Q&A: eyeteeth support group?

Corinne writes:

"For the last 2.5 weeks my son has been a complete and utter nightmare!  Eye teeth.  Are they worse than other teeth?  Worse than all other teeth combined and then with an extra shot of ugly screaming and misery?  My darling cheerful 15 month old little boy has gone from sleeping through on his own in his crib to wailing in the night until we cave and bring him to bed with us.  Half the time he still won't go back to sleep.  We're averaging 2 hours of awake time in the middle of the night, in our bed or fighting to get him back to sleep in his crib (which always fails in the end).

I don't know what I'm looking for - mostly I guess to hear that other people have gone through the same thing with their kids and come out the other side with their sanity in tow.  Are eye teeth really that miserable?  Can they really take this long to come in?  Or is it not teeth at all, and instead he has learned the art of mid-night manipulation?  Are we destined to share our bed with him now until he's in high school, or will this be easy to correct once the phase has passed?  Does anyone have any survival tips (besides cold wash cloths - I don't think I can survive another cold wash cloth suggestion... akin to fighting an inferno with a water gun...)"

Ah, yes. The "cold wash cloth" suggestion. Much like the Anbesol suggestion, or the Tylenol suggestion, or any other teething suggestion that just doesn't understand that for some kids teething is a full-body experience.

I found the molars far worse than the eyeteeth for both of my kids, but the eyeteeth were still pretty horrible. And no matter how strong his urge for manipulation is, no one would deliberately deprive oneself of that much sleep. So it's got to be the teething, or some other physical cause, but I'm going with the "when you hear hoofbeats think horses, not zebras" principle and going with your suspicion of teething.

You're in an extreme situation here (or X-treme, if you prefer), and therefore your plan should go back to By Any Means Necessary. Obviously the sleep deprivation is making it worse for everyone, so anything you can do to get you all some sleep is fair game. If he slept in his bed by himself before this happened, he'll go back to it when he's done, although it may take some coaxing. (And if he doesn't stop teething until he's in the middle of the 18-month sleep regression, you'll have to weather that first, probably.)

But those teeth will eventually come in. He will sleep again. And you will sleep again, too. I just can't guesstimate when. It's too bad there isn't some vitamin we could give them to make the teeth come out sooner, but this is just one of those situations in which you can witness and try to comfort, but you can't do it for them.

Does anyone else have tales of the eyeteeth? Or other difficult teething situations?

Comments

[Kate]

My pediatrician recommends Motrin (or baby ibuprofen equivalent) for teething because anything topical gets drooled away nearly instantly.

YES teething can take eons. My kids (my son in particular) took forever to pop teeth...like based on symptoms I was expecting his first tooth at around 4 months and he got it somewhere in the 8-9 month time period. He was not particularly miserable, but would just be AWAKE in the middle of the night. We were already cosleeping so the crib vs bed was not an issue, but I am an insomniac so the awake for "no reason" and having no solution to it was TORTURE.

Courage. Molars are coming.

[Carrie]

Motrin.

That's all that works, and it works much better than Tylenol. Lasts all night too.

[Jojo]

Another recommendation for Motrin.

The eye teeth were A. FREAKING. NIGHTMARE. They were even worse than the molars, which were pretty bad too. I used to keep the ADA primary tooth eruption chart posted on my desk just so I could get an idea of which pointy little bugger would be coming in next.I did a major happy dance the day I saw that last molar come through.

[Natalie]

The eye teeth are horrible and SLOW. My 18 month old DD worked on hers for a couple months, and when the last one popped through, she was like a different baby. It didn't seem to affect her sleeping very much, but she was oh so cranky all day long. Motrin helped. She also liked when I rubbed her gums. This too shall pass!

[Lisa M]

Motrin, but also, you can put the anbesol in the ear canal. It won't provide total relief, but it will help. I heard that suggestion years ago, but never had the opportunity to verify it (can't just ask the kid if he feels better at that age) until I had an infected molar. I tried the topical in the ear, and it did help. Not fully, but it eased the pain and let the general pain medication take over. The nerves are all connected in that area.

