In most toddlers, teething takes place, when they are anywhere between three months and two years old. When they begin cutting teeth, their front teeth make an appearance first, followed by their molars, around three to six months later. By the time the child is three, he or she should have 20 teeth, which is a full set of baby teeth. As you can see, teething lasts for a long time and is not the most pleasant experience for the child, especially, in the beginning. Most children experience pain or discomfort in their gums, a month or two before the appearance of the first tooth. Their gums can become tender and swollen because of the pressure exerted on them. This is why, during teething, most toddlers have the tendency to bite everything (and everyone) that they can lay their hands on.
You can help ease your child’s discomfort by offering cold foods like mashed bananas, pudding, yoghurt and applesauce. Popsicles work wonders on their sore gums, because of their cooling and numbing effect. You can actually make your own healthy popsicles at home, with mild herbal tea, if you do not want your child to consume added sugar and chemicals.
Teething children also love biting on pieces of cold carrots and apples as well as frozen bagels. Hard-baked toast, rusks and cookies can help relieve the itchy feeling in the gums. These foods are soothing and help in developing the habit of chewing in the child.
1. Spinach-Apple Mush: Mix a quarter cup of finely grated apple, with a handful of soft, boiled spinach and two tablespoons of baby rice cereal. Add a little bit of the spinach stock to cook them together.
2. Baby cereal cookies: Mix one cup of flour, with one cup of flavored baby cereal and gradually stir in, 3 tablespoons of oil. Mix about quarter cup of ice water and keep adding water, till the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the bowl. Roll out the dough on a smooth, floured surface. Cut the dough into the desired shapes and bake it on a cookie sheet, in a preheated oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Once the cookies are baked, cool them completely and store them in an airtight container.
3. Banana breadsticks: Combine the following ingredients - 1 mashed banana, quarter cup brown sugar, half a cup of oil, 2 eggs, 1¾ cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and half a teaspoon of baking soda. Stir the mixture until it is smooth and pour it into a greased loaf-pan. Bake it for about an hour, at 350 degrees, after which cool it and remove it from the pan. Cut it into sticks and bake them further for an hour, at 150 degrees F. At the end, the sticks should be crunchy and hard. You can even freeze them, to maximize their soothing effect on teething babies.
Submitted by P T on May 6, 2010 at 06:01
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