Teething and Biting

Teething.  Have you reached that point yet?

If not, you will.  How does this affect breastfeeding?  And everything else?

Listen this week for all the info.  And it’s not just about biting (but we talk about that too)

If you are a new listener, we would love to hear from you.  Please consider leaving us a review on itunes or sending us an email with your suggestions and comments to badassbreastfeedingpodcast@gmail.com

WE HAVE TRANSCRIPTS!!  You can also add your email to our list and have episodes sent right to your inbox!

Things we talked about:
 
Talking about teething [4:59]

Breastfeeding may change  [9:02]

What can you do for teething babies? [11:58]

Washcloths and popsicles [12:03]

Don’t use whisky [14:57]

Get ahead of the feeds [15:42]

Sometimes babies bite boobs [19:36]

Babies don’t mean to bite [20:11]

Watch your baby [21:35]

This will pass [26:33]

Nursing strikes [27:18]

Amber teething necklaces [31:01]

Sometimes they are miserable.  Just be there [34:26]

*This Episode is sponsored by Niki’s and Ceres Chill

Links to information we discussed or episodes you should check out!

https://badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com/episode/094-when-breastfeeding-babies-bite/

https://badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com/episode/nursing-strikes-when-your-baby-stops-breastfeeding/

https://www.diannecassidyconsulting.com/2021/02/21/how-to-prevent-biting-while-breastfeeding/ 

Set up your consultation with Dianne

https://badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com/consultations/     

Check out Dianne’s blog here~

https://diannecassidyconsulting.com/milklytheblog/

Don’t Forget!!  Dianne and Abby have started the new parenting podcast!  Check out Revolution Parenting!  

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1755123/8400508

Follow our Podcast~

• https://badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com

Here is how you can connect with Dianne and Abby~

• Abby Theuring  https://www.thebadassbreastfeeder.com
• Dianne Cassidy http://www.diannecassidyconsulting.com

Music we use~

Music: "Levels of Greatness" from "We Used to Paint Stars in the Sky (2012)" courtesy of Scott Holmes at freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott Holmes

Transcript

dianne (00:20):

[inaudible] hi. Welcome to the badass breastfeeding podcast, this is Dianne, your lactation consultant,

abby (00:26):

and this is Abby. The badass breastfeeder. And today's episode is brought to you by Niki's natural wipes. The first all natural baby wipes made with menuca honey and coconut oil. And today's episode is also brought to you by Ceres Chill, a new sponsor. Welcome to the family. Never worry about safely storing your breast milk or formula. Again, Creres Chill was invented by a mom for moms and offers guaranteed convenience with their double walled stainless steel container. And we'll hear more from our sponsors later, uh, but are these sponsors make this podcast possible? So please head to badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com and check out our sponsor page. If you need anything, see if you can give any of them your business. And while you're there, scroll down and enter your email address. And we'll have episodes sent straight to your inbox every Monday. And now Dianne has our review of the week.

dianne (01:21):

and it came from our Gmail and, uh, she says, hi guys, here's my review. I would have left it on iTunes, but I don't have an account. So see, she took advantage of our Gmail, which is very nice. Dianne and Abby have been absolute life savers for me and my breastfeeding journey. I gave birth in the middle of the pandemic, had an unexpected C-section thought I didn't have enough milk, had sore, cracked nipples, and even pumped blood once. They also thought my baby had a tongue tie and a bad latch, you name it. Then I discovered the badass breastfeeding podcast and all of my questions are answered and worries were no more. Before I got the help and support of these wonderful ladies, I was ready to give up. Now I'm absolutely loving breastfeeding my eight month old daughter. And it's the easiest thing in the world. I'm also co-sleeping and really enjoying being a mom. Thanks so much for the wonderful podcast, covering every question that has popped into my head and helping all the moms out there to enjoy breastfeeding and all that comes with it. You guys are doing a great thing. Thank you so much. This is from Chantale. And as I said, she sent it to badassbreastfeedingpodcast@gmail.com. And I am so glad you found your way through having a baby in the pandemic, man. That's not easy stuff.

abby (02:30):

No. I mean, it's hard enough to begin with.