[sasha]

Moxie, I am so glad that you suggested going back to the By Any Means Necessary routine. FOR SURE.
Teething has been crazy for us. And YES, the canines seemed to make our little guy more out of his mind. Maybe because of where it fell in his development. But yes, the two year molars were the worst, in that the teething went on forever.
i hope, Corinne, you will remember as this progresses that there WILL be an end and your son will RETURN.
hang in there.

[Summer]

Oh, those eyeteeth were murder. Motrin was the only thing that got us through it -- some blessed person recommended it to me, telling me it lasts 8 or more hours while Tylenol only lasts 4.

For the record, I'll admit that I gave my son Motrin every night before bed for at least two months. And if his recent IQ test is to be believed, I didn't kill too many brain cells by drugging him nightly!

[Laurel]

Yes, eye teeth are awful. Before that, Tylenol or Motrin (not both at the same time as someone I know -- not on this blog -- suggested) would work, but for eye teeth, we were fresh out of luck. And we've only got one popped through so far.

[Lara]

Teething makes me want to cry right now. I had thought my daughter was the bad teething child until I met my son who makes her look like the best teether ever. That being said, molars were worse for her than eye teeth and we used a lot of Hyland's teething tablets and nightly Motrin too.
As for my son, all I have is sympathy for you and if we were neighbour's I would work out some sort of night time trading routine so we each could get sleep. We are not even close to eye teeth at 10.5 months but I am afraid as he gets teeth in pairs, or threes immediately followed by a fourth. And working on more now I am sure, I suspect bottom ones. By any means necessary is my mantra, along with Motrin, Sophie the Giraffe, a vibrating teething ring and co sleeping. Cold clothes, whatever, he just throws them down and crawls away. Cold teething rings, the same. If he is super fussy during the day I give him a home made popsicle to chew on and it helps.
At night when it is bad and we are up, I look out the window hoping to see a band of gypsies passing by that would love a cute little non sleeping, teething monster. Okay, I just count cars but thinking about the gypsies make me feel better:)

[rkmama]

Oh, I have so much sympathy for you. And for myself. It's come to the point where I automatically put the F word in front of the words "molar, "eye" and "teeth". My son is almost 18 months and has been getting 4 molars and 4 eye teeth all at the same time, at a hellishly slow pace. His mouth has been a hot mess of goo and inflammation since he was 13 months. We'll get a reprieve of a week, where things seem to let up but then the teeth start moving up again and he turns into this magma-cheeked monster. We feel so bad for him because we can tell it's painful but after 5 months in our worst moments, we've come close to considering having them pulled and getting him dentures :).
We use Motrin- which does help his sleep, but we feel weird using it SO much because this has been such a drawn out process.
Best survival tip is wine. For you, not him. I can't tell you we've made in through but at least know that I am out there cursing teething along with you at 3 in the morning.
(And Oh My God. The Effing Teething Poop. So gross.)

[Sara]

We're currently going through this stage. All the molars are in, and these eye teeth are just taking forEVER! My daughter was up several times a night and was very crabby throughout the day a few weeks ago - but still no sign of those teeth! For the record, she is possibly the slowest teether on the planet - it takes about 4 months of symptoms for any teeth to ever come in. She is back to sleeping thru the night, but only recently. And because we don't have the teeth yet, I can expect we'll go through more of it.

I'm a sucker and give her a bottle when she wakes up (I know I know, not helping the issue at all, but it comforts her - so yes, we subscribe to the "ANY MEANS NECESSARY" rule of thumb). I also second the Motrin suggestion - works far better than Tylenol. And we also use Oral Gel. In fact, we use the "nighttime, extra-strong relief" Oral Gel. Again, I know we're not supposed to use it - but dammit, it works...

[pnuts mama]

tylenol or motrin or the combo that you use when they spike a fever...with your docs permission, of course.

we use (among other things) toothbrushes, those ice in the mesh bag teethers, and also the organic cotton vegetables (can pick one up at the g*p) for teething.

my sympathies...pnut was an early and often and miserable teether, bean has been teething for eons and only now is sprouting teeth, four uppers in the last few weeks, and he is worse than she ever was, which i nevr thought possible. dear god help us.

remember this time a year ago i was praying that the bean would just stay inside of me another month/week/day longer so his lungs would get developed more? yeah. his lungs? based on the volume and length of screaming and yelling he is capable of? fine.

nothing but sympathy for you and your teething woes.

