I know every child is different in terms of how they handle teething, or really, how they handle any situation, but man, teething sucks!

My little man just finally had his first tooth break through, and it took a while. I felt like I always heard friends say that one day their baby’s gums were red, and the very next morning they had a tooth fully popped through. Well that? That was definitely not our case. Bray started drooling and shoving his fist in his mouth as early as four months, then had swollen gums for a week or two, then had the slit in his gums for about a week, thenyou could finally feel the tooth. It took another full week and a half for the tooth to really be visible. So what’s that, a month? Not exactly the overnight magic like I had heard of!

Since our process was drawn out, I really have had time to learn some things to help make the pain of teething a little more easy for our sweet babe. Here are my top 5 life-savers (no sponsored stuff in here – just my mom-to-mom recs):

Baltic Amber Teething Necklace:

No, I am not a fan of my son wearing a necklace all the time…but I am a HUGE fan of what it does for him. This is not a necklace for them to chew on, which many people think is the purpose. The amber beads {get unpolished over polished} naturally release succinic acid, which helps with inflammation, controlling drooling, and helps heal the wound. It is all natural and has been around forever. For more info on that, read here. During the day I keep it around Brays neck {and he has never noticed it being there} and at night I wrap it around his ankle, which is in his footie jammies.

Sophie the Giraffe:

This is our favorite teething toy ever. He chews on all parts of it, and the squeaking entertains him…and our dogs! It’s also super is to clean, which is always nice for toys that go in the mouth.

Habba Wooden Toys and Munchkin Ice Ring:

These two teething toys are our next best options. The wooden toys is great for his gums, and the way the wood slides and clinks together, he loves banging it around! The ice ring is fabulous to cool and numb the gums, whether its taken out of the freezer or refrigerator.

Hylands Teething Tablets:

These tablets are completely natural, and completely awesome. If Bray is being extra fussy and I can tell a tooth is about to break through I pop a few of these in his mouth {they melt under his tongue} and usually within minutes he is back to his chipper self. Love them!

CVS Infant Tylenol:

When all else fails, Tylenol. We tried the Little Fevers brand first since it is dye-free, but Bray would literally spit it out. Then we tried the CVS brand, and he eats the stuff like its the best tasting thing he has ever had! We’ve only had to use this a few nights before bed time, but it sure did the trick!