dianne (02:33):

Yeah. And then the pandemic, oh my God. We should just do an episode on the pandemic babies.

abby (02:38):

We really should gather some info from people. And I mean, people are doing it, honestly, if this just goes to show, you know, that like people will, life goes on and people will persevere because, um, people also do stupid things. But I mean, you know, like I see people around me all the time. They're like having babies, they're like doing this stuff and I'm just like, I, I don't understand. I mean, I would be there's a lot of this time where I was just like crippled with fear and like, you know, oh my God, we used to, you know, everything's going terrible. And, and people are just going forward with it. And it's so very like brave because you know, on the other hand we don't know how long it's going to last. We don't know. There's never a good time. There's never, there's really never a good time to have babies.

dianne (03:31):

No, there's no perfect time.

abby (03:32):

Cause you always think it. Yeah. Cause you always think, well, I'm not ready. It's not a good time, but really is there ever a good time, but now there's so many more barriers and there's so much more stress around it. And people are just doing it.

dianne (03:44):

in isolation. Isolation is awful. I mean, it already feels isolating to have a baby and be home. And you know, just especially if you're like, you're the first one of your friends to have babies or you know, anything like that, you're you don't, you're not surrounded by family, but even if you do have family, sometimes you're afraid to let them in because of pandemic because of illness, because what are they, what could they spread to my newborn? And it's scary to not have help and support right now.

abby (04:13):

Right? Yeah. And that's, and all of that is not to say that there isn't real trauma happening because my gosh, we'll all have this and especially more for some people than others, but yeah, people are doing it and congratulations to you.

dianne (04:28):

That's awesome. But send us, send us reviews, put them on iTunes. If you can, if you have the account, if you can't, you can send us an email badassbreastfeedingpodcast@gmail.com and we would love to hear from you. And hopefully by now, you guys are checking out our new podcast revolution parenting, which is kind of like our next level. You know, when you're starting to parent those little toddlers and stuff, all the little things that you can kind of come up against. So check that out too. At revolution, parenting, wherever you get your podcasts.

abby (04:59):

Yes. And today we're talking about teething, but not biting.

dianne (05:02):

Oh, we probably will talk about biting.

abby (05:04):

I'm totally kidding. Everybody would turn it off right now.

dianne (05:07):

I know. Everyone's like, I don't care about the teething part. I just don't want them to bite me.

abby (05:11):

Right. Teething means biting often, often, but means all kinds of other things too. Um,

dianne (05:20):

it does, it is. Teething is hard. And it's funny. I just said to somebody the other day, she had a newborn and was really struggling to get breastfeeding off the ground. And they did and kind of overcame like the little newborn barriers and stuff of bad latch and all of that baby, not latching at all and kind of like really got going. And then I saw them again and she's like, things are really great. And we're just going forward. The baby is gaining really well and everything was great. I'm like you're good until teeth, man. Like just not that it really like. And I don't want to say, okay, when, when teeth start to come in or when the baby's teething, then you gotta prepare for biting. Like that's not even,

abby (06:02):

that's not true because many babies don't bite.

dianne (06:03):

many babies don't bite, but teething just wreaks havoc on everything.

abby (06:09):

Yeah. Whether or not right. That's true. Whether or not they start biting. Teething is going to be a whole thing.

dianne (06:15):

And I think people don't realize like they, babies will teethe for months before the, you actually see those teeth.

abby (06:22):

Right. And then it goes on for years and years,

dianne (06:27):

those poor babies. And you know, it's like, you don't know. Cause all of a sudden they hit that stage at a couple of months where everything becomes very oral and they put everything in their mouth and they're finding their hands and their hands are going in their mouth. And they're like, they're drooling because of that. And it's like, are they teething? And it's like maybe, maybe not. You know, you really don't know. You're kind of guessing. And then they become a little bit more miserable than as you know, the months go on. They're fussy and miserable and you know, okay. I think they're teething. I think they're teething and it becomes very difficult. Sometimes they don't want to feed at all because they're just uncomfortable and it's painful and, and you're not even seeing anything yet. You know, you're just kind of guessing sometimes like, what is it? Is it Teeth? Is it an ear infection? Like what is going on with my baby? They're so miserable.

