Samuel has been full blown teething these last several days. I feel so sorry for him. This round seems to be the hardest yet. He’s so cranky, and we constantly refer to him as, “Drool Monkey.” Poor thing.
We have found several ways to help relieve his teething discomfort without using Children’s Tylenol, which is full of high fructose corn syrup. I thought I’d share them with you.
1. Chicken Bone. Great for the baby who feeds himself. When Samuel began exploring food, I would pull off the chicken for Samuel to eat, and hand him the clean bone to gnaw on. Now, I just pull the grisly part off and let him go to town. He LOVES pulling the chicken off the bone with his teeth, and when he’s done, he gnaws to relieve the teething pain. We’ve also done this with rib bones. This kid can eat some ribs! Ask Mindy from The Purposed Heart. She’s witnessed it with her own eyes!
2. Frozen cherries in a mesh feeder. Frozen cherries are flavorful, but hard enough that they stay firm. Great for gnawing. Put them in a mesh feeder
3. Ice cube in a mesh feeder. My sister-in-love swears by this method. It gets a little messy, but since it’s just water, let them go at it. Not to mention, it’s fun for them.
4. Cold wash cloth. Wet a clean wash cloth in cold water (can even stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to get it really cold). Let baby suck on it. Samuel just slings it around, but I’ve heard other mommy’s have great success.
5. Gum-o-mile. We LOVE Gum-Omile Oil
6. Whiskey. Don’t judge. You know you’re tempted to pull out the good ol’ whiskey and take a shot to alleviate your pain let the alcohol calm your baby’s inflamed gums. Our grandmaw’s did it, so it must work, right? Note: I’m not implying that you let your baby drink the whiskey. You can, but not your baby! Just dab a little on your baby’s gums.
7. Wooden teething ring. We’ve not used a wooden teething ring
8. Mama’s finger. Great for when your little one is just getting started in the teething world. This is not a great method once your baby gets any teeth. Baby or not, biting hurts.
9. Frozen celery. Great for baby’s gums and to help introduce them to the flavor of celery! Samuel is really enjoying this right now even without freezing.
10. Carrot stick. When cooking dinner, I will wash a big carrot stick for Samuel and let him go at it while I finish dinner. He enjoys the flavor, and it’s great relief for his gums.
11. Highland’s teething tablets. I will never be without these tablets. Seriously. They are amazing! Samuel loves them, and they help him, especially at bedtime, to relax and rest. They help with irritability no matter what the cause. We bought ours from Vitacost, but you can find Hyland’s Teething Tablets 
12. Cold orange. Samuel is an orange fanatic. I give him triangle wedges still on the rind to gnaw on. Leaving the rind on gives it the extra teething benefit.
These are just a few things we’ve been using to relieve Samuel’s teething discomforts. My friend, Erin at The Humbled Homemaker, shared 8 Alternatives to Orajel (Holistic Teething Remedies) a little while back that I found super helpful. She mentions teething biscuits, which I forgot all about. Check out her post for a few other tips on how to naturally relieve teething pain.
About Leigh Ann
LOVE the Highland stuff. It’s amazing.
Annie would gnaw on apple slices. GREAT list!!
We do apples too. So funny what you don’t even realize you do.
I was always scared to let them gnaw on pieces of hard food (like carrots and celery) – I’m just a big fat chicken! But thankfully, neither one of them really struggled a lot with the teething. I used the Hyland’s tablets with my oldest, and was going to use them with the younger one, but he just never really seemed to need them. A hug from Mommy and a toy to chew on seemed to keep him pretty happy!
I give them to him in longer slices, maybe like 3 inches long? I”m not 100% sure, but it’s long enough that it goes to the back of his throat and still sticks out an inch or two. Makes it harder to choke on.
Oh, and bless you for having an easy round of teething with your littlest! Just a smidge jealous 
#6 is my favorite but in my world we give the boys brandy for most every thing. it works great heated for throwing up and sore throats, sometimes a mama just got to do it.
#8 some baby habits die hard, this is one my sister tried with a seven month old and He kept biting her for a good while after that. Lesson, do not teach habits you might regret later.
This is my first time commenting here, that’s wired. I do not comment much but trying to repent. Hope you guys are settling well.
Instead of alcohol, we always just put vanilla on gums. They have a little bit of alcohol in, enough to relieve the pain, with the added benefit of making their breath smell great!
Vanilla is a great idea! Thanks for sharing. I will definitely have to try that one!