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Alright ladies, I need some help! My 5 month old has started teething and nothing, an I do mean nothing will satisfy her. She just wants to be held nonstop and thats just not always doable. I need some advice and encouraging words. Thanks so much!

Ok well I already told you about teething tablets, but you can also try a COLD wet washcloth (you can even stick it in the freezer), some might say baby oragel but I have heard horror stories so I don't recommend that... Those are what helped us

Yeah, our doctor advised against orajel. I will have to get some of those tablets tomorrow. Thanks again

We are also on the verge of teething at 5 1/2 months. I have tried the cold washcloth in the freezer and LO seems to like that.

Ashley, I feel your pain. I remember when Jack went through it. We used the Humphrey's teething tablets sometimes. And I put his teethers in the freezer. I did the washcloth trick too.
My pedi at the time advised against the orajel as well.
Some ladies have used a mesh bag that you can put frozen stuff in...I think there's a thread in here about it...can someone else help me with the description?
Hope some of these things bring relief to your LO!

When my LO started teething, he did the same thing. Nothing would satisfy him. I asked around for some ideas, and the one that worked the best was the cold wash cloth. We have also used popsicles and ice. If you use either one of those get one of those fresh food feeders. They are both messy. Something else we did was give him a bottle with cold juice in it, and that worked to

Luckily mine have never really been bad about teething (THANK GOODNESS) - but a couple of things that I have heard about sounded really good to me.
My SIL used frozen bagels or pretzels. She would put my neice in her highchair and let her gum one of those for a while. She loved them! I've even heard of peole using frozen waffles.
A girlfriend of mine also used ziploc baggies full of frozen peas. She would get the sandwich sized heavy duty freezer bags so they wouldn't tear and put some peas in them and throw them in the freezer. Her LO like rolling the peas around on his gums.
Either one of these obviously needs to be done with supervision - but they may work for you!

I made some teething biscuits I found a recipe for on wholesomebabyfood.com and froze them. It seems to help Will a little bit.

If it gets really bad and Will is having a lot of trouble sleeping I give him Tylenol occasionally. I'd only do that if it is real bad, definitely not everyday or anything.

whats wrong w/ orajel? i give that to my son. he's getting in his top 2 teeth right now and our pediatrician told us to use it when needed. I've never heard of it being bad. i've heard of taking a penny and sliding it on a string and putting it around thier neck and something about the copper against thier skin is supposed to keep them from being bothered by teething

Our ped said that orajel is OK to use as needed as well. I did read somewhere that if you use too much orajel that it can numb the baby's gag reflex and that could cause them to choke on their own slobber. Maybe that is why some peds do not recommend orajel... I don't know. I don't think it should be a problem if used occasionally in small amounts. I have some and I tried it with Will a couple of times and it didn't seem to work on him.

I've never heard the penny thing. It sounds like an old wives tale to me, but maybe there is something to it. I'd be very careful about putting a string around a baby's neck, though.... strangulation hazard.

Thanks everyone for the advice, luckily today went well. However, I found out I have mono (which is going around apparently). I feel awful, my LO is with her Grandparents and I am struggling here. I will definitely be trying out some of your ideas and seeing what will work the best. Thanks again!

Our pedi also advised against using orajel. He explained why but I don't remember everything he said. I belive he said it can actually make them more irritable. He advised even using tylenol before the baby orajel.

Ashley, I'm sorry your sick and hope you get to feeling better soon!

Thanks Mama2Princesa, I took her to the pediatrician again today and once again he said NO ORAJEL. Being as sick as I am I completely didn't think to ask why I was just glad she doesn't have what I have. Apparently I am the germ in the house b/c my DH and DD don't have it (thankfully). Anyway, thanks for the feeling better wishes. I hope tomorrow is better for both of us.

Oh no! I'm sorry you have mono. Take good care of yourself. That's great that the grandparents can care for your LO while you recover a bit.
I had mono in high school and it was no fun at all.
As for the orajel, I think I remember my pediatrician saying it can actually numb their gag reflex and therefore cause a choking hazard. Does that sound right to anyone?

I just googled it and saw what Kristi says, that if it gets in the throat it will numb the throat and can cause a choking hazard. I found this also, very scary.
http://www.lilsugar.com/1794623
And beyond that, if you google it, most people say it doesn't work anyway.