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You are here: Home / Our Family Stories / Our Family Life / Toddler Teething Meltdowns and the Rest of Our Life I Don’t Talk About Here



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Toddler Teething Meltdowns and the Rest of Our Life I Don’t Talk About Here

Friday, January 30, 2009 (Updated: Monday, February 3, 2025)
8 Comments

Post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure statement.

I was thinking this evening about how much of our life I don’t blog about. There are so many things I would like to write about, questions I would like to ask, etc. but don’t feel the freedom to do so.

However.




Two year molar… What is the word for it? Oh, yes. H E Double Hockey Sticks.

Our first sustained, total meltdown in a public place yesterday. You know the kind. Arching back, barely hold onto the child, loud vocal inflections, on the floor type stuff. (Only Caroline. David and I held it together.)

Total meltdown tonight at bedtime not helped at all by the fact that instead of drinking the Motrin (which she usually takes without any problem) she accidentally dumped it all over her hair and neck. This did not help the situation in more ways than one.

Teething. is. my. least. favorite. part. of. parenting. without. a. single. solitary. doubt.

The worst part is that she has been working on these teeth for MONTHS. I read one discussion board where a woman said her daughter worked on her two year molars for NINE MONTHS. Can I have an amen?

I miss my sweet little girl.

Okay, I just had to get that off my chest.

Category: Our Family Life

About Sallie Borrink

Sallie Schaaf Borrink is a Christian, wife, mother, homeschooler, homebody, and autodidact. She owns a home-based graphic design and web design business with her husband (DavidandSallie.com).

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Comments

  1. Meredith

    Friday, January 30, 2009 at 10:53 pm

    I guess I just chalk those meltdowns down to a bad day or an ear infection (what it usually turns out to be in Elise’s case). Elise’s molars aren’t in yet but maybe I should check again : )

    What signs do you look for in order to tell?

    Reply
  2. Sallie @ a quiet simple life

    Friday, January 30, 2009 at 11:04 pm

    Hey Meredith! It’s the endless chewing and the almost frantic desire to have a binky almost all day. She chews and chews and chews on the binky. I threw another one out yesterday she had chewed a tear into. That and she also gets clingy which is totally not like her. She doesn’t have any other symptoms so she’s not sick.

    I was telling David that although I’m not glad I had to go through the herniated disc, it has given me a much greater understanding of how debilitating pain can be. Caroline has never teethed well (waking a lot at night, moaning, crying out, etc.) and knowing that the two year molars are even more painful… Well, her acting out of her pain doesn’t surprise me. She doesn’t have the ability to cope with the pain and just acts on it. My experiences with extreme pain have made me a lot more able to deal with hers objectively because I can more readily sympathize with her and what she is going through.

    But I still think teething is the pits, objectivity or not.

    Reply
  3. Linds

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 6:07 am

    Have you tried the gel you can rub on her gum to reduce the pain? I have no idea what it is called now, but we all swore by that stuff when mine were tiny. It was T-gel in those days. For babies teething.

    And just to re-assure you, they do come through in the end, and the memory (for you) fades fast!

    Reply
  4. BethM

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 7:35 am

    Teething was indeed a bad time for my kiddoes. However, nothing compares to the misery of putting up with a major meltdown of your teenager’s. Especially when they are all physically bigger than you. LOL

    I think each phase of my children’s lives, the good stuff and the bad stuff, has prepared me to put up with what’s coming in the next phase. As I look back now (kids are 24, 22, 20 and almost 18), my absolute favorite time with them was their elementary years. You’ll see. Right now I enjoy holding adult conversations with my children, who are except for 1, adults. Parenting is interesting. And totally worth it.

    Reply
  5. Amie

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 8:35 am

    (((HUGS))) no fun, that first public meltdown is always a shocker. I am pleased ??? to say that my youngest has also hit that lovely developmental stage of learning to express his displeasure/pain by throwing himself on the ground. It is great. Really though, have you checked out Hylands teathing tablets, they usually have them at Target/Walmart/Walgreens, easier to give than liquid meds and homopathic. Good Luck, this too shall pass.

    Reply
  6. Sallie @ a quiet simple life

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 8:45 am

    Hey Ladies! We did use Baby Orajel once in a while when she was an infant, but I don’t think we could possibly get our finger in there now to do it. She is completely resistant to anyone putting their hands in her mouth and it is one battle I just choose not to fight. We also tried the Hylands teething tablets and they didn’t seem to do anything. Normally she is fine with taking the liquid Tylenol or Motrin. Last night was just an unfortunate accident and then she was so distraught about spilling it on herself that she wouldn’t even try another dose.

    Amie, she has had two (?) meltdowns at home over the past several months so thankfully we had already dealt with a couple before. Thankfully they are very rare.

    Reply
  7. Kim

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 9:54 am

    Sallie, since she is so anxious to chew, how about the chewable Tylenol or Motrin? If not those there is a meltaway kind that dissolves fast. You both have my sympathies. I’ve known pain and I’ve been through those irritating teething bouts (it’s been awhile, though!). God bless you guys!

    Reply
  8. Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks&Me

    Saturday, January 31, 2009 at 2:41 pm

    This reminds me of when my sweet granddaughter, Faith, turned two. Stephanie told me that “Faith has suddenly embraced her two-ness”.

    I know it is easy to say “this too shall pass” but I also found teething very difficult. Christopher was never a good sleeper as a preschooler and teething only added to the problem… and my sleep deprivation.

    Honestly, I don’t remember much of his baby and toddler years. I think I was sleep walking.

    Reply

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Sallie Schaaf Borrink

For 20+ years, I’ve been writing about following Jesus Christ and making choices based on what is true, beautiful, and eternal. Through purposeful living, self-employment, and homeschooling, our family has learned that freedom comes from a commitment to thoughtfully examine all of life and think for yourself. 

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