[Catherine]

Nth-ing the Motrin/ibuprofen suggestion; my sister, whose boys are 5 and 7, swears by it over Tylenol/acetaminophen, and says it works faster, better, and longer.

J (20mo) isn't a particularly bad teether, but he will actually ask for Motrin, by name, and walk into the bathroom with the medicine cabinet where it's stored and point to it. Since he will actually refuse Motrin if we offer it and he doesn't need it, we tend to take him seriously and just give him some when he asks. He never asks again after he's gotten some, so we know he's not just craving the sweetness.

[Cat]

Uh oh. My 12.5 month-old is currently getting her premolars and won't eat, won't sleep, won't give me even a glimpse of the happy baby she used to be... and what you're telling me is that when her eye teeth come in, IT CAN ACTUALLY GET WORSE?! *falls on floor and can't get up*
Ok, I need a major plan of defense. And obviously some Motrin. Is it Children's Motrin? No one has specified.
Sorry I can't offer any advice, Corinne; only frazzled-nerved, sleep-deprived empathy and commiseration.

[MamaBirdNYC]

My daughter actually got her bottom eyeteeth and two molars all at the same time, and I didn't realize molars were coming in since I was so focused on the eyeteeth until, "woops, there's a molar!" so maybe if you're lucky this is actually a whole bunch of teeth at once and you'll be done-ish soon. The all-teeth-at-once stage was really pretty horrid, but like the rest, it did pass. Good luck!

[hydrogeek]

Those eye teeth do suck the donkey hangy-down parts. You'd think that they'd cut through faster and easier, since they're pointy, but no. They are hell. I second the recommendations for baby motrin for him and wine for you. I am going to try that anbesol in the ear thing on my second baby when we hit this stage though, that sounds interesting.

[sasha]

Wait. One more thing. This is totally weird but I have been dying to ask you all and now seems to be the time. My son, for his second year molars, seems to be on some strange seven day cycle during which he's fine for a few days, then Tuesday/Wednesday roll around and sure enough it's teething terror. By Friday/Saturday it's good again. During this molar crunch (so to speak) we have come to fear Wednesdays. And I am certain it's the teeth and not some other strange cycle related to sleep/development/etc. Has anyone else noticed teeth moving in pushes like this?

[sheSaid]

I don't remember the eye teeth as particularly bad... perhaps taking a bit longer. He started teething at 4 months and had all but his two year molars by 1 year! So pretty much we would get a day or two break between them.

But those damn 2nd year molars! now those nasty little buggers are taking a YEAR to come in. They bother him for a week then give us a week break, then back on, and off. It seems crazy but his symptoms are all the same and now that he is 21 months he can actually point to his mouth and say where it hurts. He nods emphatically when I put my finger on the spot for his back molar and let him chew a bit.

If any one has anything to 'make them come in faster' I would sign up!

:)

wine and any means necessary seem like good stop gaps though.

[Erica]

This post came at just the right time because we're going through the exact. same. thing. What's particularly frustrating is all the books (Wonder Weeks, Granic's) say he should be sleeping great now.

I'd definitely suggest infant Motrin over Tylenol. Except for the night you forget to give it to him and he sleeps through the night.

[electriclady]

Eyeteeth/canines were so bad for us that I have blocked it out. But I remember (can't find it in my archives) blogging at the time something like "all four canines coming in at once AAARRRGHHH!!!!" So bad that I didn't even notice when the molars came in, and a few weeks ago was brushing my daughter's teeth and went, Huh, she has all her molars now? When did that happen?

So yeah, no advice, just sympathy. And this too shall pass.

[sasha]

@cat
we find that the infant motrin works the best.

[SarcastiCarrie]

Infant Motrin or Advil or Children's. Either. Just make sure your dosage is correct based upon the child's weight. If it's liquid, you actually give more of the children's because it is less concentrated. I give the tablets. 1 tablet is 100 mg so it works for our weight range.

[CG]

Had good luck with Tylenol. I originally thought, oh, we shouldn't give him drugs, blah blah blah, but at my mom's urging we finally gave him some, and that stuff sure works! And, really, who am I to say that he shouldn't get some relief?

