TEETHING IN CHILDREN PART TWO

Hello my folks. How una dey? How ya side? Se o n bubble. I am good too. Thanks so much for your responses. 

INTRODUCTION

Last time, I wrote about the errors some moms make when their children are cutting their teeth. It is only fair that I write about what to really expect during teething phase in children. A lot of "experienced" mothers, or grandmothers will disagree with me but it doesn't make them right and that is why I will explain this inevitable phase in children.

Teething is a natural phase. It occurs averagely between age six (6) months to one (1) year? It could be earlier or later. Tooth is a body appendage just like nails and hair. I have never seen one person who complained of headache while growing hair or someone vomiting while nails are growing! Or have you guys seen one?

If my hair and nails example is too far fetched, can you cast your mind back to when you changed teeth from milk teeth to permanent teeth, was your body hot? Were you vomiting or passing watery stool? Were you coughing? I am very sure your answers would be No. It's. Almost the same in babies when cutting teeth.

SYMPTOMS OF TEETHING 

There are however some symptoms associated with teething which are as follows:

      - excessive salivation

      - redness of the gum

      - hotness of the gum

      - swelling of the gum

      - refusal of foods

      - putting things in the mouth or biting

Few babies have low grade fever.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TEETHING

There are however some symptoms which some mothers associate with teething. These are fever, vomiting, diarrhoea etc. These are due to two (2) reasons:

   1. The immunity that the child got from the mother is waning off at this time which is around age six months. The baby, when exposed to germs or mosquitoes at this point in time come down with illness. This is not a bad thing as it helps build the baby's immune system. It is only bad when it is not managed well.

  2.  The baby at this stage is at the oral stage of development and so puts anything and everything into his mouth which literally means he is eating germs. This makes him sick.

If your child has fever, diarrhoea and /or vomiting, start Oral Rehydration Salts immediately, tepid sponge and run to the hospital. Don't wait till the child is limp. We have lost many children due to such negligence. It is not a teething problem, it is an infection and it can kill.

MANAGEMENT OF TEETHING SYMPTOMS 

If your child has the teething symptoms above, get a teether, wash it, place it in the fridge for it to cool and then give your baby to chew on it, so that it can cool the gum and reduce the swelling. You can see a dentist or a doctor if need be. Other things you can do is to make your house and your baby's hands to be as clean as possible so that he has a lesser chance of eating dirt/ germs.

I stand on my feet to say you don't need teething powder or gripe water or whatever you are thinking of right now. Teething, I repeat is a natural thing.

Lest I forget, for the 'Bonababe' users, do not combine it with paracetamol. Many mothers do. Bonababe already contains paracetamol. So choose between the two if you must give an analgesic.

I will sign out now. Next time I will talk about care of our baby's teeth. I will also talk about some superstitious beliefs on teething.

Thanks and bye for now.

TEETHING IN CHILDREN

For a long while now, I have been thinking of writing about TEETHING. I did not, because I thought it was not of public health importance. Well, I changed my mind. The reason being that the things I have heard and seen in the last few weeks on teething is enough to make one cringe.

Here in Nigeria, so many symptoms are associated with teething. It's so bad that even the so called "educated" people believe all the old wives' tales that our mothers told us. Many families have lost their babies due to such beliefs. Some of our health workers too do not help matters. They propagate the old wives' ideas and many people are quick to believe them.

Below are some typical examples.

Story 1

A six month old baby, who was already sitting without support and was trying to crawl suddenly started to vomit. The child could not keep anything down as he vomited immediately after eating. Not long after, the baby started to pass foul smelling watery stool. It was terrible. The mother was disturbed. What could she do. This child had never been ill. This child was exclusively breastfed for six months. Haha, she just weaned him a week ago. As if that was not enough, she noticed he had started running fever. If only she knew what to do. Just then an elderly neighbour passing by, saw how distraught she was and asked her what the matter was. She then narrated the history of the illness to the mama. Mama was furious, "How could you not know what to do. It's Teeth that is worrying this child o. You have to give him Agbo jedi. Infact I have one at home. As a mother, you need to have these things in your house." Mama rushed home and brought back the concoction which she administered to the child expertly.

I am sure my doctor friends already know where the above story would end because it is what they experience every now and then.

Story 2

Margaret's baby was cute. She had a wide smile. She was very pretty and all the lovely baby gowns fitted her perfectly. In fact, no be small thing. At a little over five months, her pearly whites came out. The two teeth made her smile more beautiful. You would want to identify yourself with her, no doubt. At age six months, she was weaned into the family diet. Thereafter, as a caring mom, Margaret noticed that her teeth were not as white as before. Not only that, her tongue was thickly coated. She didn't like it one bit. She decided to ask her friend Biola, who already had three children what she should do.

She dressed up the next day and visited her friend. After exchanging pleasantries, she "consulted" Biola on the main purpose of her visit. "Hehehe, Maggi, you need to be sharp o. There are many methods of cleaning babies' teeth. You may use Your own Maclean for the teeth and potash to scrub the tongue. Another option is to use salt for the teeth and alum for the tongue". #lobatan. Margaret chose the second option as alum was better than potash in cleaning things, or so she thought.

Biola then, being an experienced mother for that matter insisted she helped her to clean the mouth while Maggi watched.

Pictures from Google.

I will be back shortly to discuss the care of the Teeth in children. Ciao.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

It's going to be a great year. I can feel it already. I wish each and everyone of you a happy new year. How was Christmas. We don spend money well well abi. Hehehehe. Well, it's a good thing. At least we had money to spend and we were happy spending it on friends and family. Don't worry, you will soon replenish your reserves. 

 

It's been awhile that I wrote and my close friends ( thanks to you all) have been encouraging me to write again. Not that I don't want to, but I have been distracted by certain things lately. Apologies. Ko le daa na ni. E go better.

As a public health physician, social and preventive health is what I stand for. I prefer to prevent disease than to be curing it. One can only cure one person at a time, but you can prevent disease in so many more by attitudinal change, lifestyle modifications, etc.

Today, I'm just on my page to say hi to you. Hopefully we will have more to discuss this year. Before I sign out, I just want to know what the heck is wrong with guys when making love to their wives. I have written about sexual health and family life before and it's like I keep hearing from women how impatient their husbands are in bed. 

Men, you must know that you are different from women. Most women have to use lubricants before having sex which basically tells me only one thing. The woman is not ready for the act. She's just doing it for you to get it over and done with. This should not be so. This is the era of CHANGE. Lets have a change of character oooo.

Wishing you blessed year. Thanks and God bless.