abby (07:12):

Yeah. Some sort of developmental stage or whatever. It could be anything.

dianne (07:18):

Yeah. Yeah. I feel like when you hit that teething stage, I find that a very confusing time because you really, you're just kind of like guessing, like, is this what's going on? Because it can go on for months. Your baby could be dealing with this in different stages of teething for months before you see those little teeth come in.

abby (07:36):

Yeah. I mean, until kids can talk, it's always a guessing game what's happening. You always just have to guess. And it could, and it's always going to be like a thing where it's like, well, it could be this. I remember being on the phone with a friend of mine and she was like, it was Amanda who Dianne's worked with. And we were talking about, I don't know which one of the babies, maybe I was holding Exley or something. Um, and he was crying or something and she was just like, oh, what's, what's what's wrong. She's like, oh yeah. Well she was like, oh, is it like teething? Or is it like, is it growing? She was like, oh yeah. It's either teething or growing. It's just teething or growing. Always either that, well, either one, whatever, teething or growing, that's just what's happening. Cause you don't know. There's no way to know. There's no way to know. They can't be like, oh yeah, it hurts right here. They don't even know. They don't even know like babies. Like you don't like, I feel like it's hard for us to even imagine what it's like to be inside of a baby. A baby is not like, oh, here's my mouth. Like they don't know. They don't understand their body parts. They don't understand. Like they are just like, they're just like this spirit being like, they're not like here are my hands and here is my mouth. And I can point to where it hurts. Like they don't have any of this awareness. They just know it fucking hurts and they're miserable. And it's just, they don't even know that it hurts. You know, they just miserable. All they know how to do is just like cry and be miserable if they don't feel well.

dianne (09:02):

Right. That's how they communicate with you. And it really, and they might, the breastfeeding definitely will change. Not, well, I shouldn't say definitely will change, but it absolutely might change for you. They might not feed as well. They might, you might need to switch positions around again. If, if maybe pressure of sucking is putting pressure on their gums in a way that's uncomfortable for them. Um, sometimes I've seen some babies just like go on a little bit of a nursing strike. And a lot of times when people contact me about a nursing strike, I'm like, are they, is there teeth coming in? Because that could be it. It can be very uncomfortable. It's their mouth. It can be very uncomfortable.

abby (09:39):

Yeah. I think we have an episode on nursing strikes.

dianne (09:42):

Oh yeah. I think we do.

abby (09:43):

They can go on for a real long time. Oh gosh. They're so bad. Like that's a whole thing that you have to deal with if that happens, which again, it does not a guarantee, you know, you're at, at best, you'll have a miserable baby sometimes, which, you know, that's kind of how they are anyway. Um, and then there's a lot, you know, a whole different, a bunch of different like things that can happen. I mean, so basically the very basics is they have teeth coming in, right? The teeth are shifting, they're pushing up towards the gum and it hurts.

dianne (10:15):

Their gums are swollen. Usually.

abby (10:17):

You might be able to see swollen gums. You might be able to see like redness. Sometimes, sometimes you can't because sometimes it's just things moving around. Um, so just because you don't see swollen gums, don't like rule out teething. Cause it's still could be that. And then it could hurt. Yeah. Like the nursing could hurt and it could make them not want to, could make them be popping off, pop that whole popping on and off like I want to, but I can't because it hurts and I'm just miserable and I'm popping on and off. Um, and then, you know, they could just refuse all together and then people think, oh my God, they're weaning. Uh, I don't, you know, they don't, they just don't want to nurse, which is not true. They want nothing more than to comfort nurse. It's just uncomfortable. It hurts.

dianne (11:00):

It hurts them. Um, follow your instinct a lot with teething. And I try to tell parents about that because they will often like if they think something's going on with their baby or they think there's teething and sometimes they'll go to the pediatrician or they're talk to, you know, friend or whatever, and people say, oh, it's too early for that. It's too early for that. I mean, it might not be,

abby (11:20):

you know, there's babies that are born with teeth. Teeth can be coming in at any point.

dianne (11:25):

