It is well established that I’m not buying the whole ‘no such thing as teething‘ line. And I’ve whinged about it a whole lot from molars to sleepless nights to clingyness to high temperatures to lymphatic system problems to sleep regressions to plans gone awry to the challenges of comforting a toddler. I’m not bitter. I’m just really good at complaining. I’m gifted that way.

I can now see her 2 year molars pushing through. So here we are, finally, going through the last teething push. I imagine they’ll move up and down for some time. But still, the end is in sight.

She’s had a few breaks from it over the last week. I took the photo to document one of the few meals she’s been willing to eat. She mainly likes slurping the spaghetti. I’ll take whatever I can get at this point. At its worst, she’s been sobbing into my chest or banging her head against any surface (floor, wall, coffee table) until she cries and then banging it again for good measure.

This morning, she had a break from it. I sat down at the computer to work and instead of the usual devastated cries and demands for me to play, she stood next to me and very clearly said ‘work’. Then proceeded to draw, play with her blocks and muck around in the sandpit outside, only coming back to get me for food (three breakfasts and two lunches) and water replenishment. For us non-telepaths, toddler communication is pretty awesome.

What have I learnt so far? Not as much as you’d think, other than that teething is an unforgiving tormenter. But there are some things that do help to take the edge off:

1) Puzzle games on the iPhone are awesome. Pre-5am starts are not so bad if you don’t actually have to get out of bed. Anything that buys me an extra hour or so is worth it.

2) Distraction is key. There’s a reason why I never notice her having teething problems when we are out and about. A trip to the shops can do wonders, especially if I get a real coffee for myself while I’m there.

3) Forgetting what I ‘should’ be doing also does wonders. Isn’t that the whole reason that I work from home most of the time? So I can give her all the love, cuddles and understanding when she really needs it.

4) When in doubt add water – a bath, a shower, or ‘helping’ me do the dishes are all excellent options on a teething day.

Other than that, even after two years of teething, I still have no idea. Riley has always been really sensitive to teething. I’ve never found anything that actually alleviates the pain of it – not bonjela, not panadol, not ice. All I’ve been able to do is distract her, hold her and ride it out with her. But it does leave me with vaguely homicidal impulses whenever I hear somebody say ‘there’s no such thing as teething’.

filed in teething, toddler

The Doctor told me it was most  likely the two year molars and that the high temperaturs had triggered a reaction in her lymphatic system, causing (among other things) her glands to swell up. He prescribed antibiotics and I noticed an almost immediate improvement, particularly with her temperature wich had been pretty scary high.

Keeping the fluids up. Very important. It’s just as well, she loves her water and bottles, because her food over the last week has equated to a few handfuls of nutri grain and licking the peanut butter of her toast. Thankfully, her appetite started to return a bit today and Josh even managed to convince her to have some pasta for dinner.

It has been a gruelling week for me. She wants to be attached all the time. If I left the lounge room to go to the kitchen, she’d completely lose the plot. I went to the dentist and when I left I had to physically detach her while she was attempting to hang on to my t-shirt with her teeth. All accompanied by the real devastated crying that’s heart breaking to listen to.

For the most part, I’ve tried to give her as much comfort as I possibly can. But that’s not to say it’s not absolutely exhausting. I take comfort in that if it is her two year molars this should be the last of the teething. Please?!

Wake me when it’s over. But since that’s not possible, the next best thing is going in to work tomorrow and having a bit of a break. I feel guilty that I’m looking forward to it. But I also know I’ll be better able to meet her needs for having the break as well.

The little googy has not been well. We think it’s teething – there’s plenty of drooling, diarrhea and a nasty high temperature without any other symptoms of infection. Most likely it’s her two year molars. I got quite a shock yesterday when I took her temperature (under the arm) and it was 39.6 (103 F). She didn’t even seem that unwell to me. And today it’s been similar, but at least it’s responsive to panadol and goes down pretty quickly.

She’s a very easy patient though, and was in high spirits this morning. The afternoon was an entirely different story. But was content snoozing on my chest or sitting on my lap working on a puzzle. After our trip to the ICU I get a little paranoid with these episodes when they pop up. It can be hard to be entirely rational about it. But, by the same token, I don’t want to take her to the doctor or the hospital unless I’m sure that she needs it because pretty much every time we’ve gone to the doctor she’s caught something and I don’t want to expose her to that if there’s nothing they can do anyway.

But she was definitely worse today, so if it’s getting worse tomorrow I’ll get her checked out, if only for my peace of mind.

Most of the night is spent with her crying and inconsolable, not really wanting to be touched. No pain relief seems to even make a dent. She’s also developed a nasty cough which doesn’t really bother her during the day but at night, the more upset she gets the worse it gets.

I’m hoping against hope that because it’s gotten so much worse in the last few days it’s nearly over. Please let that be the case.