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Down in the mouth

30/ 4/2008

WE knew something was amiss when Katie started sucking at her gums and dribbling down her Babygro, whimpering like a poorly puppy which really doesn't know what to do with itself.

Then she got a temperature and became incredibly lethargic.

Closer inspection revealed a little white spot at the front of her mouth. We're now pretty certain that she's cutting her first tooth, so it's no wonder that she's been a little cranky of late.

It's hard to imagine the pain of pushing a tooth all the way through unbroken skin.

It seems a little cruel that such young kids should have to suffer that ordeal so soon after being born.

But we are sharing her pain, I can tell you.

Having a poorly six-and-a-bit month-old in the house plays havoc with bedtime.

We only recently celebrated the fact that Katie had started to sleep through the night in her own cot and now we're faced with the fact that she absolutely refuses to sleep anywhere but in between us in bed.

There's probably all sorts of government information about that - and about given painkilling medicines to babies - and I'm guessing that it was produced by people who have never had children of their own.

We don't sleep particularly soundly as it is, well not since Katie's elder sister was born almost seven years ago, when our sleeping pattern started to make as much sense as a knitting pattern.

But the thing that you need to know about sleeping with a baby in the bed is that it means not moving a muscle all night long. Mummy has been walking around with a stiff neck for weeks now; and mine is now starting to hurt, too.

Forget toothache, cutting those first pegs can also be a real pain in the neck!

Simon Donohue