And I have seen, I've had clients whose babies had teeth by three months. So it definitely can be an earlier thing. And then some babies don't get them til 10 months. I mean, it just, it really is very dependent on what goes on with your baby.

abby (11:38):

but that doesn't mean that Jack didn't have teeth until 11 months. Yeah. And that doesn't mean that his teeth weren't bothering him the whole time. Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's still is like, it's still moving around. It's still a thing that's happening. They are popping out later. It doesn't mean that, that it's still not causing them pain that whole time.

dianne (11:58):

So what do you do for babies that are uncomfortable with teeth coming in?

abby (12:03):

Yeah. So there's all kinds of things you can do. You can like, um, I mean, like, you know, there's, you can take a, uh, take a wash cloth and roll it up into like roll it up, put it in the freezer and then you can take it out when it's frozen. They can chew on that. That feels really good. Yeah. You can make little pop, little breast milk popsicles. If you can pump, you know, just enough to freeze a little bit. You can, um, make a little Popsicle.

dianne (12:32):

Yeah. Those are good.

abby (12:33):

They can suck on that. Cause anything cold is going to help, you know, think of yourself. If you had like, you know, swollen gums or like a swollen part, you know, something that hurt, you would put ice on it. Um, chewy, you know, they make those little breastfeeding jewelry things. Those chewy, jewelry. Chewelry. That's what people call them Chewelry. That's cute. And it's just like, yeah, it's like silicone or like, or like silicone free or I don't know where we stand with silicone right now.

dianne (13:07):

Um, everything changes.

abby (13:10):

It's made out of something that's safe for babies to chew on, you know, it's not made out of like a leather, painted leather or something?

dianne (13:17):

Like give your baby a leather strap.

abby (13:19):

Don't give them just like your belt or whatever. Something that's like, it doesn't have chemicals on it or whatever. And they can chew on that. Um, they're going to be wanting to put a ton of things in their mouth. So give them something that's safe and maybe a little, um, soothing to put in their mouth. The other thing that we used, we used the Highlands teething tablets.

dianne (13:38):

Can you still use those?

abby (13:40):

I don't know. Yeah. I think they're back. They were out for a while. They were out for a couple of years because of some ingredient. Yeah. No. Well, they were definitely back for, or my kids. I'm going to Google it right now. Oh, Highlands. Oh, oh, oh. It says it's high in, that comes up as Highlands, Highlands teething, uh, recall. Oh. Oh. But you can also, so, um, it doesn't have to be Highlands because basically all it is is um, although there, oh no, it's just like, I think it's like chamomile. Oh, okay. They have like, um, there's all kinds of different kinds of brands. If you don't want to use that one, you can research the ones that are, that people are using. They're just little tablets. I think it's got like chamomile or something in it. That's soothing. Um, they just all know they just dissolve right in their mouth really fast. You put them like couple underneath their tongue. I used them. Um, I don't know if they worked, you know, sometimes maybe it seemed like they work sometimes if I just wanted them to take a nap, which was like also not, it's not, it's not for that. It's not even like strong enough to do that or anything. It was just like my own psychology.

dianne (14:55):

I think if it makes them comfortable.

abby (14:57):

Yeah. Um, you can do that, you know, back in the day your grandma would probably put like, or your, I guess I don't know who we're talking to your great grandma. Great, great. Grandma put a whiskey. Like rub some whiskey on their gums. Numb it out. Yeah,

dianne (15:13):

Numb it out. Yeah, absolutely. Get your baby a little drunk.

abby (15:17):

That's what my husband, he has, he, I, it hasn't been a problem lately, but he has in the past had issues with like, I think his wisdom tooth or something. And like, it would just pop up like a couple of times a year it would hurt. And then, um, he would just drink whiskey and like, hold it in his mouth kind of back there. And I'm like, yeah, that's so much better than a dentist. Like removing the tooth that clearly is not working out.

dianne (15:42):

I always tell people to like, do it like the washcloth trick or any of that stuff. Do it, you know, maybe if you can get ahead of the feeding, you know, do it maybe a couple of minutes before eating that way, the baby gums can like numb up a little bit and it won't bother them as much when they do feed, you know? And that can be hard to do when you're feeding on demand, but sometimes, you know, okay, the baby will probably be up in a few minutes. They're gonna want to eat, let me get a washcloth ready for them chew on that while I'm changing a diaper, you know?

