Teething can be frustrating, for the baby that is. As milk teeth start the process of breaking through the gums, babies feel the need to constantly chew to relieve the pain and irritation. There are obviously numerous teething toys and even some food items that can be used to help relieve the pain, but we need to be careful what we put into our baby’s mouth.
As soon as we become parents our paranoia increases: is the food we give him organic, are the fruits fresh, and are the toys lead free. And since toys at this stage are constantly in their mouth you need to make sure that they are BPA free. The lead in toys controversy is still fresh and so I try to make sure what we purchase is also not ‘Made in China’.
An excellent teething toy is Sophie the Giraffe, which is produced in France and is made from natural rubber and painted with food grade materials. I picked mine from Mommories in Bangkok, since my baby was delivered there. As far as I know it is not available in India, but it can be ordered via Amazon HERE.
We first introduced it to him at four mouths and since his movements were still not completely fluid he would just continue to chew on one part. After a month or so, he was moving the giraffe around as per his needs, and it is the one thing that is ever-present in his diaper bag.
Price wise it is on the higher end compared to other teething toys available at baby stores such as Mom & Me. I paid 990 THB for it when I picked it in July, which is around Rs. 2000.
Another teething toy that we use is the teething toy from NUK, which was purchased from Mom & Me for around Rs. 400. The main reason we purchased it was because it was ‘Made in Germany’. The color is not too bright, and since it is circular it does not reach the back on the mouth.
Cloth toys are excellent chewing options as well, as they can be easily washed. My baby loves his Naraya elephant and Jim Thompson lion. These were never bought with that intention in mind, but since they are washed every other day they are perfectly clean and safe.
As a first time parent, I think that we did good purchasing Sophie the Giraffe, it so far is the best teething toy that I have come across. Every parent should have at least one go-to toy that will be ideal when going out or traveling, and this is it.
Babies will put anything and everything in their mouth, it is our job to make sure that what goes in is ultimately not harmful to them.
*Written by Pallavi Dhir
Manasi
Nice post dear 🙂
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