My toddler is teething; her eighth or ninth tooth is cutting through her gums. I threw away her plastic teethers so she wouldn’t eat any bad chemicals. Here are better alternatives:
Slice washed grapes in half and line the bottom of a bowl or plate with the grapes, spaced so they are not touching or barely touching. Put them in the freezer and take them out for the toddler when she wakes up in the morning or after a nap, or comes in from the heat. You can also do this with kiwi or small apple slices.
Keep a sippy cup at least half full of water, and add ice cubes when it is humid and hot. Most of the time, room temperature water is best. Water should not pose problems for teeth during sleep, especially if you and your toddler brush teeth before going to bed.
Refrigerated string cheese works well, too. I buy Sargento light mozzarella string cheese because it has 8 grams of protein in each stick. This can be good when the toddler’s teeth are hurting from eating crunchy food.
Do not feed your toddler cow’s milk or soy milk. Cow’s milk is highly allergenic and it aggravates mucus and is meant for cows, and soy milk has too much estrogen, among other things. We drink almond drink and water and I recommend Pacific Natural Foods in cereal and macaroni and cheese and when baking – not as an infant formula, but with other things and maybe, occasionally, as a treat in a sippy cup – always refrigerated, of course. You don’t have to put it in the fridge when you come home from the store but you should put it in the fridge when you finish a quart so when you go to use more, the new quart will be refrigerated.
Please add healthy, nourishing teething suggestions as comments.