Spirit Dance Publishing | Introduction Teething Guide

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Foreword

Contents

Introduction
(Preview)

any people are unaware that our children’s emotional and physical problems are often related to the teething process. Most equate “teething” with infancy, when it actually lasts through young adulthood. The teething process occurs in two phases. The first phase lasts from birth to 3 years – the period of time (weeks or months) preceding the eruption of a primary tooth, the process of it actually erupting and continues until the tooth finishes growing into position. This sequence of events repeats until all the primary teeth are in place. The second phase is from 5 years through adolescence – beginning with the movement of the unseen permanent teeth, continuing when a primary tooth becomes loose, losing the tooth, then cycling back to acquiring a whole new set of permanent teeth.

My main objective in writing this book was to help parents, doctors and school administrators have a better understanding of why our kids might be having trouble learning or concentrating (diagnosed as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD or attention deficit disorder, ADD), are continuously sick, experience bouts of anxiety and depression, or are acting irrational and out of control.

Before my daughter was born I never imagined that teething would become part of my everyday vocabulary. Danielle was born in the winter of 1985, and from that moment on, we were caught in a teething frenzy, although we didn’t know it at the time. Prior to that my only experience with children was babysitting as a teen and spending time with my two best friends’ children. Their kids never seemed to have problems when they were teething.

My family was different: From the moment Danielle was born, her fist never left her mouth. When I look at pictures of our “mommy and me” group, there was never a photograph where Danielle didn’t have her hand in her mouth. She was the wettest kid on the block, also known as the “drool queen.” If she wasn’t wearing a bib, her shirt was soaked from chin to waist. As a baby she would get blood blisters under the gum just before the eruption of a tooth, as well as most of the other symptoms described in this book.

As a first-time parent, I encountered many “firsts.” With the arrival of Danielle’s first tooth at 5 months came her first illness, which was addressed with antibiotic treatment. This was the beginning of what would become years of chronic health problems – croup, ear infections, enlarged tonsils, a suppressed immune system, nightmares, environmental stress, and food and chemical sensitivities, all compounded by repeated antibiotic use.

Danielle was also one of those statistics you are warned about when you vaccinate your child. She had a shock collapse syndrome at 18 months within three hours of being inoculated for diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus and polio, which is when I began to search for answers on how to rebuild her immune system. On my quest for better health, I was lead to information that was not readily available to the parentingmainstream. It quickly became evident to me that there were other families dealing with similar health problems, so in 1988, I started a newsletter, Mother to Mother: Another View, to help educate people about health and environmental issues and how they affect our children.

Over time, I began to recognize a synchronistic pattern to illness and behavior problems specific to certain age groups. I spent the next 15 years observing clients, friends and my daughter, researching the connection between teething, emotional behavior and physical symptoms.

Parents’ personal experiences and stories continue to confirm my theories about the relationship between the teething process and a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms – fevers, drooling, headaches, diarrhea, vomiting, diaper rash, nightmares, sleeplessness, hyperactivity, trouble concentrating, teeth grinding, irrational, irritable or rhythmic behavior, fatigue, fears, anxiety, croup, depression, ear and/or throat problems, sinus congestion, a runny nose or even a cough. Clearly in the weeks, and sometimes months, preceding the eruption of a tooth, many infants and children experience a weakening of the immune system. ...

to be continued ... in the book.