abby (16:07):

And if you're feeding on demand and they're teething and they're uncomfortable, they're not going to feed, you know, if they're miserable and you can tell that they're just like, you know, like they won't latch on or they're, they seem uncomfortable. Don't worry about it. It's okay. Just take a break. It's not like, you know, you're not having breastfeeding problems. You know, it's just like teething. It's a normal, don't freak out too much. Just try to help them, you know, ease the pain, have them chew on a washcloth for a couple of minutes and then it might work, for them to latch on.

dianne (16:41):

Yeah, let's hear from our new sponsors, very excited about our new sponsor.

abby (16:47):

and then we're going to talk about biting.

dianne (16:49):

And we'll talk a little bit more about biting too.

abby (16:51):

All right. We'll be right back. Today's episode is brought to you by Niki's natural wipes. Niki's was created out of the passion of two new parents wanting to protect the health of their precious new baby Niki. Conventional baby wipes contain harsh chemicals that can lead to redness, itchiness, dry skin, a burning sensation, and even blisters and urinary tract infections utilizing the miraculous antibacterial qualities of menuca honey, combined with the proven ability of coconut oil to moisturize dry skin Niki's has set a new global standard for premium baby wipes. The smell and feel of the wipes is unique. 100% natural ethically sourced, EWG certified and biodegradable check out the first all natural baby wipes made with menuca honey and coconut oil on Nikis.com. That's N I K I s.com and use promo code badass10 for 10% off of your purchase. And today's episode is also brought to you by Ceres Chill. Never worry about safely storing your breast milk or formula again. Ceres Chill was invented by a mom for moms and offers guaranteed convenience with their double walled stainless steel container. A little bit of warm water, a little bit of water, not warm water, a little bit of water and ice is all you need to keep your breast milk or formula safe for 20 hours. No more lugging around chunky coolers and dozens of containers you can pump and double pump all day into one sleek container. The chillers are dishwasher, safe, airport friendly, and last a lifetime. Use it for wine coffee, or any of your favorite beverages When you're done breast or bottle feeding. I personally use them to carry hot snacks to the park and it works perfect for that. Um, head to CeresChill.com. That's C E R E S C H I L l.com. Or you can check them out @cereschill on Instagram, uh, for more details about this cool container and use the code badass breastfeeders 25 badass breastfeeders 25 for 25% off of your purchase. Uh, all of these sponsors and their promo codes can be found in our show notes under this episode, um, at badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com our show notes will also include further information about things we talk about in this episode and at badassbreastfeedingpodcast.com You'll also find our breastfeeding resources, all of our other episodes and information about scheduling your very own one-on-one online lactation consultation with Dianne.

dianne (19:34):

Yeah.

abby (19:36):

Sometimes babies bite boobs.

dianne (19:38):

Sometimes they do. I got bit. Did you get bit?

abby (19:42):

I got bit, one time.

dianne (19:44):

I got bit, one time out of three kids. That's not bad.

abby (19:46):

No, but some people will. They really struggle with the biting, like will be biting constantly on the boob.

dianne (19:54):

and they don't mean to do that. And we've, I mean, we talk about biting all the, well, we used to talk about biting all the time. Remember when we used to do the Facebook lives, that came up every single time constant was biting. We have a couple of episodes just dedicated to biting, but we can't do a teething episode without talking about it a little bit, but it really babies don't mean to bite you. That's not what they're intended to do.

abby (20:17):

They hate it. They're so miserable. They hate it. They hate biting you.

dianne (20:21):

And it just happened. Like it happens. They can't help it, but there's like, it, it does, it kind of takes you by surprise and you know, you can't help, but feeling like, oh my gosh, my baby bit me. I'm not doing this anymore. For me. It, like, my reaction was kind of the opposite. I was like, all right, we've been doing this for seven months. I'm not giving up now. Like, I'm not, you know, we came through a lot, man. And it was one of my twins. So I was like, I'm not going to just like stop breastfeeding at this point. We just gotta fix it. You know?

