There are several measures you can follow for this particular problem. Your aim should be to target the pain. Once the pain is taken care of, the irritability will take care of itself. The best solution for soothing burning gums for infants is to apply coolness to them. There are several excellent gel based teething rings easily available in the market. You can put these in the freezer and then give them to the baby to chew on. Once the baby starts chewing on these, the gums will be soothes with the cooling sensation. Also, once the gel is converted to gelatinous form, which is to say that the ice has melted, then clamping down hard on the gel will also help relieve the child and make it feel much better. Keep in mind that teething is typically accompanied with burning and scratching sensations, rather than any pain, as such. One of the best herbal remedies to apply is to make a paste of fresh mint leaves and dilute it with water. You can dip your finger in this paste and let the baby clamp on to your finger with its gums. The mint leaves will soothe the child's burning sensations to a very large extent.
One of the things that is highly effective but most parents want to really avoid is introducing the child to a soother or a pacifier. But it is important for you to know that you are not introducing your child to a bad habit that you mat be able to get rid of easily. Some children need to be soothed, and this is a natural need that cannot really be changed with anything. If your baby is awake through nights, it is better to give the child a pacifier rather than making it more and more irritable. If the baby takes to the pacifier, then it will sleep well and be less irritable. You can make a routine for the pacifier too. Give it only at night so as to enable the baby to sleep better and also get some rest yourself. During the day, try other things such as distraction. Giving the baby an ice cube to suck on also works very well in the case of teething troubles. You can also buy some hard biscuits and give these to the child to chew. Remember to always do this only under supervision, as a six month old child may not necessarily know what to do with a biscuit.
answered by M W