I feel like I'm drugging my child

So, Violet is teething. Maybe. She's 19 months old now, and teething for her has so far been a real bitch. I mean, damn. Amelia never even noticed she was teething. So suffice it to say, this is still new territory for me. Other than the fact that now we know that when Violet starts spontaneously night waking, she's probably teething.



Months ago, when this first started, I gave her the boob. Suffice it to say, after a while, that really sucks. Pun intended. A teething-already-boob-obsessed child does not do well for this mama. It feels awful. Awful enough for me to contemplate never consuming cow's milk again, since now I feel pretty confident that I know how a cow feels spending it's entire life producing milk. It's a thankless task.



Then, because she rejected every teething toy we gave her in favor of the boob, tylenol. Which didn't faze her. Might as well have given her water.



Then, ibuprofin. This worked. So well that she would immediately calm down at the sight of the syringe. Freaky.



Now, homeopathic teething tablets. Which also work, though sometimes maybe for not as long as ibuprofen - but I feel SO much better giving her these.



However - today she was fussy. She's been teething for about a week. Chewing on her fingers and such. So at some point she walks over to the night stand and tries to open the drawer. Why? Because she knows that's the last place I put the teething tablets. Really freaky.



But - I mean, isn't it kind of cool that she knows what she needs and how to ask for it? Yeah, I guess. But I also feel like I'm programming her to rely on meds.



I'm freaked out.