Does teething hurt that much?

[may08]

Hi, Just wondering about a little advice on teething. My little boy is 15months old and has never been particularly happy; we had a tough time coping for the first 13 months but when he started walking at around 13-14 months we noticed an improvement in his mood. He still has regular tantrums over the smallest of things but I feel that we've come to realise when hes having a tantrum and when he isnt. The thing I'm struggling with now is that for the last 2 months he constantly has either a cold or is teething and becomes a complete nightmare i.e screaming/whinging all day long. When I see other mums and they say their babies are teething they just seem to want cuddles or they are just generally quiet so I am wondering is he trying it on with me or can he really be in so much pain. He wont sit on my lap for cuddles and is too heavy for me to carry around so I really dont know how to help him.
I feel awful as I am struggling to give him sympathy but when he just crys and crys I have no idea what to do. I spend so much of the day going out to try and distract him that it would be nice to stay in just for a couple of hours!
Anyone else with similar teething experiences?

in my experience all babies act differently when they are teething. my friend's ds was an unusually placid little baby but my god when he started teething, he would just scream and scream and scream for hours. my ds who was always grumpy just generally throws more tantrums and needs more cuddles, but like yours he never sits still on my lap, always have had to stand up with him, i have no idea why! i never know for sure when my ds is teething as he has always been prone to grumpiness and tantrums. meltdowns for nothing but even more so when teething! they are all different. i always tend to give my ds the benefit of the doubt and always think he's teething even if i'm not sure, it tends to make me be more patient with him rather than thinking what a miserable git he is!

I think you are doing a fanstastic job just to cope tbh! He sounds very challenging to look after. A child who cries and cries and won't be comforted must be one of the hardest things life has to throw at us so don't beat yourself up for any lack of sympathy; you're only human!

Some kids do make heavy weather of teething and others don't, it does seem to depend.

What I would suggest is to ensure you have everything you can to ease any pain he's feeling - teething gels etc and also give calpol if you think he's in pain. If it improves his mood I would think you'd be safe to assume it hurts him, and keep giving doses for a while.

yes it can be like that sometimes especially when the molars come in. We got 4 of ours for christmas! (so no sleep here over christmas)

you need to try some pain killers for a day or so and see if that makes any difference. I also try to offer distractions thru the day like ice cold juicy grapes or if need be some ice cream works well most times.

DD was a bloody nightmare for months with her teething and so was I with my wisdom teeth. Neurofen is the thing, reduces the swelling as well as killing the pain.

DS is now starting to teethe, so here we go again

hello out of interest was he a difficult birth or was it a stressful pregnancy? There is some evidence to show that babies, even before they are born who are exposed to high levels of stress hormones (cortisone) are much much more sensitive to any little stress once born. I think this def is the case with my dd who has always been very sensitive and I do think a very traumatic preganacy and birth have affected her. It might also just be that he is feeling under the weather so get his ears checked by a gp, talk to hv if you haven't already for tips, does he seem more hungry than usual, maybe a growth spurt? Also if he is just started walking he might be suffering with more seperation anxiety than usual. Also if just started walking is prob a lot more tired than before as using so much more energy so is he getting enough sleep?

Something like crainiopathy might help Xx

also teething powder which you can get in most chemists worked well for my dd in terms of helping her settle.

Thanks all, - girliefriend - no I had a textbook pregnancy and birth and went to a cranial osteopath at 4months old who said there were no problems; so I had to except that I have a grumpy baby. I'm sure he must be in alot of pain as it is the molars coming thru but when I know that he can tantrum for no reason and gets bored incredibily easily I find it hard to know when to be sympathetic and just assume he is being a humbug!
I guess I'm going to have to deal with this for a good few months yet before I can rule teething out!
He has been eating loads lately so a growth spurt could also be the answer.

I once sat next to an anesthetist on a flight. My ds was 8 months at the time and cried constantly throughout the journey. I had to explain to him that he was teething because he was so unsettled.

He told me never to underestimate the pain teething causes and explained that he had use anesthetic in the past for teething - I couldn't believe it.

I never complained after that about my wingy teether !!