Ugh, Little Bug is 21 months and those pesky two-year molars are rearing their heads. My household has been thrust into a frenzy with his constant crankiness and whining. I feel like a zombie, and my sleeping has gone from ok to horrible. When the crankiness first started about a month ago, I thought maybe Little Bug was coming down with another cold, but the drooling, the flushed cheeks, and the hands constantly in his mouth led me to believe that his molars were trying to come in. And since then, they have not appeared, but I can tell that this is the issue. I have found a few things that make the situation a little easier.

1) Tylenol. I am not usually one to run to the medicine cabinet, but man does a dose of Tylenol help him some evenings. Most of the time, I just wait it out but there have been two nights now where Little Bug has woken up screaming after only an hour or so of sleep and nothing will calm him down. On those two nights, I gave him a dose of Tylenol and it really helped him calm down and get back to sleep.

2) Popsicles. Little Bug only has a few words at this point, but he does know how to say popsicle, and he requests them often. I’ve been using them after dinner for a couple of weeks and it seems to give him some relief for an hour or so. I make the popsicles with fruit juice and frozen fruit, so he gets a nice serving of fruit too.

3) Drool Rags. I grew up with St Bernards as a kid, and we always kept towels around for the excessive drool that they produced. I am now using this technique with Little Bug, carrying a towel around with us everywhere to mop up the river of drool that is constantly coming out of his mouth. I try to stay on top of this because in the past, he ended up with a rash on his chin from all the drool.

4) Sensory Chews. This was a discovery Mr. Cereal made a month or so ago and it has been a real lifesaver. For kids with sensory issues, there are products on the market that they can use for chewing or sucking to help alleviate some of their anxiety. In our case, Mr. Cereal was interested in using them to help LeLe quit the pacifier (she doesn’t really use it for sucking, but for chewing on). We got this pack on Amazon, and Little Bug has been using his pretty constantly on his gums. It’s nice because I can easily clean them, they are not so small that they get lost, and it really seems to be helping his gums.

ADVERTISEMENT

5) Gum massage. I am sort of grossed out by teeth and mouths, so this one is kind of hard for me, but it seems to help if I rub on Little Bug’s gums every day. I try to use ice with this, so I get a small piece of ice, run that first on his gums, and then I spend a minute or two on each of the gums just rubbing them down. He actually sits pretty still for this, so that’s a plus. One thing to remember here is to make sure your hands are super clean because you don’t want to introduce any germs.

6) Straw cups and bubbly water. I swear by this right now. I have these awesome stainless steel straws that Mr. Cereal got me for Christmas, and the kids use them a lot. But in this case, I’ve been using them with a cup of iced sparkling water. The bubbles seem to help him, plus he thinks he is getting a treat. The stainless steel straw makes the liquid super cold, so when it actually hits his gums, I’m hoping it is soothing.

7) Toothbrush. Ok, so this is sort of weird, but we have a little electric toothbrush, and after he is done brushing his teeth every night, I use the brush to kind of massage his gums. I’ve convinced LeLe that brushing your gums after you are done with your teeth is part of the deal, so Little Bug just thinks he is doing what big sister is doing. I’m not sure how much it is helping, but he lets me do it, so I am guessing that he likes the way it feels.

8) Wine. In all seriousness, I am the lightest drinker ever. I enjoy a beer on occasion, but having some way to relax for myself has been essential. I’ve been trying to find ways to decompress, so my go-to’s right now are to go on a walk with the dog, watch a documentary on Netflix, or sit and have a glass of wine and try to zone out. All three of these activities require Mr. Cereal to take over for a while but I really feel myself needing this time lately.

.  .  .  .  .

I know everyone eventually has to go through the dreaded two year molar time, and I can definitely commiserate with you. For lack of a better term, this just sucks right now. I am exhausted, Little Bug is exhausted. Please someone send me chocolate and wine!