Q&A: teething

It's been a long time since we talked about teething! I got a question from Allyson about her 4-month-old:

"Little Miss has pretty much stopped wanting to nurse during the day, and always has her hands in her mouth and seems extra-cranky. I know it's too early for teething, so what's going on? Is there something wrong with my flow? Is she losing interest in the breast? I was hoping to breastfeed for a year."

Yeah, it's totally not too early for teething. The average time of popping a first tooth is around 6 months, and they don't just come out of nowhere. It takes a long time (for some kids days, for some weeks, for some *months* between the first under-the-gum movement (and pain) and when the tooth actually pops out above the gum. So she seems right about on schedule.

Also, everyone needs to bear in mind that kids are all different. There are some kids who have teeth in their mouths when they come out of the womb! My second son started teething *in earnest* at 6 weeks*. He had two teeth under the surface about to pop through at 10 weeks. So you never know.

I wrote about all the symptoms of teething long ago in the past in this post. Here's the list:

"Some common symptoms of teething are:

* biting hands or anything that comes near their mouths
* crying out in yelps of pain
* drooling
* runny nose or congestion from drooling
* "smokers' cough" from the drool going down the back of the throat
* spitting or throwing up from drool going into the stomach
* "drool stool," which is shards of drool in the poop (I know, and it's truly stunning when you see it)
* rash around the mouth
* rash around the anus
* acidic poop (sometimes you can even smell the difference) and a burned monkey-butt look after pooping
* tugging or pulling at the ears
* not wanting to nurse
* biting while nursing
* flash fevers (fevers that come out of nowhere and are gone in 30 minutes to an hour)

Are there any I'm forgetting? Some kids never have any of these symptoms, some have a few, and some lucky children (like mine) have all of them."

So, yeah, I think it's teething. Try the homeopathic teething pellets if you believe in that sort of thing (or are willing to spend $4 on a potential cure). And just try to get as much milk into her as you can while she's drowsy, because that seems to be the best time to feed a teething child.

This, too, will pass.

Stories?

* Which bit hard because he was sleeping for 8 hours in a row before that. Seriously. Eight (8) hours, from a few weeks old. Everyone, take your Omega 3 supplements during pregnancy.

Comments

[Jen]

" Eight (8) hours, from a few weeks old. Everyone, take your Omega 3 supplements during pregnancy."

Am I misreading or is the suggestion here that taking your Omega 3's will earn you a baby who sleeps longer? If that's the intended message, I've gotta say my experience differs. :)

[hush]

What Ashlee said about how to apply Orajel. "When using Orajel, make sure you take a cloth diaper or something and dry out the area you're applying it to. If the gums are wet, the orajel will just slide off and around in the baby's mouth and will likely end up on the tounge or swallowed. Pretty much useless then."

Orajel worked wonders for us. DS has been teething forever, from 4 months on. I personally was not comfortable using a so-called "natural," non-commercial remedy a friend made for us, which contained very small amounts of belladonna. One person's "natural" is another person's "toxic" I suppose. ;) I'm sure the homemade stuff would have been just fine - I just couldn't get past my own knee-jerk fears of it!

[mel]

Um, we are in the throes of teething paired with the 9 month sleep regression, which never ended with the 4 month sleep regression. Basically, babe has been teething from 4 months on and not sleeping since then either. I want to put my head in the oven. Seriously. I am sick of hearing how nobody else's baby went through this. My sister is due in January (her 3rd boy!) and she has "never had any of the problems you are having, Mel". Is it wrong or evil of me to secretly hope she has to suffer some of the sleep deprivation my son and I have suffered? I called her yesterday after having to manually extract poop from my poor constipated baby's butt, you know, a little "this is what you have to look forward to pretty soon, hon" phone call, and she said she has never had constipated babies. WTF!!?? She must be lying, right?

[bandwidow]

In the teething hellish times right now. Two bottom ones cut, top right on it's way down. "Stinky" as we like to call dd, is 6 months old and has been actively teething from 6 weeks. Also colicky and regular high-needs. The kid basically either drools, screams, sleeps, eats, poops, or chews everything/anything in sight. She's also a red head, and we're guessing that she has a very very low pain tolerance. Yes, we're exhausted.

[Kate]

@ Mel: some awful times sleeping (hugs to you), because of regressions, teething, undiagnosed dairy intolerance, gas, gas, and more gas. No constipation as of yet for either one. But it's not nice for your sister to pretend she doesn't have any war stories. How is that possible?!

