Is it fair to blame everything on teething?

[Taler]

My DD is 20 weeks old and whilst no teeth have yet reared their ugly heads, she has been displaying the symptoms for WEEKS!

Today though she has been soooooo unsettled poor thing. Have given her Calpol twice so far (where usually Ashton & Parsons and Ambesol would tend to be enough).

But she's been so upset today an crying in a way that I've not heard before! I know generally it's the bottom 2 teeth that come through first but when I feel her gums the top ones you can really feel a sharp bit!

Could her unsettledness be as simple as her teeth about to come through? It seems that everything gets blamed on teething!

What do the rest of you think?

[HearMyRoar]

Teething really is the work of the devil. Some kids breeze through it but some, like my dd, are miserable for weeks with every tooth. Thankfully I think we're all done now. Anyway, yes I do think you can blame it all on the teeth, particularly if she has a few coming at once.

[Chocolatestain]

DS has a terrible time with teething too and, yes, I think for some babies a lot of distress can be blamed on it. However, I think it's important to not just automatically assume 'teething again' whenever they're miserable and keep an eye out for signs of something else, such as an ear infection. And listen to that mother's instinct when it tells you something different is up!

[HabitualLurker]

Teething has a lot to answer for in this household. DS has really suffered, for weeks on end with each new set. We've had a huge range of symptoms - high temperature, grotty poos, grumpiness, sleeplesness, clingyness, whingyness... you name it! To be fair, I recall teething my last set of molars in my 20s and that it made me feel pretty unwell, so I do feel sorry for him if he's had that for the last 12 monhts! Thank god he's getting his canines now, so only one more lot after this.

Oh, and his upper incisors came through first. I think the order is just an average, not a rule.