There is a Brauer (sp?) remedy that you can get from pharmacies / health food stores that some people swear by, but I haven't tried it on Pip.

With the pain, apparently the movement inside the gums hurts more than the popping through the skin IyKWIM? And they say molars hurt more, but I found Pip's outer top teeth (the front outside the middle) hurt him the most.

I personally do agree with helping them to feel comfortable. I know what toothache feels like. There are two great homeopathic teething remedies available from chemists. They really work and have no side effects. Brauers teething relief and Hylands teething tablets (they dissolve instantly though in their mouth and are tiny)
We have had great success with both. Hope this helps.

Just in regards to teething gel our DS had an adverse reaction to it causing him to black out. I think it is a very rare reaction but have been advised to steer clear of all teething gels as it is unknown what ingredient he reacted to.

Our little guy has really suffered with teething pain, he's just on nine months and his bottom two came through about a week before 8 months old, his left canine came through just in the last couple of days, and the next one is on the way (and Kazbah is right, the canines are EVIL). Poor little guy gets a few days break in between teeth and then he's onto the next one. He's been experiencing pain from teething since he was two and a half months old though, so teeth have become my absolute nemesis.

I very rarely take pain relief for myself, and had hoped to avoid medicating my son if possible. I have used almost every teething remedy under the sun (although haven't got a teething necklace, that will be next on the list). If he's grizzly I'll start with distraction, then teething toys (the ones that you put in the fridge), homeopathic teething tablets, teething gel (bonjela does nothing for him, only sm33 has any effect) then finally onto nurofen and/or panadol. For someone who is very wary of medicating, we have gone through an entire pharmacy but at the end of the day I would rather have him medicated than screaming in discomfort or literally unable to sleep. It does concern me that we have had to rely so heavily on medication though.

My philosophy is to not deny him pain relief if he needs it, but to start small and work up to the heavy stuff only if nothing else is working.

I don't use panadol very often.. I don't like taking pain killers myself and I don't like resorting to it for my kids either.. I use cuddles and cold things to chew on!

There are quite a few natural things out there.. The one I use is Infants Friend. It is for belly aches and Teething. I think it has a calming effect,

So no I don't think you are being cruel.. Instinct comes into it as well.. Sometimes you just feel you have to use it.. and I keep repeating to myself.. if it doesn't work then I know for next time and it won't harm them..

My older kids will ask for panadol if they want it.. (need)

Thanks everyone for your replies,
I went & got the Brauers teething relief & infants friend, can I use them together or only 1 at a time at the recommended dose?
I also got some panadol as a back up.

What is an amber necklace?

I have been using teething rings & trying to keep him distracted, it seems to be working today. I have felt his gums & I can feel 4 bumps on the top & bottom, are these his teeth??

I know all about teething pain - I had a third set of back teeth come in during my teens. You don't forget that as easily as you do when you're smaller!

Sure, it hurts. Then you forget about it. If DS is screaming in pain (or has a temperature) then I give him painkillers. Otherwise I don't. Mainly because I don't use pain relief myself, I believe pain is the body's way of telling you something. But also partly because I don't want him stubbing his toe and needing painkillers when he's older; sometimes we have to live with some discomfort. Not raging pain, obviously, but a little pain is not a bad thing. Also, sugar and E numbers in baby painkillers means I don't like putting them into DS.

There are other ways around pain. The best one is distraction. I had a pain-free early labour possibly down to playing scrabble (I kept forgetting to turn the TENS on). I can walk for miles with blisters and even a twisted ankle (NOT a good idea, btw, but painkillers allow this a lot easier than sheer bloody-mindedness on the parts of both me and my parents who told me nothing was wrong and to stop whinging). Going to the park or huge physical games usually work for DS.

You're starting something now that will actually benefit your child. Not needing meds for every bump. Just don't ignore him when he says he is in pain - I've had a fractured wrist ignored because I "didn't seem to be in enough pain" despite it swelling to twice the normal size and me saying it hurt!

Amber is supposedly a natural painkiller, due to the warmth of the amber spread through the body. Not really sure how it works :)

The necklace is not for chewing, its to be worn. darlings downunder I think sell them, and a few other nappy online stores. I can check where I got mine from if you like ;)

The bumps will be on the outer of the gum, above where the teeth will be, and then they'll move down. The gum will also be thicker and baby will try to chew for relief. Rusks are also great - there are some veggie ones - or even steamed carrot sticks - just keep them in the fridge to get nice and soothingly cold.