Teething

Well, we knew it was coming: Karston's first tooth poked through yesterday evening. Lately, he's been enjoying chewing on everyone else's fingers. He knows if he bites down on his finger, it hurts; so if he gets close to someone else's finger, well that's much better for chewing. Same great finger taste without the pain! Last night while we were trying to convince him to go to sleep (setting him down caused constant shrieks), he started to chew on Daddy's finger. Only this time, Daddy reported that it wasn't just toothless gum! We didn't get much sleep last night, either. I got about an hour in bed without baby, but the quietest times were when I snuggled up to Karston and let him nurse and doze. Hopefully we won't have too many nights like that ...

At the conference I attended in Boston, I heard a glowing recommendation for Hyland's Teething Tabs. We were a little nervous about the story where the teething baby slept for 36 hours straight after taking it, though. That sounds wonderful, but suspicious. After some research, I don't think I'll give any to Karston because belladonna, one of the ingredients, can be fatal, and sleep is one of the signs of overdose.

Karston hasn't napped well today, so teething may be incompatible with sleep. I'll miss my sleep too, but not enough to poison him.