When their first teeth come through, babies can experience pain. This can leave you as a parent with a terrible feeling of helplessness. What can you do about this? Read below how you can ease this process.

First teeth on the way

Most babies grow their first (two) teeth in the lower jaw, this generally happens between 6 and 10 months. But of course that is different for each baby, so does your baby have problems at 4 months, or no teeth after 10 months? Then you don't have to worry about that.

By the time your child is three years old, they will have a set of baby teeth consisting of approximately 20 teeth.

The signs that the first teeth are coming through

Drooling, biting, disturbed nights and crying fits. The discomforts are different for each baby, just like when exactly the teeth come through. One baby is not bothered by it much, while the other is kept awake by it. Here are a few symptoms that could indicate teething:

• Need for chewing and biting

• Eat less

• Hanging

• Excessive drooling or wanting to suck on toys e.g.

• Crying more often than normal

• A bit whiny

• Sleeps less (or not well)

• Touches the face and/or ears a lot

Other symptoms that can indicate teething are having a fever or a raised temperature, pale or red & swollen gums. Although not all of this can be traced back to tooth growth. To be sure, you can always feel if there is a bump. Do you feel that it is hard? Then there is a good chance that a tooth is coming through at that spot.

But how do you relieve the pain…?

• Massage your cold finger over the gums. Cold has a soothing effect on the pain.

• Give something cold to eat or drink.

• Give a chilled teething ring (but not from the freezer, as this can cause frostbite).

• Be careful with hot food: your baby's gums are more sensitive than normal.

• Sucking on a pacifier can have a soothing effect.

• Spoil your little one with extra love and attention.

• If you can't figure it out, you can also call your GP and ask for advice.

Oh yeah, don't forget to brush your teeth!

For babies, you don't have to brush twice a day at first, as is advised for adults. You brush your child's teeth once a day, for 2 minutes, until the age of two. Make sure you have the right soft children's toothbrush and toothpaste for your child and start brushing. Children's toothpaste has less fluoride, so it can't do any harm if swallowed. When you switch to normal toothpaste for your child is up to the parents, often this happens around the age of 5/6.