Teething myth

[emilysmumma]

I've read through a lot of the posts here on teething and it seems that a lot of symptoms the bubs are experiencing are either normal development or could be a symptom for another underlying problem.

It's just that bubs will get about 20 teeth by I think the time their 2 years old, so wouldn't it be that nappy rash, drooling, irritability, vomiting, runny poo, constipation or the other variety of symptoms will of course coincide with a tooth coming through?

Drooling and putting fists and chewing on everything is just the way they find out what things are like.
Nappyrash can just occur for no reason what so ever, no matter how many times you change a nappy.

I'm not disputing that it can bother them when teeth come through, but I'm just worried that sometimes another problem is occuring and it's so much easier to blame teething.
Please forgive me if I'm wrong but it just seems to make sense to me that they will be constantly getting teeth for the next couple of years so one of these problems will most likely occur at the same time.

What do others think? or am I just talking out of my a*** :D

[drewid]

I do agree :) I think its important not to just assume that these things mean teething...always best to try to address the symptoms before just saying 'oh its teething' and not doing anything about it :)

Having said that...we all get to know our own childs specific symptoms when teething. We are all the best judge of whats going on in our bubs world - hooray for mothers instinct :)

[MariaO]

I love Robin Barker's books but Teething is the only area where I disagree with her. I don't go along with the natural development ailments - I think one knows when it is teething rather than colds/anxiety etc. (but maybe I am talking out of my arxx)

I do agree though that you should not just write off symptoms as teething and should investigate them to see if there is a problem that needs to be addressed.

[the_queen]

I agree too. I think we've been societally conditioned to think "teething=lots of unpleasant stuff" but I think when you look at the situation objectively, you see that there's a lot of times when bubs had a nappy rash but wasn't getting teeth. And other times when there was drool a-plenty, but wasn't getting teeth. And other times when having a slight fever co-incided with getting a haircut - but that doesn't mean the haircut caused the fever.

I know when my wisdom teeth were coming through, I didn't get a rash on my butt :p

[emilysmumma]

Having said that...we all get to know our own childs specific symptoms when teething. We are all the best judge of whats going on in our bubs world - hooray for mothers instinct

Of course, mumma knows best.


I know when my wisdom teeth were coming through, I didn't get a rash on my butt

Too funny

[xkwzit]

And then again, when your normally angelic child :) becomes the bride of satan:devil6: , isn't it nice to be able to say "she MUST be teething":D

[Mummabear]

I totally agree :yelclap:

I am ashamed to admit that I totally got caught out doing this very thing only a month or so ago with DS. He had a temp (40+), was irritable, had a rash (which someone told me to put down to teething also) and off his food. He hadn't gotten any teeth yet so I thought he must be due for some and put it down to teething and just gave him some panadol and lots of cuddles and left it at that. He kept getting worse and I finally took him to the Dr when he went very lethargic and lifeless and was burning up. He had a virus :(. I just thank the stars that it was only a virus. Things like meningacocyl (sp) come on with symptoms that we often write off as teething. This parenting gig sure is tricky some days. Now I don't take any chances, I'd rather my Dr or the hospy send me home and talk over the water cooler about what an over the top Mother I am than regret not having him looked at.

[misskittyfantastico]

Too true xwzit!!

[JnA]

I read some interesting articles that suggested teething isn't real, and that the 'problems' associated with what most people call 'teething' can be attributed to something else. They also said, if teething hurts so much, why don't the second set of teeth hurt?

FWIW I thought it was a load of codswallop. I find it a mighty big coincidence that the only times when Jade is extra grizzly a tooth pops through within a day or two, and bonjella almost instantly soothes her.

Secondly, I htought that the second set of theeth didn't hurt perhaps because the skin was already broken from the first set. I remember my wisdom teeth hurt like buggery and I used bonjella myself!


I know when my wisdom teeth were coming through, I didn't get a rash on my butt

LOL you also didn't wear nappies and have poo sitting aginst your bum... as far as I know ;)

While I agree that symptoms shouldn't be overlooked or put down to something without investigation, after seven teeth, I *know* when it's a teething grizzle and when it's not.

