I really love my days with Athena. She smiles, she bounces, she babbles, she eats and naps like a champ.
She just leveled up to 5 months, and she's got the new large motor skills to go with it. Primarily rolling over and flailing. But she can hold her own bottle, she intentionally grabs things, and she is intensely interested in reaching for my laptop and cell phone.
She also just started teething hardcore. Drooling, gumming her lips, biting stuff, batting her ears, the whole bit. I figured I'd be one of those all-natural let's-just-suck-on-a-frozen-washcloth people, but on Day One of teething after two 20-minute naps and significant short-term damage to my eardrums due to Athena's screeching, I unhesitatingly injected the kid with liquid Tylenol. (She thought it was delicious.)
Afterward, I wondered why I was so quick to give in to the medication route. Was it because Athena's mom had set the Tylenol and syringe out on the counter next to her bottles and gave the go-ahead that morning, and I was adhering to her expectations and parenting style? Was it because I wanted to be able to hand off a well-rested, happy baby in the afternoon to her daddy? Was it because she's not my kid? Was it because I hadn't frozen any washcloths and didn't have an arsenal of homeopathic herbs at my disposal?
Will I do things differently or the same with my own kids someday?
I don't know. But I do know that she blessedly slept solidly for her afternoon nap.
High fives,
-MP
I've been through some rough teething times. (With other kids, that is. I can't speak for my own teething experience.) My feelings tend to be that natural is great where it works and is (relatively speaking) simple, but when the baby is clearly in that much pain, go to what you know will work. Just make it better.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the return of happy sleeping child is a nice bonus!