Learning to grab is such an exciting milestone. It happens around 3 or 4 months. Before that, newborn hands fly and whack with no control. I remember with Henry I happened to capture on video the moment he starting learning to work his hands. He was sitting in his car seat and started staring at them, slowly moving them right in front of his eyes like he had just figured it all out, “wow, I can control these things?!?”. It starts kind of slowly-you think they just accidentally hit that toy, pretty sure it was a coincidence- and then it becomes much more deliberate over time. Now Edie can lunge, grab, and shove an item in her mouth in the split second when you turn around to answer your phone.

Now everything goes immediately into her mouth. It’s not only how they interact withand explore the world (by trying to eat it all) but I think the onset of teething is timed perfectly to when they can start grabbing and chewing and learning to soothe their sore teething gums on their own. Edie doesn’t have teeth yet but she is gnawing on toys like crazy as her gums prepare for teeth to pop up. I’m so excited to see those two little teeth pop up, it’s so cute! We’ve loved using teething toys and have tried to incorporate more natural, organic teething products and remedies into our routine as part of the Made to Matter, Handpicked by Target™ challenge.

From teething gel to teething wafers and teething toys to chew on, here are some favorites from Made to Matter, Handpicked by Target™ we’re trying out on those poor baby gums…

Photography by Liz Stanley

This post is sponsored by Target. The Made To Matter line has been handpicked by Target to bring you brands that make things better for your you, your family, and the place we all call home.

1. Hyland’s teething gel (tried it out just last week and it seemed to help!)
2. Teething elephant (in the photos, so cute!)
3. Burt’s Bees multipurpose ointment (for irritated faces from all the drool- just used it last week!)
4. Hyland’s teething tablets
5. Burt’s Bees baby bubble bath (to sooth baby and it smells amazing)
6.Burt’s Bees Plush Rattle
7. Plum baby super puffs
8. Penguin chew toy
9. Hard and soft teether set
10. Bibs (for all that drool)
11. Teething bracelet
12. Sophie the giraffe teether (one of our favorites)
13. Zarbees natural cough syrup (love that it’s natural
14. Teething necklace (comes in 6 colors!)
15. Ella’s kitchen puffits (Edie loves these)
16. Stroller links (in photos, always a favorite)
17. Plum little yums teething wafers (Edie loves to gnaw on these, great intro to self feeding)

Last week Edie seemed unusually fussy and irritable and instead of running for the infant ibuprofen I grabbed some of the Hyland teething gel and Hyland teething tablets. Have you tried them before? I really think they helped, especially the gel. I’ve gotten a lot of other recommendations as well like giving them a frozen towel to gnaw on. Poor baby’s sore gums!

What do you use to soothe baby teeth coming in? Have you ever tried natural teething or other natural remedies for baby?

Also, in case you missed them, here are the other posts in this Made to Matter, Handpicked by Target™ series so far: Intro post, Baby Food Challenge, and The Great Diaper Swap