Baby teething chart with plan of attack

The teething process for some parents could be a rough time. The experience really depends on how the child reacts to each tooth eruption. Thankfully, my little girl had a smooth teething experience and followed the baby Teething Chart. Therefore, we were able to carefully time the necessary remedies before the projected teeth eruption scheduled timeframe.

My goal for this post, similar to the other posts on visualDAD is to share experiences and research to minimize the learning curve for you fellow dads that need the information more than most.

TEETH IDENTIFICATION

First let’s get to know and understand the different types of teeth and their eruption time frame. Please either print out this free downloadable Baby Teething Chart and document the actual eruption date or simply download to your phone and keep as a digital copy.

To help with the teeth identification stage, I scoured the internet with the most common questions as it related to teething and compiled a list of questions and answers from my research detailed below:

COMMON TEETHING QUESTIONS

QUESTION: Does every baby go through teething?

It is common for babies to develop their 4th tooth between 4 and 7 months old, but some babies may start the process much later on; there’s no need to worry, your baby’s teeth could come in at a different time — it’s just different for each baby.

QUESTION: How do you know if your baby is teething?

SIGNS OF TEETHING:

Swollen, tender gums.

Consistent hands to their mouth

Fussiness and crying.

Coughing.

A slightly raised temperature (less than 101 F)

Gnawing on hard things.

Consistent drooling.

Pulling their ear, rubbing their cheek

QUESTION: Which baby teeth hurt the most coming in?

First back molars typically appear at 12 to 14 months. The molars, which are the largest teeth in the mouth, can cause the most discomfort when they erupt. These are followed by the four canines around 18 months and the second molars around two years of age.

QUESTION: How long does a baby teething pain last?

Most babies experience minor and infrequent symptoms of teething, but the pain can last as long as 8 days, depending on when other teeth are coming in. What to take into consideration is if multiple teeth come through simultaneously, the pain can continue for longer.

QUESTION: Can teething affect a baby’s appetite?

Infants may experience a wide variety of symptoms during their teething process. Some common symptoms include irritability and a loss of appetite. It is most common for some babies such as my daughter to have few or no symptoms when their teeth break through the gums.

QUESTION: What happens if baby teeth come through in the wrong order?

As stated by the AAP, all children are different and if their baby teeth come in out of order, it shouldn’t hurt them if they come in a little out of order.

PLAN FOR THE PAIN

I actually went a step further and entered each projected Baby Tooth eruption schedule to my Google calendar and set up reminders a month before the estimated eruption date to start preparation.

My shopping list action plan:

2 months old, we started to shop for some teething toys.

There were two types of teething toys we purchased.

Type 1 = Ribbed rubber like ring with a cute animal

Type 2 = Rubber type material made to be placed inside a Ziploc bag to be placed in the freezer. (Make sure to clean and dry well before use) Never buy a gel filled teething toy. It’s common sense, but I just wanted to call it out. The risk is just too high.

3 months old, we purchased some infant Tylenol just in case a fever surfaces. You should always consult your doctor first.

3 months old, bought some extra bibs to capture the excessive drooling.

11 months old, new teething toys to be placed in the freezer as the molars (hurt the most) will soon surface at around 12 – 14 months.

COMFORT YOUR BABY

The times your baby might need you to comfort them most is at around 3 months when they would experience the first eruption of teeth and at around a year or so when their molars surface. Any other time, at least from my experience, was manageable with having a teething toy at proximity.

Close to the 3-month mark, my wife would gently rub my daughters front bottom gums with a silicone finger brush. We continued this gum rubbing process at the eruption site a few weeks before any expected teeth eruption. I believe these steps helped my daughter go through the teething process without much discomfort.

Throughout the teething process, it’s best to have a cloth or bib in proximity to keep the baby’s face dry. The excessive drooling when left alone could result in some facial rashes etc… My daughter surely appreciated the extra attention.

In this blog post, I have outlined that it is important to manage the teething process of your child. The experience really depends on how the child reacts to each tooth eruption. Fortunately, my daughter experienced a smooth process due to referencing the baby teething chart. We were able to carefully time the remedies before her scheduled teeth eruptions. Which resulted in a happy baby during what some call a stressful time for parents. Get up and start preparing for your baby’s teething experience and minimize the stress through preparation and action.

FREE BABY TEETHING CHART BELOW