[Mel]

@Bandwidow: I never heard that about red heads before. I have a red headed babe, more strawberry blonde, but in photos his hair looks much deeper. He was also colicky, and is definately higher needs. He drools, bites (fun!), chews everything and screams, but no sleep. A small consolation: he can totally entertain himself! I find myself dozing off while he busies himself with slippers and paper towel tubes. He finds the most mundane items fascinating. oh, @ Kate: Sister is a total liar. She must be. Sometimes you need to hear war stories from the other side, so the days don't seem so endlessly frustrating, you know? I just don't think it's very nice of her. It's less lonley knowing so many moms have similar experiences.

[hush]

@Mel - she's totally lying, or, more charitably, she has forgotten the bad times. I have a dear friend who seems to think she's a "bad mother" if she utters anything at all negative about her baby. The gal's DD had textbook colic, it was utter hell, and yet she absolutely refused to label it that. So in the future, if any mamas are going to be looking to commiserate with my friend about colic, she's going to come across as "lying," but really her issue is thinking a mother always has to act a certain way, which does not include griping about one's baby. To me, that's just sad.

Our DS was also constipated sometimes - a splash of prune juice in the bottle worked well (but looked like chocolate milk & got lots of stares in public.)

Prune juice apparently combats constipation quicker & more effectively than simply eating prunes.

[Andrea]

Oh, thank you AGAIN for making me feel not alone! My 16 week old baby has been a horrible daytime eater for a couple of weeks now. I have to wrestle with him, and all he's interested in is chewing on the nipple or trying to get his hand in his mouth WITH the nipple. The drowsy feeding thing is great advice.

Spiking his bedtime bottle with Hylands, gripe water (he's spitting up a lot, too), and/or Tylenol helps him sleep. Otherwise it's just a fun barrel of monkeys around here with the cranky baby, especially around the 5pm witching hour....thanks to the commenter who suggested Rescue Remedy. I have some, and will try it next time he flips out!

[Lauren]

No time to read all the other comments, so hopefully I'm not repeating, but is she sure it's teething and not thrush or something??

[Stassja]

I totally agree that it's probably teething. My son popped his first right around 4 months (and he was two weeks late!) so some do start nice and early. He was not insanely cranky for it but some of the teeth he wasn't as keen on nursing. From what I understand sucking/nursing can make the pain worse so that probably has something to do with it. Good luck!

[Sarah Neilson]

Check this website. I tend to agree that parents and others alike label too many symptoms as "teething" when they could just have a cold or merely be going through the hundreds of other developemental things happening at the exact same time. It's worth a look into another perspective.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/teething/a/0107_teething.htm

[Sarah Neilson]

Oh, and I hate to break it to you, but she may not be lying. I haven't had any of those traumas either. Not lying, haven't forgotten. I'm not trying to brag in any way, just to inform you. Don't hate your sister for it, as having been in her shoes and having had people resent me for "easy" babies, after all my "easy" pregnancies and "easy" deliveries. Everyone has there different struggles in life. Babies just sounds like it's gonna be yours. Stay strong and know you'll probably be better for it.

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[Maylene]

Advice from a French-Austrian, old-fashioned mother of now 17 motnhs old boy (and 2nd child to come in a few days): our Gabriel never had any problems with teething. He had 8 teeth by 8 motnhs, all came out at once without warning, and now he's also had 4 premolars for a few motnhs, still without any screaming how lucky are we!?! Anyway, my mother's solution and I know it worked at least on my little sisters and brothers always was: When the tooth is JUST ABOUT to come out and shows its little white summit under the gum: rub a piece of sugar on it! I know this seems painful and horrible (and it must be!), but once you've opened the gum, everything's fine again. And if you little one screams hell for a few moments he/she won't remember it on his/her wedding day! ;0)

[Khoerunnisa]

my son is almost 8mths, gotihs first teeth around 4 5mths, and had total of 9 teeth before he was 7 months. in spite of it all he did rather well with a little fussieness. Occassional motrin helped a little. he hated the orajel. now suddenly my little angel has turned into little demon. i use hylands now but with only mild success. I try to remind myself he is a baby, doesn't mean it personally, and try to be as patient and gentle with him as possible. its not always easy so best of luck and hang in there. i personally have no one to help or take swing shifts so it can be very frustrating. just give your baby the best love you can.

[Helen]

Quick and Cheap How quick? You can get results in 3 weeks at least Yes, use biakng soda once or twice in this 3 weeks timeUse CREST biakng sode and hydrogen blanch MADE IN US ones twice daily speciallly before going to bedand listerine mouthwash Results depends upon how much u care in these 2 to 3 weeksgoood luck

[Anthony]

Have you tried the teething tabtles? Teething at a certain point is just miserable. My son started teething at just over a month old. Following you through MBC!