Little Summer, my adorable niece had a few problems in her early age with teething. She was always a baby to cry, I remember first seeing her in her being placed in my sister-in-laws arms, and screaming the place down. Of course, this level of crying was natural for a baby, we assumed that it would blow over in a few months. I first got the honour of babysitting my little treasure when she was 3 months old. I was warned by my sister in law that she had started the uncontrollable crying again. She put it down to this disorder called colic. Which is just a definition for uncontrollable crying with no known cause which affects 2 out of 10 babies. Therefore, my sister-in-law tried all the solutions she could for example: picking Summer up, walking around with her, bathing her, giving her sweets (I gave her a good telling off for that!). It was just useless, there was definitely something wrong with her.

My mother suggested that Summer may have been teething. The midwife suggested that it was too early for that, and didn't even consider it! Whilst staying in our house, nobody could sleep, nobody could go out, nobody could breathe around summer. It was very difficult and I was glad that I could get out the house at times. The midwife was still adamant that it was colic or excessive wind. She claimed that there was no way that it was teething and if it continued they would consider if she was lactose intolerant. My sister-in-law was very naive and believe the midwife, but my mother suggested the midwife was talking rubbish.

Anyway, Summer was 3 and a half months and I was allowed to baby-sit her. Not for one night, not for two nights, but for a weekend! My sister-in-law found it very hard to let go of summer, but after a family dispute about how her side of the family saw her more, I took Summer to my mother's house in order to give her three days alone with her. My friend, who as a young mum of 16, had a one year old son who she bought to our house that weekend. We explained to her Summer's situation, and very horribly and stereotypically assumed she would not know how to deal with it. She looked me in the eye and said "teething, it's teething I assure you". My mother was in her glory! As much as I love my friend, she is a bit of a lazy parent and leaves her mother to do all the upbringing. However, I was still intrigued that two people had suggested teething. My friend told us how her little boy Jay was teething at an early age, and three midwifes told her it is was not teething, and it took a bit of a tooth to pop out before they said yes, it's teething. Some midwifes even denied it after seeing the tooth. Apparently they didn't like giving out medication to children that young, but she went straight to the chemist who had a good chat with her and gave her it no problem. "If it was such a serious issue, said the Chemist, then we would refer you to a doctor before giving you it"

I then phoned up my sister-in-law at one point during one of Summer's wild screaming periods, and putting her ickle fingers in her mouth. I told her Claire's story and then she gave in and agreed to allow me to give her treatment. I went to the chemist, explained my situation and got Calgol. It was free for me, of course. However, it is roughly only £2.00 for 10g. Before giving it to little summer, I rubbed a bit on my own tooth to ensure the taste wasn't to overpowering for her. It takes a bit like your average Bonjella, although the taste isn't too overpowering. Also, it feels as if it creates a sort of barrier. The gel is pretty thick, and gets quite sticky.

How do you use it?
Well, the company suggest that you use a cotton wool bud. Myself, and the chemist thinks otherwise. Your child won't understand that this gel is supposed to help, so you don't want to give them a bad experience with using it in case they associate it with bad memories and don't want to use it again. You are supposed to use 1/3 of an inch which is approx (7.5 mm). Now, I would take most of this, put it on your pinkie finger, and gently rub it along the top and bottom gums. If your child let's you, give it a gently rub in instead of letting a large amount sit on the gum! With the tiny bit extra that you didn't place on the teeth, rub it on a the dummy (if your child takes one), although not too much to the front of the tit, and let the child suck at it. Do not exceed the stated dose, and it's very important when it comes to children and babies.

How did it work for our summer?
Like a treat! It took about 10-15 minutes for summer to settle down. I don't know if that's exactly how long it will take to activate, but it is how long it should take your child to stop crying anyway! I don't actually suggest you did what we did, that was a last minute solution to unstoppable hours of crying. Go to your doctor and get it seen to before diagnosing it yourself. However, in our case we didn't exactly get the best medical help.

Every parent will be worrying about using medication on a child so young. Well, Calgel can be used on a child from 3 months upwards. You can use it every 20 minutes but you can't use it more than 6 times a day!

All Calgel is, a local anaesthetic (Lidocaine) and also a mild antiseptic (Cetylpyridium Chloride) which kills bacterial infections which can irritate the skin.

I always keep Calgel in my cupboard for little Summer. However, her mother was given Bonjela and it doesn't have the same affect. Oh well, I guess her Auntie knows best! Hehe. Also this product is sugar free, so no worries for those newly-cut teeth.

PS. Summer cut the corner of her first tooth at 4 months! She know has a whole set!