When Should You Give A Baby Teething Toys?

Is your baby teething, and you have already observed the symptoms? Teething can be a rough experience for the baby and the mother, but with the right teething toys, the experience is made better. Baby teething toys help relieve the pain, massage the gums, and help break the gum for the teeth to come out. The best teething toys come in all fun shapes and sizes to meet the needs of your baby. You will come across teething toys shaped like bacon, piece of pizza, a ball, bananas, corn, and so much more. These toys sport all manners of shapes that are fun for your baby.

A good quality teething toy needs to be BPA-free, durable, safe to chew, and easy for your child to hold on to. Again, the toy needs to be free of hard edges. The baby’s toy should be cleaned before it is given to the baby. This article discusses the common types of baby teething toys.

When Should You Give Your Baby Teething Toys?

Teething symptoms can start as early as three months and last to 10 months and sometimes a year. The first tooth is seen at six months, but the signs of the teething start as early as four months. As such, you need to introduce teething toys at four months. When the first tooth comes out is based purely on the baby’s genes – some babies will start teething before or after the 4-6 months window.

Usually, your baby will develop the first two bottom teeth and proceed to develop the upper four teeth. By the time the baby is three, they need to have all baby teeth developed. If you do not know precisely when to give your baby teething toys, observe for teething symptoms. The baby will fuss a lot; they will drool, rubs their cheeks and ear region, they will refuse to feed, tend to move their hands to their mouths, and the baby will develop rashes around the mouth. Again, you can see that the gun turns red and swollen when teeth are about to come out.

Best Baby Teething Toys

The best teething toys are designed to massage the gum to alleviate any pain the baby might be feeling. Others are designed to cool the gum. Again, when the baby chews on a toy, especially hard toys such as wooden teether and silicone rings for babies, the pressure is added on the gums, breaking them fast for the teeth to come out. You can get more info on teething toys on NetParents. Below, we have discussed the kinds of toys that your baby needs.

Teething Rings for Babies

Teething rings for babies are so common in all baby shops. Most of them are designed in solid plastic, but some come filled with water. You can get the rings in different shapes, colors and sizes to meet the needs of your baby. With their subtle texture, the rings are ideal in soothing the tender gums of your babies. Some rings, especially the hard ones, add pressure to break the gums.

Teething Jewelry

Teething jewelry has not been in the market as long as silicone teether or other types of teethers discussed here. However, these teethers are game-changers helping babies soothe their gums. This jewelry ranges from bracelets, necklaces made of safe teething material that your baby finds easy to chew on. The baby or the mum can wear jewelry. The main advantage of teething jewelry is that it ensures the baby does not chew on their clothing when the toy is not around. Again, unlike other toys, the jewelry is always there for the chewing.

Staged Teethers

Instead of buying your baby one teething toy to last them throughout the teething period, you can buy them staged teethers. These are teething toys that come in packs of three or four. Each toy in the pack is designed for a specific teething period – you give your baby one toy and change as the teething period progresses. With these teethers, you do not have to struggle to choose the next plaything for the next stage as it is already selected for you.

Silicone Teether

A silicone teether, as the name suggests, is made of 100-percent silicone. Most of these are made of SoftFlex silicone, which soothes, cleans, and stimulates the gums of the baby. Again, silicone adds to the pressure that leads to the breaking of the gums for the teeth to come out. Unlike plastics, silicone is BPA-free making it safe for your baby. You can pick any color, shape, or size of the silicone teeth you like. Most are designed with multiple teething surfaces, including massaging bristles that make them ideal for all teething babies.

Wooden Teether

A wooden teether is not only safe for the baby since it has no BPA or chemicals, but it is also ideal if you need to help the teeth come out of the gums fast. Unlike other toys, a wooden teether is hard and adds pressure to the gums.

What to Look for in the Best Teething Toys

Easy to Grip

Irrespective of the shape of the teether, it needs to sport an ergonomic shape for ease of use. It might have a handle or rough surfaces that ensure it does not keep slipping off the baby’s small hands.

Quiet

Noisy baby teething toys are distracting to the baby and mother. For the baby to chew the toy for long enough to soothe the gums, it needs to be quiet.

Appropriate Size to Prevent Choking

Toys need to be large enough for the baby, so they do not swallow them. No part of the toy should be long and slender to choke the baby. Again the whole toy needs to be one-piece to prevent small pieces from coming off and choking the baby. If there are fixed parts, they should be firmly attached.

Conclusion

Choosing the best teething toys will make the teething experience much less tough for you and your baby. At all times, ensure the toys are clean and safe for your baby.