Teething is such an excruciating time for both baby and mommy. Obviously, your little bundle of joy is going through a lot of physical pain as a new tooth makes it’s way through the gums, causing excessive drooling, fussiness and even more diaper rashes! So it’s no surprise mommy is suffering watching her baby go through the process for months!
When our little boys were going through the teething process, we made tummy time a playful moment to alleviate baby’s pain with some fun sensory exploration.
Tummy time is an essential part of baby’s development that our pediatrician recommended we start as early as possible. It’s the best way to help baby work on neck control so they can learn to lift their heads those first few months. It also makes for one of the easiest ways to play with baby when your looking for some basic baby activities.
There are so many ways you can get creative and make tummy time fun for baby. When they are dealing with teething pains, it’s great to gather an array of teething toys with different textures and shapes. This makes it easier for baby to find something they like and also allows for a good amount of sensory exploration which is so important for development and growth.
My youngest son, loved chewable necklaces like this silicone one which had a variety of sizes. Here he is relieving a bit of pain below.
While we definitely went through our share of teething toys that my kids weren’t too fond of, it’s important to keep an open mind when playing with them. This is especially true if you are trying to relieve teething pains too — because what I found was that there are different stages throughout the teething process where some textures and shapes worked better than others — so don’t toss those teethers away just yet!
Anyhow, back to tummy time fun!
For a really simple baby activity during tummy time, simply lay out a few teethers in front of baby. Watch what he or she gravitates towards the most. Maybe they’ll just grab whatever’s closest at first, but keep note of what types of sounds, shapes, textures and material they seem to like more than others. This way you can start to find a favorite.
We like to expose baby to as many different texture and materials. Try a hard plastic, a soft silicone and crinkly cloth material.
Babies will love to hear all the different sounds each toy makes and of course how the toy feels in their mouth.
To mix things up, you can even play peek-a-boo with each toy and observe baby’s reaction. So many ways to have fun and just explore a new world with your child! The best part of course, is watching your baby’s face light up with all those smiles that are sure to follow!
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