• It feels like phase two of the silent war parents have to wage with raising kids
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Just when you hit the toddler years with your kid and thank God for leaving all the baby milestones behind, here comes teething once more!
Teething is one of those stages that is every new parent’s nightmare. It is perhaps one of the hardest milestones we cross as parents.
Babies often suffer from terrible and hard-to-soothe pain. They lose sleep. They cry continuously. They bite through anything that comes into contact with their mouth. And my personal worst, the smelly blackish diarrhoea.
From about six months of age to three years, parents can expect at the very least a bimonthly brush with this red-eyed monster that turns your cute baby into a raging being. The distortion that comes from the teething cycle basically undoes everything you have worked hard to curate for the baby's daily schedule. When teething is on, the ‘perfection’ you desire goes out the window; you are only in survival mode.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how my husband and I were concerned that screen time was turning our little one into a proper terrible two. On one of his meltdowns as I held him close, I managed to see right into his mouth when he was wailing loudly.
Lo and behold, there it was! The very reason for our recent outbursts and tantrums. The upper right jaw was completely swollen where the molar was coming in. I had completely forgotten that my child was still on schedule for more teeth to come in.
The molars. Ugh! They have been the most challenging pair so far. Mostly because the molars are bigger and, therefore, more painful to break through and, of course, because the child is bigger now and more aware of pain.
Our son would be playing happily and the next second, he has thrown himself on the floor, wailing uncontrollably. When the pain hit, it was nearly impossible to distract him from what he was feeling.
Unfortunately for us, teething is not a one-time thing, nor is it a cycle that comes to a halt. Ideally, people can grow teeth up to 21 years of age, where the wisdom teeth come in. My own wisdom teeth came in as soon as I hit 18 years of age.
If this case holds for my son, then I have about 16 years at the very least to go before I am completely done with my child’s teething process. Whew! Just when I thought I was done with the baby teeth, here comes phase two.