abby (20:46):

But most people do just want to fix it. Yeah. I mean, some people, there are some people that are like, oh, I'll breastfeed until there's teeth. And then we're done.

dianne (20:54):

You know, I always feel sad about that because it's like, it's not the baby's fault. Like, or people will say the baby has teeth. You're still breastfeeding. They still got to eat. You just never got to feed them again. Cause they get teeth. Like what is that?

abby (21:06):

They don't automatically bites. Like they don't want to, they're gonna trying not. They're trying, they're not trying to do that. They it's like a reflex when they're, when their gum is sore like that. When something's in their mouth, the reflex is, is to kind of bite down. That's their attempt at soothing that soreness.

dianne (21:23):

That pressure.

abby (21:23):

Yeah, exactly. Having that pressure on there, which is why all those other things that we talked about before, like Dianne said, doing that first before your nursing can help you with that.

dianne (21:35):

But some of the other things that you can do, if your baby bites is you have to really kind of go back to watching your baby again. And you get to the point by the time your baby is at that stage of biting, you are, you know, like they're several months old and you're kind of to the point where you're like, okay, you're on your phone scrolling or you're, you know, you're kind of doing whatever while they're feeding and you're not really watching them again. If they dose off, they're going to bite down. If they're done feeding and they're just kind of like suckling, they might bite down. If they are feeding, if they are there to actually feed their tongue is over their gum line. And it is physically impossible for them to bite you. They bite when they're not feeding bottom line, that's what's happening. So if they're biting you, they're either not ready to feed. They don't want to feed or they're done feeding. I mean, it just is one of those things. And you have to just kind of like watch them again, like watch them and be like,

abby (22:32):

take them off, take them off. If they, this is what happens a lot is like the baby will right. And then we'll be like, oh my God, don't bite no ouch, you know, you do all your things. Some people will like do crazy things like flick their cheek or like, you know, try to punish them in some way. It's not going to work because they do not understand what is happening. So if they're biting, stop, stop trying to put your boob in their mouth. Cause this is what we do. We're like, oh my God, it's time to eat. You know, they won't, they keep biting what they need to eat. It's time to eat. They have to eat. We have to keep trying. You do not have to keep putting your mouth, your boob inside of a mouth. That's biting you. You, you can do that one time and go, okay, no, we're going to just try again. It's not a punishment its a sign from your baby that they're not ready to eat. Because like Dianne said, when they're eating, they're not biting, but if they're not eating and they're teething, they're going to bite probably. Yes. So if they do bite you even once, take them off, get the washcloth, get, you know, get one of those necklace, get any of those other things to have them put in their mouth to, to kind of get that. Let them work through that with something else. You do not have to keep popping them on. You do not have to force them to eat in that moment. They're just not going to, you know, like if you have a sore, if you have a toothache or if you have some sort of soreness on the part of your body, you might also have a less of a desire to eat. It doesn't mean that you're going to starve to death. It means like in that moment, it's just not your priority. You're just not in the mood.

dianne (24:08):

Right. And that's okay. Like they're, and they're at that age, they can control their feedings. They're not going to starve. Like Abby said, they're not going to let themselves starve to death because of their teeth coming in. It's just that feeding. You might need to delay a little bit and that's okay. Just follow their lead. That's really all you can do.

abby (24:27):

Yeah. But do not feel like you need to have to continue to try to latch them on or try to get them to latch on while they're biting.

dianne (24:36):

Yeah. Cause it's just going to upset you.

abby (24:38):

That's going to cause like you can get open wounds.

dianne (24:41):

That's what I had. I had an open wound.

abby (24:43):

Yeah. I mean that's and then it's going to take forever to heal and then that'll really start to interfere more with your breastfeeding.

dianne (24:52):

Yeah, definitely. It's I mean, it's kinda, it's a hard time to navigate through and I do have people that reach out and be like the baby's just biting me constantly. Like they might really just be having a hard time there. One of the other things that I suggest? And this is, and I have seen this work, um, is chiropractic for babies. And I know that sounds like strange, but babies like with their teeth coming in and growing and developing that can change their jaw quite a bit too. And sometimes that biting, they just need their, their jaw might be bothering them, you know, like they're, they might be having a little bit of like trouble with their jaw with their whole, you know, with their mouth, with growth and development. And sometimes they just need a little bit of, uh, somebody to take a look at that. And that actually does work.