[sarah]

All I can say is "Oh yes, THE WORST", by a long shot. I remember clearly. Eye teeth and pre-molars. Brutal. Highly recommend Motrin. (per doctor: tylenol better for fever, motrin better for pain). good luck!

[Karen]

ummmm.... (hides under table) ...cold wash cloths work for us ;) but my daughter is only 8 months and cutting her upper front teeth, so it sounds like it isn't as bad as eyeteeth.

We also love Sophie the Giraffe (bought it after reading comments on a different teething post on this site)...worth every penny.

[carmie]

Be careful with the Motrin as it can cause stomach bleeding with overuse/large doses.

My son pushed all his teeth through by 26 months, starting at 4 months. It really, really sucked at the time, but I was thankful later that we just got it over with.

And yes, the endless cold washcloth advice made me want to stuff one down the advisor's throat. I had visions of yelling at them as they flailed, "How do you like it!? How's it feel?!" But that was just the sleep deprivation.....

[birdie]

Thank goodness for this post...my 20 month old is in the middle of getting all 4 canines/incisors(?) AND I'm guessing a slightly delayed 18 mos. sleep regression. Its great to get support for the By Any Means Necessary approach because SERIOUSLY. I work 40 hours outside the home and am functioning on 3-4 hours of sleep per night.

Good to know there is light at the end of the tunnel...I just wish I could see it!

[Jeannie]

My girl is 22 months and has been working on the eye teeth or about 5 months now. When I say working on, I mean jamming her index fingers in the gap and chomping HARD and leaving marks on her fingers. The two bottom ones are really close to breaking through. She tends to teethe in batches (4 or 5 teeth at once, complete with fevers, diaper rash, snot everywhere and cranky cranky cranky), so I'm expecting the 4 will all come through together.

[caramama]

We had the mess of teeth come in early and on top of each other, so I have no idea when the eye teeth came in or how bad it was. It was all bad. But the first-year molars were definitely the WORST! Thank goodness for Motrin and sleep by any means necessary. No cold clothes or cold toys or pacifiers or anything like that would work. Oh no, not for my girl.

Now we are waiting on the 2-year molars. They are taking their time, but much like @sheSaid says. They seem to move a bit, then stop and give us a break, then move again, and who knows when they will actually break through. URG!

@sasha - My girl's teething did move in cycles, especially her molars. It wasn't a weekly cycle, but more like sheSaid describes of moving a lot in one week, then getting a week or two off. Of course, each kid is different, but I think the cyclical movement is pretty normal.

[Laurie]

Yep, my 20 month old son is working on his eye teeth as well. Ibuprofen. Patience. Wine (for you, not the baby).

[Kimberly C]

DD didn't get teeth at all until 8 months, then she got like 8 or 10 or 500 in about 6 months. I think there were 3 weeks in there where we weren't teething. I had begun to think that this was her personality instead of teething, thankfully I was wrong. IT.WAS.HELL. Motrin, teething tablets and depending on the age, celery. Celery was something she could jam in her mouth and put pressure and cold on the spot that hurt, all by herself. Of course, you still have to supervise, but she mostly crushed it and had to work really hard to get a chunk of it off, so it worked. The washcloth thing just got really messy and she got tired of it really quickly. The wine/beer/shots of vodka suggestion is a really good one too.

[akeeyu]

Do you think I would have a legal defense to shoving a cold washcloth up a pediatrician's ass? I'd be happy to give her some baby Motrin, too.

Fitz-Hume: Clawing at mouth, frequently off her food, sleeping poorly, being a miserable little poop, drooling so much that she wakes up in soaking wet sheets, drenches her face and hair, drool rash on chin, drenches my shirt, etc, etc, etc.

Pediatrician subbing for my wonderful Ped: "Oh, there aren't any teeth that close to the surface."

Me: "Well, she did this for five months before popping her first tooth. What can we do for her?"

Stupid Ped: "It's not teething. It must be something else."

HAHAHA.

Yes, you're right. The drooling, the aversion to food, the irritability...MY GOD, YOU'RE A GENIUS! IT MUST BE RABIES! Quick, let's cut her head off and send it to the lab for testing! Cut off mine, too! She bit me last week!

