Baby Teething Myths and Folklore
There is much myth and folklore surrounding baby teething. Some (thankfully) have now passed into antiquity and are no longer rememebered; some though, are still around today. Listed in no particular order are the big, the bad and the ugly of teething myths. I hope some will amuse, shock, sadden or amaze you.
Around 117 AD, another Greek, Soranus, recommended using hare's brain to soothe the pain of teething, a treatment that persisted until the 17th century. A fourth prescription reads, "If they are in pain, smear the gums with dog's milk or hare's brain, this works also if eaten." In the sixth century, Aetios of Amida suggested that, in addition to hare's brain, having the infant wear bracelets and amulets would ease teething pain.
Remedies that have been prescribed for teething through the ages have included blistering, bleeding, placing leeches on the gums, and applying cautery (burning or scalding) to the back of the head!
In 1842 the British Registrar General's office reported teething as the cause of death in 4.8% of infants under 1 year of age and 7.3% of children between 1 and 3 years of age. Records kept by pioneers in Utah between 1847 and 1881 attributed 521 deaths to teething. As late as 1910, the British Registrar General recorded that 1,600 children died of teething, and even between 1947 and 1979, "teething convulsions" was given as the cause of death for a small group of British children.
Letting a dog lick the baby was considered to be a cure for teething pain.
Another cure stated that "After the mother returns from church, she should breathe three times on the child."
And how about this cure: On the tenth day after birth, carry the baby around the outside of a house three times.
Christian tradition stated that donkeys originally had unmarked hides, and that it was only after Christ's entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey that they recieved the dark cross on their backs. It was also believed that a charm made from the hairs of the cross of the donkey, and worn as a charm guarded against teething pain - and mny other child ailments.
It was believed by some that early teething was associated with higher intelligence, whilst delayed teething sinalled later learning difficulties.
In some parts of the United States it was believed that rabbit brains, rubbed on the gums three or four times a day, were very helpful to teething babies. Some states added to this further and believed that the rabbit must be a graveyard rabbit, killed on the dark of the moon, at sunset Friday, by a cross-eyed negro with a crooked stick.
A German belief thought that when your child begins teething and you see his or her first tooth, immediately slap the child's face. It will make the teething go without pain.
There's an old wive's tale that states: "If your baby gets teeth before they are 6 months old then with in a year you'll be pregnant again."