Baby Teething Foods To Soothe Your Baby

It’s official. Your baby is teething. But do you need any special baby teething food?

Actually, yes. Some babies don’t have much of an appetite when they are teething, so you have that to contend with. However, there are certain baby teething foods that actually help your teething baby.

When babies are teething, their gums are inflamed and swollen. What helps to ease that inflammation is COLD and PRESSURE. So the perfect solution is to offer cold, hard foods to help numb your baby’s gums and reduce the inflammation.

**PLEASE NOTE**  Always supervise your baby when he/she eats! Even the best baby teething foods will break when your baby gnaws at it for long enough.

According to the American Dental Association, you can expect your baby’s first teeth to erupt anywhere between 6 months and 1 year. Having said that, some babies may get their first tooth as early as 3 months. If your baby is an early teether, do make sure your baby is ready to eat solid foods. Check with your pediatrician, but here are a few developmental milestones to check if your baby is ready:

Developmental Milestones

Your baby:

• Should have doubled his/her weight by the time they start to eat baby teething food;
• Must be able to control his/her neck and head;
• Should be able to sit up with help;
• Should show you when he/she is full by refusing to eat;
• Should show interest in food when the rest of the family is eating.

What To Feed A Teething Baby Who Doesn’t Want To Eat?

Chilled, Hard Vegetables

Chilled carrots, cucumbers, celery sticks, and other hard veggies are great for teething. 

When you serve your baby, do stay close because as he/she gnaws at the vegetables, there is a good chance that the food will eventually break off and form a choking hazard. Stay close and remove the pieces.

Frozen Fruits, Purees & Momsicles

Offer frozen fruits and vegetables in a baby food feeder. You can add all kinds of small or cut-up fruits and vegetables like bananas, kiwi, peaches, strawberries, mango, watermelon, blueberries, etc.

Offer homemade (or store-bought) fruit and vegetable purees in frozen pop trays.

Offer momsicles. Momsicles are frozen breastmilk. It’s super easy to make.

• You can make a breastmilk popsicle by using baby popsicle molds (as seen above.)
• You can make a momsicle by freezing your breastmilk in an ice cube tray. Then, place the ice cube in a baby food feeder and offer it to your baby. If you don’t have access to a baby food feeder, you can also tie your frozen breastmilk into a clean baby sock, a muslin blanket or a washcloth.
• Pour your breast milk into the cap of a pacifier (or a 1-2 ounce cap), freeze it for 3-4 hours, and you have yourself a momsicle.

  

Teething Biscuits

Teething biscuits are perfect for teething babies. They love it because it’s delicious, and it’s also nice and hard to chew on, thereby adding pressure to the irritated gums.

But if you aren’t too handy in the kitchen, two popular teething biscuit brands to try are Gerber’s Arrowroot Teething Biscuits and the Happy Baby Teething Wafers.

Another great option is Ginger Snaps! They’re not technically described as teething biscuits but they fit into the category because they are hard. The ginger is also great in helping ease the inflammation in your baby’s gums. Ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory that soothes the nerve endings in the gums.

Dried Fruit

Dried fruit is chewy, which makes it a great option for teething babies. In fact, many parents swear by it. It helps with the pain and it’s also delicious. Use dried fruit like apples.

Chilled Applesauce, Yogurt…

Teething is not exactly the happiest time for you or your baby, but it is manageable with simple tips like these.