Question

Okay, I've got to ask the experienced parents this question. It's just this: people told me, probably just trying to save me from plunging into despair in the very beginning, that things get easier with a baby at 3 months. But this is not what has happened. Is that bizarre, or has it been anyone else's experience? I would say, thus far, that things were easiest at maybe 2.5 months, up until even maybe the end of the third month or a little past then. But for the last 3 weeks or so, it has been really, really, really hard. A lot harder than before. Daisy will be 4 months tomorrow, and I think in some ways it's been the hardest month, largely because of this teething business. She drools; she chomps her fist and moans. MOANS. She actually moans a large part of every day. While she's moaning, she's drooling and shoving her hands in her mouth and writhing. Sometimes she gets so worked up she can only be soothed by one of us walking with her in the sling till she finally gets exhausted and falls asleep. It's terribly painful to watch. There have been many days when I spent the WHOLE day simply trying to distract her from her gum pain. And nothing I've tried seems to work: teething rings, wet washcloths, homeopathic remedies, Baby Tylenol, even Baby Orajel. Or they'll work but only very, very briefly, and then back to the same.

So I am wondering if this has been anyone else's experience. Did anyone else think things were actually *harder* at this point, or am I pretty much alone in this? And, er, when did it get better? Because it's been about 3 weeks of fussing, and it's so tiring and draining and frustrating. Before the gum stuff started, she was a tranquil, happy baby, too. I am so sad for her. What next??