Stupid twit.

And...um...yeah, I got nothin'. Motrin. For the love of God, Motrin. Oh, and buy generic. The Equate versions of Motrin and Tylenol work fine and have way less dye, and WHY do kids' meds have to be electric orange and bright pink? Why?

Re canines: You mean it gets worse than molars? La la la la I can't heeear yooooou.

[Charisse]

Just chiming in to say yes, Mouse was a horrible teether, getting them in groups of 4 or 5 and not sleeping for weeks on end. First molars and eyeteeth were the worst, second molars actually quite a bit better. Same things helped some (advil, ice, any means necessary sleeping)--but I kept wishing I had embroidery skills. Somebody really needs to make a "This Tooth Shall Pass" sampler pillow and put it on Etsy where we all can order it.

All I can say is hang in there--it's a ridiculous design--and if you get seriously tempted to take matters into your own hands with a sterilized exacto, come here to be talked off the ledge!

[Cobblestone]

So if the first teeth were late {two bottom at 8 months} does the whole schedule get thrown back or is it just going to be a relentless barage of teething crappiness?

[Catherine]

Oh, and riffing off @akeeyu's recommendation, CVS makes a store brand of Motrin that's dye-free. Just FYI.

[SarcastiCarrie]

@Cobblestone - There is no way to know until it happens. It could all be delayed or the balance could catch up all at once "on schedule". If you can ask a relative of yours how your teeth came in and ask the baby's father how his teeth came in, you'll have a guess.

[the milliner]

@Erica: Oh how I hear you. Why oh why does teething timing seem to fall right in the Wonder Weeks 'easy' periods? I was so hoping for a break after WW 46 (or whatever is around that time...can't remember numbers - hello! sleep deprived!) and hopefully the end of the 9 month sleep regression. But no. No sleep to be had. Enter teething nightmare. Grrrr. Argh. I want my happy baby / easy baby / relaxed baby time.

DS has finally sprouted his top two centre teeth after weeks of them causing much pain. The drool fountain is still on tho', so I suspect a few more top or bottom teeth are making their way through as well.

You're all scaring me with the eye teeth & molars. DS does not do well when the teeth are just about to push through the surface. I'm sure some of this will start just as we've gotten him used to daycare, and in time for the next WW 'easy' period. Hrmph.

[the milliner]

@Charisse: Heh. 'This tooth shall pass'. Nice. If I was actually getting more sleep, I'd consider making the pillow!

[Becky]

Oh my. Why did I read all these comments, WHYYYYYYYYYY? I have a 10 month old. Who has exactly zero teeth so far. So I am officially scared...

[Clare]

My boys are so slow getting their teeth -- 1st teeth at just under a year. My older one didn't have his 2 yr molars completely erupted until 4! And he spiked fevers so suddenly cutting molars that he had 2 febrile seizures, one of which was when we were visiting Northern Ireland. I think I had PTSD for a long time after that.

The younger one seems to be getting teeth late as well. He's working on two molars and (I think) eye teeth at 22 months. The molars and eye teeth kill me. The chewing, the drooling, the whining.

My five year old heard someone talking about 6 yr molars, and is now terrified that he's going to start teething like his little brother. Is the third set of molars as bad as the first? Please god, no.

[hush]

@Becky - Not to worry! If your kid has NO teeth at all by the end of 18 mos, that might be worth checking out w/ a dentist, but please rest assured at 10 mos. It is still 100% normal not to have ANY teeth at all - or to have a whole bunch of teeth for that matter - or to fall somewhere in between. Give it 8 more months & see what happens, and even then, don't worry. Teething rarely happens according to "schedule."

@hydrogeek: "Those eye teeth do suck the donkey hangy-down parts." I just peed my pants laughing at that!

[Jac]

I echo Motrin - overdosing? Eh. I am another that has been known to incorporate Motrin into our bedtime routine for weeks at a time. If it doesn't seem to be working well, make sure you talk to your doctor or pharmacist about getting the correct dosage for weight. Our Infant Motrin dosage chart maxes out at 1.875 ml for under two-years but based on DS's weight he should be getting about 2.2 ml in a dose. Figuring this out really helped when it seemed like the Motrin wasn't the magical ingrediant it once was.

