Hello Moms, my daughter has been teething since she was 3 months old. In the beginning I would only give her Hyland's teething tablets but then it started to become more painful. My SIL told me she used to give her 2 kids Tylenol every 4 hours (as recommended on the label) when they were teething. For me, I would rather give it to my baby only when necessary and not so often. I know acetaminophen has been known to cause liver damage. My concern is that I have been giving it to her fairly consistently for the past 3 months or so only once a day before bedtime so she rests more comfortably. Now I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I have tried to not give it on certain nights and when I don't she always wakes up crying at some point in the night versus STTN when she does get it. My cousin said I should rotate between Motrin and Tylenol so she isn't taking in so much acetaminophen. I would rather give her nothing but it seems she always has a night waking when I don't! Can babies become dependent on Tylenol? Is it really damaging for her to have it on a consistent basis? I plan on checking in with her doctor but was hoping for some feedback from mommies with teething babies. Thanks so much.
Are you all for real?! Maybe things have changed a lot since my kids were young, but I don't remember teething being so drastic that I had to medicate them daily much less 4 times a day! But then, I also refuse to buy products that claim to be antibacterial so...what do I know.
tylenol causes liver damage in mega mega doses. the amount the baby gets....like 90/mg per each kg. or using the adult forms. if you're giving her the right dose and not exceed it, you have nothing to worry about. i give my son tylenol every 4 hours because he's teething too, and nothing else helps. you don't become dependant on tylenol.
--- people become hooked on pain killers like vicodin because of the agent used with it, like hydrocodone, not because of the acetaminophen)...
My daughter is 11 months old too and she has had a terrible time with teething since she was 5 months old. Typically I try to avoid over the counter pain medication and use alternative treatments whenever possible, but the pain with teething seems to be pretty extreme for her and none of the alternative treatments seemed to help. She screams like someone is torturing her when she is cutting a tooth. My first child was hardly phased by teething at all so I guess each child is different with handling the pain.
Tylenol seemed to have no effect whatsoever on her pain, but Infant Motrin does seem to give some relief. My guess is that it is because Motrin is an anti-inflammatory while Tylenol is not. I usually only have to give her Motrin one or two doses to get her comfortable.
Hope you find something to help your little one. All the best.
B.
They do have all natural teething drops. I forget the name but it has winnie the pooh on the bottle and the box is blue. That is what I used on my daughter and it does work. Just put it under the tongue. You don't want to use the tylenol too much cause when she really does need it, it may not work. Because it is all natural you can use it all the time. You can find it in the childrens section at the supermarket or at rite aid or CVS.
Just remembered where I had a bottle... it's called GENTLE NATURALS HOMEOPATHIC TEETHING DROPS. Relieves teething pain naturally. Directions.... place 1/2 dropper under tongue every 2 hours. once symptoms improve reduce to 4 times daily. Hope this helps.
I used the Tylenol only at night when absolutely necessary. During the day my pediatrician recommended using frozen mini bagels so what I did was froze them individually and then gave them to the baby until they got soggy and soft then refroze it and used another one. The cold helped a lot and both the bagel and cold together allowed for a less painful teething process and in my opinion it toughened up the baby's gums so that when the teeth did pop out it was not so bad.
I didn't like medicating my baby's what worked really well was rubbing liquid tylenol directly to their gum's especially at night, during the day i let them chew on crushed ice tied off in a cloth. worked like a charm. J.
Stop the Tylenol and try something topical, like Baby Orajel or something
like that. Not sure what is available.
Motrin works better on oral pain than Tylenol does. give her the motrin but no tylenol .
This comes from my pediatric dentist and their ped.
My son cut his first tooth at 4 months old...I am a fan of tylenol however I would use the infant tylenol as needed but would probably try not to use it long term and/or consistently..maybe you could back off some though and use a topical like baby orajel? Teething can go on for a long time, so I'd save the tylenol for times when she is miserable and can't seem to get relief any other way. Right when the tooth is about to break through the gum...I gave the gel teething rings, ice cold wash cloth to chew on, massaged the cheeks along the jaw bones, etc..even at night b/c you know with everything the nightime is the WORST for it all. How old is your baby? Could she be waking from something else? Babies tend to wake a lot as you know...when you don't give it to her and she wakes, can you comfort her and get her back to sleep? Singing, swaddling, rocking, etc (see the above)? If so then I'd keep doing all that. I am not anti meds though, whatever it takes! LOL! I just try to use them sparingly and only when necessary. I don't think you will addict your baby to tyelonol or cause liver damage though. As long as you are dosing correctly and using the right product. Definitley a good question for the doctors though, if you have a good one they will be a great resource!!
for my daughter i gave her motrin. and i would also rub oral jell directly on her gums which helped alot so i only gave her the motrin probably once a day. But her teething wasnt bad at all the only way i knew she was teething is when i seen her chewing on things a drowling. Also give her a wet wash cloth and let her chew on that and it helps alot:)
Remember that by giving her tylonol or motrin so often, you could be masking symptoms that arise that are not related to teething at all. Of course, she needs to sleep, but during the day, I would try alternate (non-chemical) options. During my babies waking hours, I'd use a mesh feeder with cold, refrigerated fruit in the bag, or a wet washcloth stored in the freezer for a few min. It takes a bit more time, but I always felt safer with those options.
If I remember correctly, Tylenol is derived from the all-natural willow tree. Please be careful when you assume that all-natural equals safe. Arsenic is natural. Any medication given in huge doses is not safe. Check with your dr. to make sure that it is really teething that is causing the problem. Maybe my daughter is unusual, but I can never assume she is waking up because of her teeth. I have no way to tell that. People do say that the pain of teething can last a long time. Also, the tylenol only lasts for 4 hours, so if she's really in that much pain, I think she would wake up when it wore off. Maybe you are unconsciously changing her bedtime routine when you do not give it to her. Try repeating the bedtime routine when she wakes up, just keeping the lights off and singing or reading for a few minutes.
I am giving my baby tylenol (got dosage from Pedi...)She is too young for motrin yet, and was sooo miserable! I was giving her just teething tablets, but as her teething progressed she was in more pain. I usually give it to her 1 during the day, and right before bed (on days she seems to have teething pain) I didn't like the idea of "drugging" my baby, but I like the idea of letting her be in pain even less... After all, I take tylenol when I am in pain...
You can become hooked on tylenol (or any pain med). I would switch it back and forth since she's old enough to have it, but like you said, only when she really needs it.
