Last night, for the first time since I’ve known her, Beenie had a full on, big-assed howling fest related to her teeth. Mimi has exhibited pain and misery many times regarding her gums, but not Beenie. Hers just popped out one day and that was that. But you look at that poor thing now and there are multiple raised white globs on her reddish gums, looking like they will erupt any second. Ouch! I know from dental pain, and as a grown up, I turn to my own forms of self-medication, usually involving alcohol or an out of date, left over painkiller from the childbirth a year and a half ago. Not so with the girls. All they get is a small squirt of acetaminophen and a hope for the best.
My parents, and I’m sure many of their contemporaries and elders would rub a little bourbon or whiskey on teething gums for pain. I asked an RN friend of mine her thoughts on that approach to pain management, and she said from a purely scientific point of view, she did not see why a little bit of antiseptic alcohol on a fingertip, rubbed on a kid’s gums would do any harm. Don’t give out any shot glasses full of the stuff, but a smidgen rubbed on a gum wouldn’t be the end of the world. Save the shot glass for yourself.
I remember a bottle of Paregoric liquid in my parents medicine closet. I’m guessing this delightful tincture was used on my teething gums when I was young. Maybe it predisposed me to my love of cough medicine. I don’t imagine an opiate is so good for the little ones, tho.
20 Fingers, 20 Toes 