[hedra]

@sasha, yes, tooth movement can come in cycles - a few days (or even just hours) on, and days or hours or a week off. I remember that even with my wisdom teeth.

@cobblestone, I have one sibling whose kids were late teethers whose molars were late (normal schedule, late start), as well, and an acquaintance whose child started late and stacked them all up in a row. However, that one the kid also seemed to develop more coping skills for dealing with the oral pain (as did the mom, I suspect - she got to where she reached for the Motrin if he didn't seem hungry during the day, because she knew it would be teething hell by nightfall...).

I was told not 'cold washcloth' per se, but 'RUB with a wet washcloth' because it would help break down the fibrous structure between tooth and gum suface as it came up, making the process faster (not necessarily easier, just faster). I remember liking to bite on carrots (cold from the fridge) for the molars, but the eye teeth were not just itchy/bite-need, but TENDER plus the itchy/bite-need. Biting didn't even feel good with those (though I remember rubbing the gum with my finger over and over until the gum would squeak, and that did seem to help - so maybe the rubbing with cloth would, too).

Motrin, though. Useful stuff.

[Charisse]

@Clare, I'd actually like to know too--Mouse is now over 5 so I expect 6-year molars will be on their way at some point? What is that like for most kids?

[MrsHaley]

@hedra - I LOVE it when you can give a first-person perspective on stuff like this! I really value that extra layer of understanding.

And, hello?!? Motrin?!? I have a 2.5 and an 8 month and didn't know how much better it was until the nurse on the 24-hour line at the ped.'s office told me on Sunday. Where have I been?? That stuff is MAGIC! Right now we are using it for an ear infection & fever that Tylenol couldn't touch, but I will keep it on hand if teething becomes a problem.

Data point: DD had 100% of her teeth by the time she was 16 months, including 2-yr molars. As far as I could tell, she didn't have trouble pushing them through, since the first came up at 5 weeks and we got one every few weeks from then on. DS has only the bottom 2 (at 8 months) and is far droolier and uncomfortable about it than she ever was. My teeth followed her pattern and my husband's were like DS's.

[SarcastiCarrie]

I remember being 6 and I don't remember teething pain, so perhaps, it's not a big deal when the 6-year molars come in.

For several hundred years, if a baby died, sometimes the cause of death listed was "teething" sp that gives you some idea of the severity of symptoms!
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=1003127&blobtype=pdf

[electriclady]

@Becky and @cobblestone, my daughter had zero teeth until 11 months, then got her bottom two, then sprouted them in sets of four at a time. Now she's 27 months and has a full set of 20, though I think she's had that last batch for a while (like I said above, I didn't even notive when the second molars came in because the canines were so bad).

[Carrie Anne]

I now have the ADA primary tooth eruption chart posted at my desk too. Thanks Jojo! Four eye teeth and four two year molars to go! Yippee! My son's eye teeth are taking FOREVER to pop. I’m hoping this is the worst of it and the molars aren't quite as bad. I seemed to have blocked out the one year molars...

Anyone else's child puke immediately after getting ibuprofen?

According to the ADA chart, the first molars are shed between 9-11 yrs, and the second between 10-12 yrs. Funny but I don’t remember teething when I was 10ish….

[Samantha]

I thought Motrin had to be taken on a full stomach. Has another else heard that? I'm a Tylenol user but might try Motrin after all these reviews. I hope my daughter likes the flavour. She loves the cherry Tylenol.

I used the homeopathic remedy for my daughter and it seemed to help (Camilla I think). At 19 months we are nervously awaiting the second molars. First tooth came at 4 months. The molars were the worst.

My daughter is a bottle drinker and sucking seems to help her a great deal.

[Ari]

My little one was an early teether (four by three months) and we sailed through the early ones. Just recently we suffered through the canines. They were certainly the worst thus far. Baby's not a complainer, and neither does he sit still often, but one day we sat on the couch and watched an entire disney movie because it was the only thing that stopped the whining cry. We didn't try ibuprofen, and now I'm kicking myself, but the movie seemed to help (it could also be that it's the only time he's actually sat down and watched tv, anyone else have data points on that?)