abby (25:45):

Yeah. We did that. I did, I had a couple of sessions like that with Jack. Um, um, I don't remember very much about it. Jack's 10.

dianne (25:58):

and it can definitely like freak some people out and I don't suggest it for everyone, but for people who are like, you have these babies are just like continually like biting and they seem so uncomfortable and it's like, you know what, it's not going to hurt. See, and I had people say, oh, I brought my baby to the chiropractor and their jaw was out of alignment. I mean, it just, it happens. They're growing so rapidly that it just stuff happens with them.

abby (26:24):

Yeah. That's true.

dianne (26:26):

Yeah. So that's something else that you can think about too, or you could even, if you like, want more info on it, you can even like, you know, send us an email or whatever.

abby (26:33):

Ask around. Yeah, absolutely. But it's also not, you know, it's also likely something that's going to pass. Oh yeah. For sure. Not going to be the rest of your nursing journey and you're having a bad day or you've had a bad week with teething. It's happening really strong. You know, baby's biting a lot, hasn't fed a lot. Um, you know, maybe they're feeding more at night, you know, because they're actually tired and sleepy or maybe they're up a lot at night, you know, miserable and wakeful. It doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong. It doesn't mean that there is a breastfeeding problem, you know, that it's just not working out for you. Um, this is like a totally normal developmental thing.

dianne (27:18):

And I was, I was going to mention that more with, um, like if it kind of runs into a nursing strike, like don't just, don't give up hope, you know, like teething does wreak havoc. Like we said on feeding on sleeping. It just, it's very, very difficult stage to go through. And some babies handle it better than others, you know, for some babies, if they're very sensitive to it and it's really, really difficult for them and other babies, it really, they just breeze right through it. I mean, it just, it, it it's like in the same family I've seen that happen, you know, like where some kids are really just kind of don't have a problem with it. And other babies in the same family really struggle. So it really just kind of roll with it. And if your baby is refusing to feed, don't feel like they're weaning or, you know, just, just keep in mind that there's something just developmentally going on and we just need to get through it.

abby (28:13):

Yeah. It seems, it seems crazy that like, this is what babies are supposed to be doing. Right. They're supposed to be nursing. They're supposed to be sleeping. You know, that's pretty much their only job. And then you've got this thing that is so extreme and all of these, the growing and the teething that's so extreme, that totally interferes with their one job. Like, it doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem like fair to the baby or to the parent. It doesn't, it seems like, well, this is ridiculous. Like, how is this suppose? How is this? Like, this is natural. And this is like, you know how we've evolved. And, and, and, but it's so chaotic. It seems like it just doesn't work. And like, it's totally, we've all been there. It's totally normal. It is an absolute shit show. Like you will, there will be days where you were just like, this is an absolute shit show. I would rather just be poked in the face with a fork than like, have to endure all this all day, you know? And you will totally feel that way. And you know, we've all been there. It's not, you're not doing something wrong. It's not that you're not cut out for this. It's not that you're too screwed up to have a baby. You know, that's how I went through all these things. I'm too messed up to have a baby. I can't handle all this other people handle it. I can't handle it. I'm a messed up human being. I'm doing something wrong, you know, that's all just nonsense. This is crazy. It's it is as crazy as you think it is. Yeah, it just is. And it's, and it, and it also passes. It's not nobody not even nature expects you to endure that for very long. It will pass. Yeah. It's, it's, it's not even really. And at some point it'll be even hard to really remember,

dianne (30:10):

and it is like, you don't know what to expect, you know? And you kind of think like, I mean, I, I, I was doing a breastfeeding class the other day and I was telling them like, you don't, you, don't like, you're not supposed to know everything. You're just going along with this, just like your baby is how, you know, you don't know. You're just kind of like feeling it out, going with it and seeing what's what's the next stage. And how do you handle it? Like, you're not supposed to know how, how are you going to know how your baby's going to handle teething? You just don't know.

