If you have a baby at home you must have noticed that right in the first months he or she starts to take everything in front of them into their mouth, including hands and feet. Welcome to the child’s oral phase, which is exactly during the first two years of life and also coincides with the birth of the first teeth. And it is exactly in this period that a simple object begins to have fundamental importance for your child’s oral health: the teething toy.
In this period, all the child’s touch seems to be in the mouth. This brings them into contact with the world by putting everything in their mouths, so it is important to be careful about the hygiene of what is offered to children at this stage.
It is also during this phase (more specifically from six months onwards) that the first teeth start to appear in the baby’s gums, which can cause itching, a little irritation, and even pain. By the way, this is another reason for children to want to put objects in their mouth: the attempt to scratch or relieve these unpleasant symptoms. And that’s where teethers come in.
When caring for babies and toddlers, don’t underestimate the importance of teething and dental health. In fact, caring for baby teeth is just as important as caring for adult teeth. Baby teeth prepare the way for adult teeth to erupt through the gums.
The teething toy relieves discomfort in the gums, helps with hygiene, and ensures safety
Caring for babies’ oral development is fundamental during their first two years of life when their first teeth are born. It is a period marked by discomfort and pain in the gums of the little ones, who begin to want to bite everything that is within their reach. In these cases, the ideal is that mums and dads opt for the use of teethers to help babies get through this phase more easily and with less risk.
Recommended by pediatric dentists, teethers are items especially created to soothe the itching, clean and stimulate the biting movement, besides ensuring the baby’s safety, as they prevent them from putting unsanitized objects in their mouth and swallowing or choking on smaller items.
The teethers were created exactly to alleviate this discomfort and also to help gum hygiene and the muscular development of the mouth. They also help in the development of the tongue, chewing and facial muscles. The most suitable are those with water inside, which stay cold and do their job better. Another use of teethers for babies is to encourage the discovery of new textures, which facilitates the introduction of food
Teething toys can help relieve the symptoms of rashes. Plus, it’s an object designed to be taken into the mouth, so it’s better than other possible toys that could be dangerous.
Made of plastic, silicone, fabric, or vinyl, baby teethers can be found in various shapes such as animals, children’s cartoon characters, geometric figures, and body parts, besides being useful for oral health, they also work as toys and a good distraction for the baby.
Helps with hygiene
Some models go further and even help in the hygiene of the baby’s mouth. There are some models on the market that associate bristles to also help with cleaning. But, in practice, the idea is that from the first tooth, parents buy a toothbrush for babies and start brushing with it.
Ideal model
There is no ideal model for a child. Each child will adapt better to the one they feel more affinity with. It depends on their personality. Choose a baby teether that matches the size of the child’s mouth. If he is bigger, they may be unpleasant. To avoid problems with these objects, it is important to be picky when buying one for your baby. The ideal is that they are made with specific materials, free of BPA (the toxic substance found in plastic), hygienic, and without connected parts so that they cannot come loose in the baby’s mouth.
There are also models that have a gel inside and should be placed in the refrigerator because low temperatures provide greater relief to gum irritation caused by the pressure of the teeth. However, these are only suitable for babies who have no teeth in their mouths. It is good to avoid them in this case because the erupted tooth could end up perforating the material. And with the gel inside it is toxic.
