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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Is teething usually this bad? - really worried...

14 replies

Jan2 · 30/04/2008 12:05

My DD is one this week and has been in a routine of going to bed at 8pm and getting up at about 8am for months now. When she was 6 months old her first 2 teeth came through and we had a couple of nights crying etc.

Her second batch of teeth seem to now be arriving but this time she has been really bad for about a month now - off and on. Ie a couple maybe 3 bad nights in a week. Anyway this week has been awful. It has been taking hours each night to get her to go to sleep - last night it took from 8pm until midnight with crying fits snot tears etc. She has a very loud cry so it is really distressing when she is worked up!

She eventually got off at midnight last night after having been awake since 3pm in the day but she then woke crying hysterically at 2am so I panicked and phoned the emergency doctor. He said thst she sounded very distressed but to try more Nurofen which we did. She eventually went to sleep at about 4.30am with pushing in pram in the hall etc.

It is really unlike her not to sleep which is why I am so worried - has anyone else had a similar experience with teething? - how long does this kind of distress last?

Many thanks for any advice and sorry it's so long!

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TheDevilWearsPrimark · 30/04/2008 12:07

Are you certain it is her teeth that are bothering her?

I think it's different for every child. With DS we didn't hear a mumble and were surprised to see teeth just appearing, but DD was very unsettled, with awful flushed cheeks and nappy rash.

Original poster

Jan2 · 30/04/2008 12:20

Think it's teething. The emergency doc said it is very hard to tell. She is generally OK in day but it comes on in the night. She too has flushed cheeks, rubs at mouth and messy nappies seem to occur just as new teeth coming through.

Have phoned H Visitor and am waiting for a call back. Might take her to the doctors but she is always hysterical there anyway so it won't be easy for a doc to tell whether its teething or not.

Am going to bed for a bit now as she is sleeping at mo as she is exhausted after past few bad nights herself!

OP posts:

TheDevilWearsPrimark · 30/04/2008 12:23

Enjoy your nap!
Hope she is okay.

Northumberlandlass · 30/04/2008 13:13

Teething is HELL ! DS had a cold / fever / the runs / projectile vomiting everytime a tooth came through. Any routine we had went to pot. Nurofen did help loads and also gave him the camomile sachets from boots (especially for teething) which helped calm him down a bit.

Sorry probably not what you wanted to hear.

Dolorescat · 30/04/2008 13:27

My ds has had teething symptoms for at least a few days every week for last 5 months and no teeth yet! He is 8mo and has been drooling, chewing, bright red cheek(s), sore bum, hard, bumpy, hot gums and crying and snotty intermittently for most of his bloody life. I even asked HV if it was possible for them to get stuck?! She laughed a bit and said no.
You can see all the teeth under the gums, even a great big one at the back, but they don't break through!
I feel for you, it's caused him and me and dh a lot of upset. Especially as he has a very loud cry too (goes from 0-60 in matter of seconds)
Keep hoping he'll wake up and smile one morning with a mouth full of gnashers!!!

PinkTulips · 30/04/2008 13:35

dd used to get so hysterical she'd have fits and throw up, we could barely get near her with the calpol she'd get so overworked, my cousin was similar. some kids seem to react to the pain of teething really badly.

the teetha sachets and gel are quite good and don't be afraid to give her the neurofen if she's in pain.. there's no point trying to settle a child that's screaming in pain until the pain is gone, ime they just get more and more worked up.

with ds we actually bring him downstairs with us, plop him in front of the telly with a blanket and sit next to him and cuddle him til the pain relief kicks in, he's perfectly happy to go back up once he's feeling better as he's well used to his night time routine. i wish i'd done the same with dd now as i honestly believe the pacing around in the dark getting upset and tired trying to calm her only made things worse

PinkTulips · 30/04/2008 13:38

dolorescat.... my dd got 2 teeth at 3 months and they went back under the gums! she then spent the next 9 months teething constantly and didn't get any teeth til the week before her birthday, then got 8 in 2 days

Weegle · 30/04/2008 13:43

It could be teething -certainly doesn't sound disimilar to our DS and teething. They all seem to vary so much and each set of teeth has been progressively worse (sorry!) and symptoms have lasted longer each time but will be on and off for weeks/months before the next teeth.

DS too is fine in the day (well, not fine but not hysterical) but I think when they haven't got the daytime distractions they just lose it. In bad patches we tend to give paracetamol and nurofen about 45 min before bedtime. He has a stick thing that looks like a rubber toothbrush that he gets bonjela on (although I'm convinced most pain is from them moving in the jaw not the gums). We've even taken to giving him nurofen in his sleep at about 11pm hoping to get him through a bit longer so at least we are rested - but then he also gets febrile convulsions from the temperatures so that might be a bit overkill for some. Frozen tubes of fromage frais/yoghurt seem to calm him.

It's horrid seeing your LO like this so you really have my sympathy!

Dolorescat · 30/04/2008 13:45

Yes I agree PinkTulips, give as much pain relief as they need (within dosage guidelines of course!) as what's the point trying to settle a baby who is in obvious pain.
I always felt naughty giving calpol etc as if I was cheating and should be able to settle ds in some other magical way, but then I thought 'if I have a headache I don't like to suffer I take a couple paracetamol', it's not fair for me to expect a little baby (who doesn't know that the pain will eventually pass) to suffer in the same way.
We tried teetha sachets too but they don't seem to do a lot for ds. Calgel quite good (if he'll let us near his mouth).

Dolorescat · 30/04/2008 13:49

Ha ha PT, your dd sounds like my ds..... he had two tiny white points on bottom gum that got me all excited - now they have gone!!!
Maybe they have had all their teeth in the night when we are not looking and pull them back in the morning just to tease us

Dolorescat · 30/04/2008 13:53

Weegle, re the stick thing for the bonjela.... somebody told me to try a bickie peg for ds, so I tied it onto his favourite fimble's leg so that he couldn't jam it down his throat.... my dh came home from work and asked why I had tied a willy onto the teddy (I suppose it did look like a third leg!)

Original poster

Jan2 · 30/04/2008 15:21

Thank you all so much for the advice. A lot of the comments sound very much like what we are going through. We have also started bringing her down to watch telly with us and giving her the nurofen. Its just when it gets to midnight and she still wails the minute she is popped back into her cot that I start to get dispondent. But I do feel better knowing that it probably is just teething and we will just have to get on with it!

OP posts:

Nbv89 · 03/10/2022 11:37

I know this is an old post but wanted to reach out as I’m experiencing something similar… did you ever pinpoint what was causing the pain?

TeainanIV · 24/10/2022 22:34

@Nbv89 just popped on to say my DD has just gone through this - she's 16 months. It's been horrendous, hours of screaming and hysterics through the night, high temperature and runny nappies until we discovered two molars had erupted!! Poor thing, they look so bloody painful coming through. We gave all the nurofen and calpol!! Sending solidarity and hope those teeth are out soon!

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