abby (30:42):

Yeah. There's no way to know.

dianne (30:43):

So you, you know, try not to put that blame on yourself about it because you just don't know how to handle all this stuff. And it's not, it's definitely not easy. Do you know, do you know anything about those Amber teething necklaces?

abby (31:01):

Yeah. The Amber teething necklaces can be, you know, helpful if that's, if you believe in that.

dianne (31:07):

I mean, I don't know. I've seen a ton of babies with them on, but I don't know If they, and of course, you know, that freaks out a lot of pediatricians. Cause they're like, don't put a necklace on your baby. They're so cute though. But, um, I mean, I don't know. Do they work? Do they not work? Is it just one of those placebo things? I don't know.

abby (31:23):

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, my kids always wore them. I was into that when my kids were babies. Um, you're, you know, you get it sized right. So that it doesn't, um, you know, choke them or whatever. And of course you also are always with your baby, so hopefully so, and if you're not, you take it off. Um, but the idea is that it's like, Amber, it's like, it's like, there's also like imitation Amber. So, you know, you're like, it's a whole market, it's a whole thing. So there's like real Baltic amber, it's from like the floor of the Baltic sea. And like you can, and when the, the, when the, when the Amber sits against the baby's skin, it releases some oils or something. I don't know. You can read about it. And it's supposed to help, like soothe, not just teething, but any kind of pain

dianne (32:15):

headaches, like adults wear bracelets and stuff like that.

abby (32:19):

I have a friend who's, she's always covered in Amber. Um, so, you know, it's certainly something you can try. My kids always wore them. Um, so I don't know what it would have been like if they didn't wear them. Um, I don't know. So it's just a matter of what you are into, I think. Um, but yeah, we did it.

dianne (32:40):

Yeah. I mean, that's another thing to consider too. Like Abby said, if you're into that kind of thing, that's something to look into read up on and, you know, see, okay, maybe this, this could help. This could be helpful, you know? I mean, who knows, we're just kind of putting out all the things that you can do to help you a little baby. They are super cute. Yeah. They really are cute. I've seen a little baby with them on,

abby (33:02):

but, but also if you also choose, so here's the other thing that I don't, I'll just talk to my old self, my past self, just because your baby is super upset doesn't mean that you have to or can even cure it. So, you know, I think this is something, this is how we're wired. Right? Of course we are wired to be extremely sensitive and responsive to our babies, which is how they survive because they have highly responsive parents. Um, but they're also, you know, we're also wired from our ancestors, you know, where, you know, safety was an issue. Um, and it's 2021, you know, we're all safe. Well, relatively safe. At least if you're in your house, you know, with your baby, you know, you're sitting on the couch, listening to this, you're, you're safe. Um, and you know, some of that responsiveness, some of that anxiety that we have about our babies being so upset, or, you know, in, in pain from teething, we have this feeling like we have to, we have to cure it. We have to fix it. We have to get them to not be in pain. We have to, we have to do whatever we can to get them to stop crying and to not be in that state anymore. And sometimes it's just not possible. Sometimes they will just be miserable and all you can do is just be there and just know that they're miserable and that there's nothing you can do about it. That they're perfectly fine. They're perfectly safe. There's nothing wrong. They're just teething. Um, it hurts a lot and they're crying and they're miserable and you're so upset about it, but maybe there's nothing you can do about it. And that's okay. Sometimes That's all you can do is just let them be.

dianne (34:59):

Yeah. And you'll have those days where it's like, okay, it's a snuggle day today. They're just not, they're not themselves. They're upset. They're fussy, they're crying. They're miserable. That might be a day where you just kind of put everything else aside and just keep them snuggled up close to you. And that's what you can do. Right. That's all you can do.

abby (35:19):

And you can just know for yourself, okay, they're in pain, but they're safe. They're healthy. And you know, we're just going to have to, you know, get through it. Yeah. That's it. And you will,

dianne (35:33):

you will. For Sure. Well, thanks for listening.

abby (35:36):

Thanks for listening.

Speaker 3 (35:36):

Speaker 1 (35:55):

[inaudible].