[the_queen]

LOL you also didn't wear nappies and have poo sitting aginst your bum... as far as I know ;)
.

Well my kid didn't get a rash on her butt when she got teeth either. I guess I changed her nappy often enough.

;)

[Baby Girl]

I totally agree that many, if not all, teething symptoms can be caused by other things also.

I personally know that I try to work out what else may be bothering my little one before I go with the old line of "it just teething". I also know the signs my girls had when they were teething and usually put it down to teeth straight away (I still did the run through of what else it could be in my head though).

DD1 only got nappy rash when she had teeth come through - no other signs. She would get a horrid rash and within 12 hours she would have a new tooth - right up until the last ones and she was in knickers by then!!

DD2 gets a slight temp (I always keep an eye on this as it can be caused by a hundred other things) and very dry, red skin around her cheeks and chin (almost like windburn), you can set your watch by it that she will have a tooth through within the next 24 hours.

So, yes I agree that we shouldn't put every little change down to teething but I also think that as mothers we do know what different signs our bubs show when they are teething. Some may be coincidence but if your kids are like mine - there are certain things that only happen when they get teeth!!

[reAllytee]

Well i know for a fact that bubs only gets a nappy rash when he is teething.
Ive usually exhausted all other avenues to whats wrong when bubs is not his normal self & then boom the runny poos hit which again have nothing to do with diet or the likes & then the rash begins. Oh & for the record i change his nappy ever 3hrs unless he does a bm which is pretty darn obvious considering its like he is grunting like an ape LOL so even with continuous nappy changes bubs still gets a rash.
So yes we do tend to use "Oh they are teething" as an excuse but when you know the difference & i do.
Bubs was not his normal self once so i kept an eye on him then his temp spiked continuously overnite to which he was taken to the doctors to find he had a virus & it was sooooo different to teething it wasnt funny.
I also usually find that him biting his toys & fists pretty much tells me whats going on.

[DoulaFelicity]

I also completely disagree with Robin Barker on this one - and I think she does a grave disservice to parents and babies suffering through teething! :shame:

I think it comes down to common sense; for me, if my son has a fever, runny poo, is grizzly, sleeping poorly, etc, of course I will eliminate illness as a primary factor before considering putting it down to teething. However, if there is nothing else wrong with him, and he's showing signs of teething, then yes, I believe it is teething - even if no teeth come through. They move around under the gums, rise and fall, and slowly worm their way through before we ever see that little white bud. Nothing has come through the gum tissue before, so of course it hurts as it wells up and cuts through! (I know my wisdom teeth gave me hell, and pain is the primary signal adults receive that their wisdoms are emerging.) Second time around, there's already something poking out of there, which falls out and is replaced; it's different. Also, a baby's pain perception is much larger than ours; what might not bother a much older child or an adult would feel like agony to a baby.

It may be true that teething is sometimes misdiagnosed when in actual fact an illness or normal development is the cause of the symptoms; but I don't believe this negates the fact that teething also causes these symptoms, and that teething is not a myth. I know when my son is teething, I know when he is having a developmental spurt, and I know when he is ill, tired, or just grumpy. Our intuition (that largely derided tool) tells us exactly what is going on.

[emilysmumma]

It's great to see such caring mummas out there.

I was worried that people too easily associate any problems by calling it teething when in fact they could be missing the signs of an illness.
Those bubs out there are lucky to have mums like you.

So i'm glad that everyone looks for other reasons for bubs not being well first.
It's just that it seems the older generation, my mother and grandparents and the ilk get a bit diagonsing happy with the teething.

DD hasn't started getting teeth yet so shall see how it goes for her. Since yesterday she is starting to fight sleep and guess what I was told her problem is :banghead: Not that at 4 months they can often start to do that.

[Baby Girl]

4 months is actually quite a common age for them to start getting teeth moving around in those little gums!!

Or maybe she has just been restless.....

[emilysmumma]

It's been only putting her to bed since last night and again this morning. Nothing else going on so at the moment I am presuming she is just fighting sleep as even as she is whinging she's yawning, rubbing eyes etc.