Top Five Teething Toys

Apparently someone notified the teething gods of my arrogance, and at 5 months old Abigail started teething. Then, my world changed overnight as I dealt with a drooling, sobbing, cranky little bundle of misery. The only way we got through it was with infant Tylenol and some great teething toys.

1. Abigail's favorite was one of the most simple - a gel-filled ring that I kept in the fridge. Actually, I bought half a dozen of these. I quickly found out that my toddler liked to suck on them, too, and we lost several during the course of a month (I later found two of them under the couch, covered in dust-bunnies). Luckily, these can be found at almost any grocery store, and are typically only a few dollars.
2. Massaging Teether. This one had a handle to hold onto, and gently massaged Abigail's swollen gums. She had to be in the right mood for it, but sometimes it worked miracles.
3. Teething rattles. We had an assortment of rattles and rings that offered various surfaces. Some had little round nubs, others ridges, and some had smooth, solid surfaces. These come in a million cute shapes and sizes. We had an elephant with ridged ears, a bear with nubby feet and hands, a crackly star and a caterpillar with all the possible textures and shapes. One of Abigail's favorites, however, was a set of teething beads, mostly because it was easy for her to hold.
4. Vinyl books. Though they weren't marketed for teether's at the time, Abigail had a set of baby books that were vinyl. They were titled Baby's Big Day, Baby's Bedtime and Baby's Puppy. They should have been titled Baby Stops Screaming in Teething Pain. She gnawed on them continuously. Now there are little books marketed specifically as teething books, but any of the baby books will work just fine.
5. Soft toys. Though they were kind of gross after being chewed on, Abigail seemed to chew on her soft dolls and toys a lot. They're softer on the gums than the hard plastic teether's, and more easily grasped by little hands. They're machine washable - which is good because they get really soggy and smell icky after being chewed on all day. You can find several soft teething toys on the market now. Again, we had at least a half dozen of these, which was good, because half of them were always in the laundry. With a teething baby, I was lucky if the family had clean matching socks!

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Besides traditional teething toys, Abigail enjoyed teething biscuits, bread crusts, popsicles and fingers (and once she got a couple teeth, I learned to keep my fingers out of her mouth!)

In the end, both Abigail and I got through teething without going insane. Now it's on to dentist appointments, and orthodontics.

By: Nick Swisher

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